Measuring Regional Ethnolinguistic Diversity in Sub-Saharan Africa : Surveys versus GIS

This paper compares two approaches to measuring subnational ethnolinguistic diversity in Sub-Saharan Africa, one based on censuses and large-scale population surveys and the other relying on the use of geographic information systems (GIS). The two approaches yield sets of regional fractionalization...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Gershman, Boris, Rivera, Diego
Format: Journal Article
Published: Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the World Bank 2021
Subjects:
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/10986/36145
Description
Summary:This paper compares two approaches to measuring subnational ethnolinguistic diversity in Sub-Saharan Africa, one based on censuses and large-scale population surveys and the other relying on the use of geographic information systems (GIS). The two approaches yield sets of regional fractionalization indices that show a moderately positive correlation, with a stronger association across rural areas. These differences matter for empirical analysis: in a common sample of regions, survey-based indices of deep-rooted diversity show a more strongly negative association with a range of development indicators relative to their highest-quality GIS-based counterparts.