Revisiting the Relationship between Ethnic Diversity and Preferences for Redistribution

In this paper, we return to the question raised in Dahlberg et al. (2012) concerning a causal relationship between ethnic diversity and preferences for redistribution. A re-analysis of their study indicates that results are based on an endogenous instrument and severe sample attrition bias. Correcting for either of these two problems reveals that there is no relationship between ethnic diversity and preferences for redistribution. More generally, we provide results that put into question the conventional description of the Swedish refugee placement policy.