Identity conflict, ethnocentrism and social cohesion

Matteo Sestito

Journal of Development Economics, 2025, vol. 174, issue C

Abstract: This paper uses a novel dataset on ethnic warfare to shed light on how conflict affects social identification and cohesion. A large body of anecdotal studies suggests that ethnic identities become more salient at times of conflict. Using data from thirty-six African countries, I provide econometric evidence to this notion. The relationship between ethnic conflict and various measures of social cohesion is also examined, revealing a positive link between the two. The finding is understood as a result of the ethnocentric dynamics generated by conflict: as warfare strengthens ethnic identification, prosocial behaviour increases, albeit primarily towards co-ethnics. This parochial interpretation is strengthened by the use of remote violence and the conditionality of conflict-induced prosocial behaviour on low levels of ethnic fractionalisation.

Keywords: Ethnic conflict; Social cohesion; Identity; Africa (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: D74 N47 O55 Z13 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0304387824001755
Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:deveco:v:174:y:2025:i:c:s0304387824001755

DOI: 10.1016/j.jdeveco.2024.103426

Access Statistics for this article

Journal of Development Economics is currently edited by M. R. Rosenzweig

More articles in Journal of Development Economics from Elsevier
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Catherine Liu ().