Explaining Out-Group Bias in Weak States

Religion and Legibility in the 1891/1892 Russian Famine

Bibliographic Data

ID6410154
AuthorsVolha Charnysh (0000-0002-5089-3818, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, corresponding author)
Year2022
Volume74
Issue2
Pages205-248
Publication date2022-04-01
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueWorld Politics (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0043-8871 • E-ISSN: 1086-3338
PublisherProject MUSE (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.1017/s004388712100023x
OpenAlexW4223558647
LanguageEN
Citations received7
References cited49

Two dominant explanations for ethnic bias in distributional outcomes are electoral incentives and out-group prejudice. This article proposes a novel and complementary explanation for the phenomenon: variation in legibility across ethnic groups. The author argues that states will allocate fewer resources to groups from which they cannot gather accurate information or collect taxes. The argument is supported by original data on state aid from the 1891/1892 famine in the Russian Empire. Qualitative and quantitative analyses show that districts with a larger Muslim population experienced higher famine mortality and received less generous public assistance. The Muslims, historically ruled via religious intermediaries, were less legible to state officials and generated lower fiscal revenues. State officials could not count on the repayment of food loans or collect tax arrears from Muslim communes, so they were more likely to withhold aid. State relief did not vary with the presence of other minorities that were more legible and generated more revenue

Argument (complex analysis · Arrears · Demographic economics · Economics · Ethnic group · Famine · Incentive · Market economy · Political economy · Political science · Population · Revenue · Sociology · State (computer science · Culture, Economy, and Development Studies · Demography · Finance · Law · Local Government Finance and Decentralization · Religion and Society Interactions

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