Doctoral Dissertation Research in Political Science: Diversity and Development of Pluralism and Poverty? Government Institutions and the Economic Development of Multiethnic

为什么这么多种族多元化的社会是贫穷的？种族多样性是否导致经济不发达？如果是，又是如何造成的？这篇论文的研究试图解释为什么这么多不同种族的国家不发达，以及一些国家是如何设法避免陷入贫困陷阱的，而他们的许多同龄人却在其中苦苦挣扎。政府机构提供了关键。这些机构定义的激励结构决定了种族如何进入或远离政治以及稀缺资源的政治配置：一些机构产生相对良性的结果，而另一些机构则倾向于基于种族认同的零和再分配政治。为了实现这一目标，PI采用了多方法研究设计。对跨国数据的经济计量分析将使国际和平研究所能够在系统一级针对广泛的国家样本测试族裔多样性和政府机构的影响。为了探索聚合过程的微观基础，PI将通过精英访谈、人口调查和调查附带的小实验相结合，在黎巴嫩和也门收集个人层面的数据。本论文的研究填补了我们在理解民族多样性如何影响经济发展方面的几个重要空白。它通过扩大我们对政府机构如何引导(可能是先发制人)潜在的社会分裂的理解，为政治学做出了贡献。它通过分析潜在的分裂是如何被将其转化为政治竞争的制度强化或稀释的方式，加深了我们对分裂社会中经济发展的理解。最后，这个项目可能具有深远的政策影响。由于政府机构是潜在的政策杠杆，了解它们在不同社会中的作用可以帮助政策制定者选择有助于缓解种族分裂潜在负面影响的机构。从更广泛的影响来看，本文将有助于政策制定者做出适当的政府反应和机构决策，目的是减轻基于种族的政治竞争对经济发展的影响。因此，除了引起学术界的兴趣外，它还谈到了不同种族国家的政府官员以及为世界银行和国际货币基金组织等国际发展机构工作的官员面临的困惑和担忧。更好地了解政府机构在扩大或减少族裔多样性对发展的影响方面所发挥的作用，将有助于制定适当的发展政策。

Why are so many ethnically diverse societies poor? Does ethnic diversity cause economic underdevelopment, and if so, how? This dissertation research seeks to explain why so many ethnically diverse countries are underdeveloped, and how some have managed to avoid the poverty traps in which so many of their peers languish. Government institutions provide the key. The incentive structures defined by these institutions determine how ethnicity is channeled into or away from politics and the political allocation of scarce resources: some institutions produce relatively benign outcomes, while others favor zero-sum redistributive politics based on ethnic identity. To accomplish this goal, the PI employs a multi-method research design. Econometric analysis of cross-national data will allows the PI to test the impact of ethnic diversity and government institutions at the level of the system against a broad sample of countries. To explore the microfoundations of the aggregation process, the PI will collect individual-level data in Lebanon and Yemen via a combination of elite interviews, population surveys, and vignette experiments attached to the surveys. This dissertation research fills several important gaps in our understanding of how ethnic diversity affects economic development. It contributes to political science by expanding our understanding of how government institutions channel, and possibly pre-empt, potential social cleavages. It augments our understanding of economic development in divided societies by analyzing the ways in which latent cleavages are either reinforced or diluted by the institutions that translate them into political competition. Finally, this project has potentially far-reaching policy implications. Insofar as government institutions are potential policy levers, understanding how they function in different societies can help policymakers select institutions that can help mitigate the potentially negative effects of ethnic divisions.In terms of broader impact, this dissertation will help inform policymaker decisions toward appropriate government responses and institutions with the aim of mitigating the impact of ethnically-based political competition on economic development. Hence, beyond its interest to academics, it speaks to the puzzles and concerns facing government officials in ethnically diverse states, as well as those working for international development agencies such as the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund. A better understanding of the role government institutions play in magnifying or reducing the impact of ethnic diversity on development will aid in formulating appropriate devel-opment policy.