Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/177768 
Year of Publication: 
2017
Series/Report no.: 
Quaderni - Working Paper DSE No. 1114
Publisher: 
Alma Mater Studiorum - Università di Bologna, Dipartimento di Scienze Economiche (DSE), Bologna
Abstract: 
We exploit a unique dataset merging data on individual socio-economic characteristics and political participation in an Italian municipality to investigate the relationship between ethnic diversity in residential neighborhoods and individuals' propensity to vote. We document a sizable negative impact of diversity on overall electoral turnout which reflects differential effects at the individual level, depending on household equivalent income. Specifically, we show that ethnic heterogeneity in the neighborhood reduces the political participation of the poor, while it fosters that of the more affluent. These results highlight a potential democratic deficit stemming from reduced and unequal electoral turnout in increasingly ethnically heterogeneous neighborhoods.
Subjects: 
Ethnic heterogeneity
Electoral turnout
Income
JEL: 
D720
Persistent Identifier of the first edition: 
Creative Commons License: 
cc-by-nc Logo
Document Type: 
Working Paper

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