Breaking through the Ethnic Growth Trap

I highlight how mutual negative feedback between ethnic divisions, under-investment in public goods and violent conflict imply the presence of ethnic growth traps in many developing societies. I then identify important directions for how developing societies can break out of such ethnic growth traps and instead leverage the gains that can often be had from ethnic diversity. To do this requires deepening our social science understanding of a number of key questions: the roots of ethnic divisions and mobilization, the strengthening of governance institutions and capacity, both formal and at the level of communities, and the understanding of individual level policies for mitigating polarization and conflict. Drawing on broader empirical patterns and specific examples from sub-Saharan Africa, South Asia and Japan, I highlight directions for promising areas of research into policies for breaking out of the ethnic growth trap.