Measuring Regional Ethnolinguistic Diversity in Sub-Saharan Africa: Surveys versus GIS
Publication Year: 2020
Author(s): Gershman B, Rivera D
Abstract:
Ethnolinguistic diversity has long been viewed as an important determinant of various development outcomes, including income per capita, public goods provision, quality of governance, and violent conflict. Given the extraordinary diversity of its population, the political salience of ethnicity, and the relatively low rates of economic growth, the African continent occupies a special place in this line of research. Naturally, reliable data are the key ingredient in any empirical study. While there are several datasets on ethnic and linguistic diversity commonly used in cross-country analyses, there are no similarly established sources at the subnational level. The study adopts two approaches which yield sets of regional fractionalization indices that show a moderately positive correlation, with a stronger association across rural areas. These differences matter for empirical analysis: in a common sample of regions, survey-based indices of deep-rooted diversity show a more strongly negative association with a range of development indicators relative to their highest-quality GIS-based counterparts.
Source of Publication: World Bank
Vol/Issue: 34(Supplement), 2020, S40–S45
DOI No.: 10.1093/wber/lhz032
Publisher/Organisation: World Bank
Theme: Traditional/ Indigenous Knowledge | Subtheme: Ethnolinguistics