The Value of Democracy: Evidence from Road Building in Kenya
利用肯尼亚1963-2011年地区道路建设数据，量化种族偏袒程度，发现与总统同族地区道路支出翻倍、铺路长度增五倍，而民主时期这种偏袒消失。
Ethnic favoritism is seen as antithetical to development. This paper provides credible quantification of the extent of ethnic favoritism using data on road building in Kenyan districts across the 1963–2011 period. Guided by a model, it then examines whether the transition in and out of democracy under the same president constrains or exacerbates ethnic favoritism. Across the post-independence period, we find strong evidence of ethnic favoritism: districts that share the ethnicity of the president receive twice as much expenditure on roads and have five times the length of paved roads built. This favoritism disappears during periods of democracy.