Religious Polarization and Under-Supply of Public Goods

Social heterogeneity results in a lower supply of public goods because of the conflict, diverse preferences and political insecurity that predominate in socially heterogeneous contexts. Despite its multiple stratifications along religious, caste and linguistic lines, India has scarce academic research on the impact of social heterogeneityon economic outcomes. I study the impact of religious polarization, measured through religious heterogeneity, on the supply of public goods at the sub-district level in India. I use anovel fixed effects panel and spatial data approach to establish this relationship and find a significant negative impact of religious polarization on public goods provision.

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