A global map of amenities: Public goods, ethnic divisions and decentralization

Abstract

I analyze the effects of ethnic divisions on the provision of public goods in countries throughout the world. Using OpenStreetMap data, I construct a new, global dataset that pinpoints locations of public amenities, such as schools, hospitals, and libraries. I devise two new proxies to address the variability in the completeness of such data. I find that more autonomous subnational regions with a high degree of ethnic fractionalization provide significantly fewer productive public goods. Therefore, decentralization can decrease the provision of local public goods in areas characterized by higher levels of ethnic heterogeneity than those that prevail nationwide.