Religious Fractionalisation and Crimes in Disaster-Affected Communities: Survey Evidence from Bangladesh

Abstract

ABSTRACT This study employs unique household data collected in cyclone-affected communities in Bangladesh to investigate whether religious fractionalisation is associated with crime victimisation after disasters. The identification strategy relies on two characteristics of the study area: 1) its religious composition is stable; and 2) its households’ pre-disaster socio-economic status is uncorrelated with religious fractionalisation and disaster damage after controlling for the observed characteristics. The findings suggest that households in disaster-affected and religiously fractionalised communities are more likely to be victims after a natural disaster than are households in non-fractionalised communities. This study also finds empirical support for the idea that the result is driven by the misallocation of disaster relief in fractionalised communities.