The impact of ethnic diversity on growth: the regional differences

Abstract

Using a sample of 86 countries over the 1960–1999 period, this paper investigates the differential growth effects of ethnic division across cultural regions. While the evidence supports a negative relationship between ethnic fragmentation and economic growth, this relationship is significant only for Africa and Latin America. This study also uses a religious measure of ethnic fragmentation, and finds that religious diversity has a positive impact on growth. This impact, however, is present only in the Middle East and East Asia. Some possible reasons behind the heterogeneous effects of ethnic diversity are also explored.

Citation

Yang, B. (2006), "The impact of ethnic diversity on growth: the regional differences", International Journal of Development Issues, Vol. 5 No. 1, pp. 11-33. https://doi.org/10.1108/eb045857