State history, historical legitimacy and modern ethnic diversity

Bleaney, Michael; Dimico, Arcangelo

Abstract

How much does the antiquity of states, and the sometimes arbitrary nature of colonial boundaries, explain the modern degree of theory of ethnic diversity and income disthnic diversity? It is shown that states with greater historical legitimacy (more continuity between the pre-colonial and post-colonial state) have less ethnic diversity. Historical legitimacy is more strongly correlated with ethnic diversity than the antiquity of states, genetic diversity or the duration of human settlement. Although historical legitimacy is particularly pertinent to Africa, the correlation also holds outside Africa.

Citation

Bleaney, M., & Dimico, A. (2016). State history, historical legitimacy and modern ethnic diversity. European Journal of Political Economy, 43, doi:10.1016/j.ejpoleco.2016.03.001

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Mar 17, 2016
• Online Publication Date: Mar 24, 2016
• Publication Date: Jun 1, 2016
• Deposit Date: Apr 15, 2016
• Publicly Available Date: Apr 15, 2016
• Journal: European Journal of Political Economy
• Print ISSN: 0176-2680
• Electronic ISSN: 1873-5703
• Publisher: Elsevier
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 43
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ejpoleco.2016.03.001
• Keywords: History, Legitimacy, Ethnic fractionalization, Development
• Public URL: http://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/id/eprint/32783
• Publisher URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0176268016300015
• Copyright Statement: Copyright information regarding this work can be found at the following address: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0