The Employment Effects of Ethnic Politics

Francesco Amodio, Giorgio Chiovelli and Sebastian Hohmann

American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, 2024, vol. 16, issue 2, 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.

JEL-codes: D72 J15 J23 J43 O15 O17 Z12 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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Related works:
Working Paper: The Employment Effects of Ethnic Politics (2019)
Working Paper: The Employment Effects of Ethnic Politics (2019)
Working Paper: The Employment Effects of Ethnic Politics (2019)
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DOI: 10.1257/app.20210579

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