Abstract

The paper develops arguments that suggest the role of inter-group economic inequality in breeding inter-group hostility, while addressing opposing opinions forwarded in the literature. After an overview of the main explanations of inter-group conflict, the paper endeavors to provide empirical support for its advocated causal claim. The methodological choice is a large-N cross-national research design, which culminates in multivariate regression models and tests several potential determinants of the inter-group conflict that have been promoted thus far. The empirical work is based on two previously existing datasets focused on data about communal groups. They are well-known in the profession as the Minorities at Risk (MAR, of Gurr and co-authors) and the Ethnic Power Relations (EPR, of Cederman and co-authors) data. The compiled dataset spans 1999 through 2009, but original MAR coding is available for 2004-06, and EPR coding for 1999-2005 only. In order to extend available data on a larger set of observations, the paper applies a multiple imputation procedure carried out by King et al.’s AMELIA software. Results based on both the original data and the multiply imputed datasets are reported. Basically, they support the impact of economic inequality on inter-group hostility, measured either as group grievance or violent conflict.