Allocation of public goods, ethnic favouritism and the risk of local ethnic wars in sub-Saharan Africa

ABSTRACT

Ethnic favouritism in the distribution of public goods has been a common problem in multi-ethnic countries of Sub-Saharan Africa. Is inequitable allocation of public goods associated with ethnic conflict and war? This study connects the literatures on ethnic competition, rent-seeking and public goods and examines whether impartial allocation of public goods by governments affect the onset of local ethnic wars in 40 countries in sub-Saharan Africa. It is expected that particularistic policy-making in the allocation of public goods can increase the risk of local ethnic wars in sub-Saharan Africa because it can contribute to horizontal group grievances and rent-seeking over state resources. Analyses of 40 sub-Saharan African countries from 1946 to 2010 show that a one standard deviation change public versus particularistic goods provision appears to reduce the risk of local ethnic wars by a substantial 27–59% with consideration of a battery of control variables. To facilitate peace in the sub-Saharan countries, policy makers and states should promote impartial policies targeted at the allocation of public goods for all communities and groups.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

1 After merging all the data, the following 40 Sub-Saharan African countries appeared as included in the dataset: Angola, Benin, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Eritrea, Eswatini, Ethiopia, Gabon, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Ivory Coast, Kenya, Lesotho, Liberia, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Mauritania, Mozambique, Namibia, Niger, Nigeria, Republic of the Congo, Rwanda, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Somalia, South Africa, Tanzania, The Gambia, Togo, Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe.