Demographic Change and Citizen Support for and Perceptions of Local Government

ABSTRACT Research suggests that increased racial and ethnic diversity can result in under‐provisioning of public services. The United States is increasingly diverse, and the Hispanic community is one of the fastest growing racial‐ethnic groups. Using both a descriptive approach, as well as an instrumental variable strategy to address concerns around endogenous sorting into communities, we find that the higher the growth of the share of Hispanic individuals in a school district, the less non‐Hispanic White individuals trust their school district and the less willing they are to pay increased taxes. We also find divergent preferences among Hispanics compared to non‐Hispanic Whites.