The Employment Effects of Ethnic Politics
American Economic Journal: Applied Economics
vol. 16,
no. 2, April 2024
(pp. 456-91)
Abstract
We study the labor market consequences of ethnic politics in African democracies. Using subnational georeferenced data from 15 countries from 1996 to 2017, we compare individuals from ethnicities linked to parties at the margin of electing a representative in the national parliament. Having a local ethnic party politician in parliament increases the likelihood of being employed by 2–3 percentage points. The effect is concentrated in the agricultural sector and mostly driven by self-employment, suggesting increased access to land as the main channel. We also show that religion and age are salient markers in African politics that trigger similar employment effects.Citation
Amodio, Francesco, Giorgio Chiovelli, and Sebastian Hohmann. 2024. "The Employment Effects of Ethnic Politics." American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, 16 (2): 456-91. DOI: 10.1257/app.20210579Additional Materials
JEL Classification
- D72 Political Processes: Rent-seeking, Lobbying, Elections, Legislatures, and Voting Behavior
- J15 Economics of Minorities, Races, Indigenous Peoples, and Immigrants; Non-labor Discrimination
- J23 Labor Demand
- J43 Agricultural Labor Markets
- O15 Economic Development: Human Resources; Human Development; Income Distribution; Migration
- O17 Formal and Informal Sectors; Shadow Economy; Institutional Arrangements
- Z12 Cultural Economics: Religion
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