The Origins of Ethnolinguistic Diversity: Theory and Evidence

This research examines theoretically and empirically the economic origins of ethnolinguistic diversity. The empirical analysis constructs detailed data on the distribution of land quality and elevation across contiguous regions, virtual and real countries, and shows that variation in elevation and land quality has contributed signi…cantly to the emergence and persistence of ethnic fractionalization. The empirical and historical evidence support the theoretical analysis, according to which heterogeneous land endowments generated region speci…c human capital, limiting population mobility and leading to the formation of localized ethnicities and languages. The research contributes to the understanding of the emergence of ethnicities and their spatial distribution and o¤ers a distinction between the natural, geographically driven, versus the arti…cial, man-made, components of contemporary ethnic diversity. Keywords: Ethnic Diversity, Geography, Technological Progress, Human Capital, Colonization. JEL classi…cation Numbers: O11, O12, O15, O33, O40, J20, J24. Part of this research circulated earlier under the title "Ethnolinguistic Diversity: Origins and Implications." I am indebted to Oded Galor for his constant advice and mentorship. Daron Acemoglu, Roland Benabou, James Fearon, Andrew Foster, Ioanna Grypari, Peter Howitt, Masayuki Kudamatsu, Nippe Lagerlof, David Laitin, Ashley Lester, Ross Levine, Glenn Loury, Ignacio Palacios-Huerta, Stephen Ross, Yona Rubinstein, Francesco Trebbi and David Weil provided valuable comments. I would like, also, to thank the participants at the 2007 NEUDC Conference, the 2007 LAMES Meetings in Bogotá, the 2007 NBER Summer Institute on Income Inequality and Growth and the 2008 Ethnicity Conference in Budapest, as well as the seminar participants at Brown University, Chicago GSB, Collegio Carlo Alberto, Dartmouth College, EIEF, IIES, Princeton University, Stanford GSB, Tufts University, UCL, University of Copenhagen, University of Connecticut, University of Cyprus, University of Gothenburg, University of Houston, Warwick University, Yale University for the useful discussions. Lynn Carlsson’s ArcGis expertise proved of invaluable assistance. Financial support from the Watson Institute’s research project “Income Distribution across and within Countries” at Brown University is gratefully acknowledged.