The Impact of Ethnic Diversity in Bureaucracies: Evidence from the Nigerian Civil Service
American Economic Review
vol. 105,
no. 5, May 2015
(pp. 457-61)
Abstract
We document the correlation between the workplace diversity in bureaucratic organizations and public service delivery. We do so in the context of Nigeria, where ethnicity is a salient form of self-identity. We thus expand the empirical management literature highlighting beneficial effects of workplace diversity, that has focused on private sector firms operating in high-income settings. Our analysis combines two data sources: (i) a survey to over 4,000 bureaucrats eliciting their ethnic identities; (ii) independent engineering assessments of completion rates for 4,700 public sector projects. The ethnic diversity of bureaucracies matters positively: a one standard deviation increase in the ethnic diversity of bureaucrats corresponds to 9 percent higher completion rates. In line with the management literature from private sector firms in high-income countries, this evidence highlights a potentially positive side of ethnic diversity in public sector organizations, in the context of Sub-Saharan Africa.Citation
Rasul, Imran, and Daniel Rogger. 2015. "The Impact of Ethnic Diversity in Bureaucracies: Evidence from the Nigerian Civil Service." American Economic Review, 105 (5): 457-61. DOI: 10.1257/aer.p20151003Additional Materials
JEL Classification
- D73 Bureaucracy; Administrative Processes in Public Organizations; Corruption
- H83 Public Administration; Public Sector Accounting and Audits
- J15 Economics of Minorities, Races, Immigrants; Non-labor Discrimination
- O15 Human Resources; Human Development; Income Distribution; Migration
- O17 Formal and Informal Sectors; Shadow Economy; Institutional Arrangements