Explaining the Demand for Sovereignty
Why do groups want to secede and where are we most likely to see demands for self-determination? This paper proposes an economic explanation whereby a tradeoff between income and sovereignty implies that, other things being equal, richer regions ar...
| Main Authors: | , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Policy Research Working Paper |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
2012
|
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://www-wds.worldbank.org/external/default/main?menuPK=64187510&pagePK=64193027&piPK=64187937&theSitePK=523679&menuPK=64187510&searchMenuPK=64187283&siteName=WDS&entityID=000158349_20111128082306 http://hdl.handle.net/10986/3656 |
| Summary: | Why do groups want to secede and where
are we most likely to see demands for self-determination?
This paper proposes an economic explanation whereby a
tradeoff between income and sovereignty implies that, other
things being equal, richer regions are more likely to want
more autonomy and conflict arises due to a disparity between
desired and actual levels of sovereignty. The authors
provide simple empirical tests using new data collected at
the level of second-tier administrative subdivisions in 48
decentralized countries. They find a positive association
between, on the one hand, relative regional income, regional
population share, natural resource endowment, and regional
inter-personal inequality and, on the other hand, observed
sovereignty levels. Ethnically distinct regions have lower
sovereignty, but this association is only conditional on
controlling for the interactive effects between ethnic
distinctiveness and regional inter-personal inequality. |
|---|