Ethnicity and Conflict: An Empirical Study

Abstract

We examine empirically the impact of ethnic divisions on con!ict, by using a speci>cation based on Esteban and Ray (2011). That theory links con!ict intensity to three indices of ethnic distribution: polarization, fractionalization, and the Gini-Greenberg index. The empirical analysis veri>es that these distributional measures are signi>cant correlates of con!ict. These effects persist as we introduce countryspeci >c measures of group cohesion and of the importance of public goods, and combine them with the distributional measures exactly as described by the theory.