Replication Data for: Explaining Out-Group Bias in Weak States: Religion and Legibility in the 1891/1892 Russian Famine

Two dominant explanations for ethnic bias in distributional outcomes are electoral incentives and outgroup prejudice. The paper proposes a novel, complementary explanation for this phenomenon: variation in legibility across ethnic groups. I argue that states will allocate fewer resources to groups from which they cannot gather accurate information and collect taxes. I support this argument using original data on state aid during the 1891-92 famine in the Russian Empire. Qualitative and quantitative analyses show that districts with a larger Muslim population experienced higher famine mortality, but received less generous public assistance. Historically ruled via religious intermediaries, the Muslims were less legible and generated lower fiscal revenues. State officials could not guarantee the repayment of food loans or collect tax arrears from Muslim communes, so they were more likely to withhold aid. State relief did not vary with the presence of other minorities, which were more legible and generated more revenue.