Within-country religious diversity and the performance of private participation infrastructure projects

This paper investigates the impact of within-country religious diversity on the performance of private participation infrastructure projects. Our analysis of 8139 projects in 33 countries (1990-2014) shows that higher levels of within-country religious diversity are associated with a higher risk of project failure. This negative effect is exacerbated in greenfield projects and when a project's main sponsor is a foreign firm. In contrast, we find no moderation effect for local government ownership. The study contributes to the ongoing debate regarding the effects of within-country diversity on foreign business ventures.