Calculation and Conscience: Motivations for the Substantive Representation of Ethnic Minorities

A vast body of work shows that ethnic and racial minority legislators are more likely to represent their group's interests compared to dominant group legislators. However, it is unclear whether this is due to intrinsic motivation or electoral incentives. We argue that previous research designs cannot answer this question. Conversely, we use a regression discontinuity design (RDD) to analyze the increase in minority representation in the UK Parliament after 2010. By comparing white MPs who narrowly beat minority candidates to minority MPs who narrowly beat white candidates, the RDD controls for electoral incentives since it holds constant constituency factors correlated with a minority parliamentary win. Analyzing over 1 million parliamentary speeches and questions, we find that minority MPs are more likely than white MPs to discuss issues important to ethnic minorities. Our findings suggest that minority substantive representation is likely driven, at least in part, by minority MPs' intrinsic motivation.