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Ethnic Diversity, Political Institutions, and the Provision of Public Goods
Dr Su-Hyun Lee Assistant Professor and Coordinator of MSc (International Political Economy) Programme
Dr Su-Hyun Lee
1
Much previous research has identified ethnic diversity as one of the major factors explaining cross-national differences in economic growth and public policy outcomes. Diversity is negatively associated with various aspects of good governance, as it hinders the ability of a society to communicate on common goals and to sanction those who fail to cooperate. Then why are some countries more successful in overcoming the costs of ethnic division and providing more public goods than others? This paper argues that the relationship between diversity and public good provisions depends on domestic political institutions that shape the incentives and abilities of representative policymakers to serve broad, national constituencies. Using data on public policy outcomes and party politics in 78 countries for the period 1980-2015, the paper finds that high levels of party system nationalisation significantly mitigate the negative effects of diversity on public goods provision.
| Theme: | General / Country and Region Studies / International Political Economy |
| Region: | Global |
| Entity: | CMS |
