%0 Report
        %A Kok, Chun Chee
%A Lim, Gedeon
%A Shariat, Danial
%A Siddique, Abu
%A Tsuda, Shunsuke
        %T Interethnic Proximity and Political Development
        %D 2025
        %8 2025 Mar
        %I Institute of Labor Economics (IZA)
        %C Bonn
        %7 IZA Discussion Paper
        %N 17776
        %U https://www.iza.org/publications/dp17776
        %X We exploit a population resettlement program of ethnic minorities in Malaysia to identify long-run effects of interethnic proximity on economic and political development. From 1948 to 1951, the colonial government moved 500,000 rural Chinese into hundreds of isolated, mono-ethnic camps. In ethnic majority Malay communities adjacent to these camps, we find greater economic prosperity and lower vote shares for the ethno-nationalist Malay party. Effects are stronger in areas with historical, interethnic economic complementarities. Primary survey data suggests that trust-building and social integration were key channels. Our findings highlight the importance of persistent, localized contact in the co-evolution of economic and political development.
        %K Malaysia
%K development
%K political preference
%K ethnicity
%K Chinese