Abstract—
The article examines the influence of ethno-linguistic diversity on the rate of economic growth in the regions of the Russian Federation. The empirical results obtained confirm that ethnic diversity supports economic growth and that elasticities of growth rates with respect to the initial level of diversity differ by region and time period and depend both on the indices of ethnolinguistic fractionalization themselves and on the initial level of per capita income in the region. From the standpoint of the theoretical model, it can be concluded that there is an optimal level of ethnic diversity, as well as that this level, determined by the parameters of the population’s tolerance towards representatives of other ethnic groups, as well as the share of rent in income, has not been achieved in any of the Russian regions.
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Notes
From English “social planner.”
It is clear that this consideration of bargaining for resources is broader than interethnic competition, but certain parallels can be drawn, especially in the light of subsidies received by many national jurisdictions around the world in various forms.
In the English-speaking tradition of “bargaining power.”
From English “social planner.”
Calibration of the parameters of this model is not very useful, since it is built under the simplifying assumption that all groups are equal in size. However, based on empirical analysis, it can be assumed that the parameter on average for the regions is 0.20–0.24.
This index is also known as the Elf-index, i.e., index of ethno-linguistic fractionalization. We also use the term “diversification index.”
This is quite clearly seen from the statistics published by Rosstat on GRP and actual consumption of the population and subjects of the Federation.
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The study was supported by grant 19-010-00731A “Comprehensive analysis of the heterogeneity of Russian regions and assessment of its impact on socio-economic development”.
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Suslov, N.I., Isupova, E.N. & Ivanova, A.I. Ethnic Diversity in Russian Regions and Economic Growth: Theoretical Model and Its Approbation on Panel Data. Stud. Russ. Econ. Dev. 33, 149–156 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1134/S1075700722020149
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1134/S1075700722020149