This study explores the consequences and origins of between-ethnicity economic inequality
both across and within countries. First, combining satellite images of nighttime luminosity
with the historical homelands of ethnolinguistic groups we construct measures of ethnic inequality
for a large sample of countries and show that the latter is strongly inversely related to
comparative development. Second, differences in geographic endowments across ethnic homelands
explain a sizable portion of ethnic inequality contributing to its persistence over time.
Third, exploiting across-district within-African countries variation using individual-level data
on ethnic identification and well-being from the Afrobarometer Surveys we find that betweenethnic-
group inequality is systematically linked to regional under-development. In this sample
we also explore the channels linking ethnic inequality to (under) development, finding that
ethnic inequality maps to political inequality, heightened perceptions of discrimination and
undersupply of public goods
