One for You, Two for Me: Support for Public Goods Investment in Diverse Communities

Type Working Paper
Title One for You, Two for Me: Support for Public Goods Investment in Diverse Communities
Author(s)
Publication (Day/Month/Year) 2013
URL http://faculty2.ucmerced.edu/jtrounstine/14U_7.pdf
Abstract
Scholars have shown that diversity is associated with a weaker commitment to the provision of collective goods.  However, we lack evidence at the individual level that explains this pattern in the United States.  In this paper I show that white individuals living in more homogenous communities are more supportive of public goods spending than those who live in more diverse communities.  I use restricted access data from the General Social Survey to account for the selection problem that racially conservative people live in less diverse communities.  The evidence indicates that conservative spending preferences in diverse communities are driven by reluctance among whites to support public expenditures that are perceived to benefit minorities.  

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