Ethnic Heterogeneity and the Private Provision of Public Goods

Theoretically, more ethnic heterogeneity may lead to higher aggregate provision of privately provided public goods if ethnic heterogeneity increases the uncertainty about the aggregate level of public good provision. Empirical results in this article, which are based on household survey data from Kampala, Uganda, show robust evidence that an increase in ethnic heterogeneity is associated with an increase in the willingness to contribute to public goods. The findings suggest that the mechanism, through which public goods are provided, that is whether they are provided publicly or privately, is important in understanding the role of ethnic diversity in public goods provision.