Effect Of Ethnic Heterogeneity Research Articles

Ethnic heterogeneity and electoral turnout: Evidence from linking neighbourhood data with individual voter data

Issues related to migration and ethnic diversity have become more important over the last years both politically and scientifically. One important issue regards the effect of ethnic heterogeneity on electoral turnout. Thus far, empirical studies analysing this effect in Europe have relied on the sole use of aggregate level data. I tackle this research gap by linking contextual neighbourhood data with individual voter data collected by the German Longitudinal Election Study (GLES). Thus, this paper offers new insights into the role ethnic heterogeneity plays in political participation. Germany as an exemplary case has become of special interest regarding international migration after the steady increase of asylum seekers since 2013 and its consequent political reaction toward the influx of refugees. Results show that neighbourhoods that are ethnically more heterogeneous are significantly associated with lower individual electoral turnout, even when key variables influencing turnout at the individual level are held constant.

Ethnic Stratification and Patterns of Income Inequality Around the World: A Cross-National Comparison of 123 Countries, Based on a New Index of Historic Ethnic Exploitation

Income distributions within countries vary tremendously in global comparison. While income inequality is generally higher in the United States than in Europe, extreme differences prevail in Sub-Saharan Africa and Latin America. Income inequality is particularly low in Scandinavia and Central East Europe, but also in Japan. In the last decades, global economic inequality between nation states has been declining while within-nation inequality has been increasing in many regions. The purpose of this paper is to explain the huge international variations in within-country income inequality, focusing upon the role of present-day ethnic diversity and historic ethnic exploitation (slavery)—two aspects rather neglected in most comparative sociological research. Three hypotheses about the origins and factors producing international differences in intra-national patterns of income inequality are formulated and tested on the basis of a newly created aggregate data set of 123 countries. Also a new indicator measuring historic ethnic exploitation on a global scale is introduced. In our empirical analysis, we describe the substantial differences in within-country income inequality on the global scale, and present evidence for the impact of historic and current ethnic structures as well as of political institutional factors both through descriptive and regression analyses. The results support the thesis of an impact of historic ethnic exploitation; it can be reduced by redistributive political institutions (welfare state, federalism, Communist systems). The effect of ethnic heterogeneity can be extinguished fully by these institutions.

Ethnic diversity, segregation and the social cohesion of neighbourhoods in London

The question of whether and how ethnic diversity affects the social cohesion of communities has become an increasingly prominent and contested topic of academic and political debate. In this paper we focus on a single city: London. As possibly the most ethnically diverse conurbation on the planet, London serves as a particularly suitable test-bed for theories about the effects of ethnic heterogeneity on prosocial attitudes. We find neighbourhood ethnic diversity in London to be positively related to the perceived social cohesion of neighbourhood residents, once the level of economic deprivation is accounted for. Ethnic segregation within neighbourhoods, on the other hand, is associated with lower levels of perceived social cohesion. Both effects are strongly moderated by the age of individual residents: diversity has a positive effect on social cohesion for young people but this effect dissipates in older age groups; the reverse pattern is found for ethnic segregation.

Ethnic Diversity and Preferences for Redistribution

In recent decades, the immigration of workers and refugees to Europe has increased substantially, and the composition of the population in many countries has consequently become much more heterogeneous in terms of ethnic background. If people exhibit in-group bias in the sense of being more altruistic to one's own kind, such increased heterogeneity will lead to reduced support for redistribution among natives. This paper exploits a nationwide program placing refugees in municipalities throughout Sweden during the period 1985-94 to isolate exogenous variation in immigrant shares. We match data on refugee placement to panel survey data on inhabitants of the receiving municipalities to estimate the causal effects of increased immigrant shares on preferences for redistribution. The results show that a larger immigrant population leads to less support for redistribution in the form of preferred social benefit levels. This reduction in support is especially pronounced for respondents with high income and wealth. We also establish that OLS estimators that do not properly deal with endogeneity problems - as in earlier studies - are likely to yield positively biased (i.e., less negative) effects of ethnic heterogeneity on preferences for redistribution.

Ethnic Diversity and Preferences for Redistribution

In recent decades, the immigration of workers and refugees to Europe has increased substantially, and the composition of the population in many countries has consequently become much more heterogeneous in terms of ethnic background. If people exhibit in-group bias in the sense of being more altruistic to one's own kind, such increased heterogeneity will lead to reduced support for redistribution among natives. This paper exploits a nationwide program placing refugees in municipalities throughout Sweden during the period 1985{94 to isolate exogenous variation in immigrant shares. We match data on refugee placement to panel survey data on inhabitants of the receiving municipalities to estimate the causal effects of increased immigrant shares on preferences for redistribution. The results show that a larger immigrant population leads to less support for redistribution in the form of preferred social benet levels. This reduction in support is especially pronounced for respondents with high income and wealth. We also establish that OLS estimators that do not properly deal with endogeneity problems|as in earlier studies|are likely to yield positively biased (i.e., less negative) effects of ethnic heterogeneity on preferences for redistribution.

Ethnic Polarization, Potential Conflict, and Civil Wars

This paper analyzes the relationship between ethnic fractionalization, polarization, and conflict. In recent years many authors have found empirical evidence that ethnic fractionalization has a negative effect on growth. One mechanism that can explain this nexus is the effect of ethnic heterogeneity on rent-seeking activities and the increase in potential conflict, which is negative for investment. However the empirical evidence supporting the effect of ethnic fractionalization on the incidence of civil conflicts is very weak. Although ethnic fractionalization may be important for growth, we argue that the channel is not through an increase in potential ethnic conflict. We discuss the appropriateness of indices of polarization to capture conflictive dimensions. We develop a new measure of ethnic heterogeneity that satisfies the basic properties associated with the concept of polarization. The empirical section shows that this index of ethnic polarization is a significant variable in the explanation of the incidence of civil wars. This result is robust to the presence of other indicators of ethnic heterogeneity, other sources of data for the construction of the index, and other data structures.