Unity in diversity: Socioeconomic aspects and growth of conflict in indonesia

The world has experienced an increase in conflict and tension over the years. Indonesia, a country with a high degree of ethnic diversity and income inequality, has had the same experience. These conditions have inspired many studies on conflict globally, but the findings vary. Debate continues on whether conflict is due to social factors, such as ethnic diversity, or economic conditions, such as income inequality. This study aims to ex-amine the relationship between ethnic diversity and income inequality in relation to the intensity of conflict in Indonesia by using the Village Potency Statistics 2011 combined with the Population Census 2010 and the National Social Economic Survey 2010. Econometric estimations using ordinary least squares and zero in-flated negative binomial regression confirm that a U-shaped correlation exists between the ethnic fractional-ization index and the intensity of conflict and a positive correlation between income gap and the intensity of conflict. Moreover, this study shows that the economic aspects have a greater influence on conflict than the social aspects. This study motivates the government to carefully manage diversity in Indonesia so that poten-tial conflicts could be reduced or mitigated.