Publications

The “diversity debit” hypothesis – that ethnic diversity has a negative impact on social, economic, and political outcomes – has been widely accepted in the literature. Indeed, with respect to public goods provision – the focus of this article – the conventional wisdom holds that a negative relationship between ethnic heterogeneity and public goods provision is so well-established empirically that future research should abandon examination of whether such a relationship exists and focus instead on why it exists, that is, on the mechanisms underlying a negative relationship. This article challenges the conventional wisdom on empirical grounds. It demonstrates at the sub-national level strong evidence for a “diversity dividend” – that is, a positive relationship between ethnic heterogeneity and some measures of public goods provision, in particular welfare outcomes related to publicly provided goods and services. 

• The article in World Development

• Gisselquist, R.M., S. Leiderer und M. Niño-Zarazúa (2016) Ethnic Heterogeneity and Public Goods Provision in Zambia: Evidence of a Subnational "Diversity Dividend". In: World Development, Vol. 78, 308-323.