The Employment Effects of Ethnic Politics

Francesco Amodio, Giorgio Chiovelli and Sebastian Hohmann

No 14170, CEPR Discussion Papers from C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers

Abstract: This paper studies the labor market consequences of ethnic politics in African democracies. Using data from 15 countries, 32 elections, and more than 400,000 individuals, we implement a regression discontinuity design that compares individuals from ethnicities connected to parties at the margin of electing a local representative in the national parliament. Having a local ethnic party politician in parliament increases the likelihood of being employed by 2-3 pp. The available evidence supports the hypothesis that this effect results from strategic interactions between politicians and traditional leaders, the latter being empowered to allocate land and agricultural jobs in exchange for votes.

Keywords: Ethnic politics; Employment; Democracy; Traditional leaders; Africa (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: J15 J70 O10 P26 Q15 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019-12
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-afr, nep-cdm and nep-pol
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

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Related works:
Journal Article: The Employment Effects of Ethnic Politics (2024)
Working Paper: The Employment Effects of Ethnic Politics (2019)
Working Paper: The Employment Effects of Ethnic Politics (2019)
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