Working Papers in Economics,
University of Bergen, Department of Economics

Abstract: This paper presents a new global dataset on the geocode locations of public amenities, e.g., schools, hospitals or libraries, based on OpenStreetMap data. Volunteered geocoded information can be systematically incomplete; therefore, we develop and study two new proxies for the degree of completeness of OSM data in first-level administrative regions. Using our new data, we study the effects of decentralization and ethnic divisions on the provision of public amenities associated with various public goods. We find strong evidence for the existence of collective action failure at the subnational Level worldwide. More autonomous regions with high degrees of ethnic fractionalization provide significantly fewer public amenities than others.

Keywords: public goods; amenities; decentralization; ethnic fractionalization; OpenStreetMap

JEL-codes: C82; D72; H41; H75; H77; R53

48 pages, September 20, 2019

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