Are Uzbeks Better Off than Kyrgyz? Measuring and Decomposing Horizontal Inequality

Abstract

Standard-Nutzungsbedingungen:Die Dokumente auf EconStor dürfen zu eigenen wissenschaftlichen Zwecken und zum Privatgebrauch gespeichert und kopiert werden.Sie dürfen die Dokumente nicht für öffentliche oder kommerzielle Zwecke vervielfältigen, öffentlich ausstellen, öffentlich zugänglich machen, vertreiben oder anderweitig nutzen.Sofern die Verfasser die Dokumente unter Open-Content-Lizenzen (insbesondere CC-Lizenzen) zur Verfügung gestellt haben sollten, gelten abweichend von diesen Nutzungsbedingungen die in der dort genannten Lizenz gewährten Nutzungsrechte. We investigate horizontal inequality between two conflictive ethnic groups, the Kyrgyz and the Uzbeks in Kyrgyzstan, by employing the Oaxaca-Blinder decomposition. This technique has a long tradition in labour economics but has not been used in the literature that links ethnic inequality and violent conflict. We measure welfare differentials between Kyrgyz and Uzbeks and find that, depending on the welfare indicator used, Uzbeks are either better off or worse off than Kyrgyz. Specifically, we find that Uzbeks are not better off, if welfare is measured in terms of household expenditure. They are, however, clearly more prosperous in terms of the value and the size of their houses -at least in urban areas, where most Uzbeks reside. The picture is mixed when we use ownership of assets as a welfare measure. We conclude that the choice of welfare indicator is essential in studies of horizontal inequality, as it is most likely the more visible aspects of life that drive people's perceptions about other ethnic groups' standard of living. Decomposing welfare differentials between Kyrgyz and Uzbeks shows that the gap in expenditure is due to differences in group characteristics, such as household composition and ownership of livestock, whereas the gap in assets and house values remains unexplained. Terms of use: Documents in

Understanding Twenty Years of Inequality and Poverty Trends in Russia

“…Poverty rates (not shown for brevity) followed very similar trends, with even stronger declines in the post 1998 period.5 Previous studies on Ukraine, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan also document large increase in average income levels since 2000(Esenaliev and Steiner, 2012;Bykova et al, 2018).…”

Group Normative Propensities, Societal Positioning, and Childbearing: Ethno-linguistic Variation in Completed and Desired Fertility in Transitional Central Asia

“…Although the two largest groups share Turkic linguistic roots and the Islamic religion, the relations between them have been marked by tensions that occasionally erupted into open confrontations, most recently culminating in massive anti-Uzbek violence in 2010 ( Matveeva et al, 2012 ). Notably, that violence has been said to be at least partially motivated by Kyrgyz-Uzbek economic disparities ( Esenaliev & Steiner, 2012 ). Indeed, Agadjanian and Oh (2020) reported a persistent net earnings advantage of Uzbeks over Kyrgyz.…”

Exclusion, violence, and optimism: Ethnic divides in Kyrgyzstan

“…The violence was the culmination of the overall political instability in Kyrgyzstan and unfolded against a backdrop of lackluster macroeconomic performance further aggravated by the global economic recession. It was triggered by the ousting of then Kyrgyzstan’s president, a southerner, as a result of mass public protests and was fueled by the widespread, even if unfounded, popular perception of Uzbeks’ excessive wealth (Esenaliev and Steiner, 2012). Despite this massive violence, both incentives and opportunities for Kyrgyzstan’s Uzbeks to move to Uzbekistan have been limited as the economy of that neighboring country is not very strong and the border crossing between the two nations remained significantly restricted until very recently.…”