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Do the Effects of Temporary Ethnic Group Quotas Persist? Evidence from India

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  • Rikhil R. Bhavnani

Abstract

Do electoral quotas for ethnic groups continue to improve their chances of winning elections after quotas are withdrawn? This is an important question since ethnic group quotas are common, and are often intended to be temporary. Using natural experiments, I find that electoral quotas for India's "scheduled castes" (SCs) fail to boost SCs' chances of winning office after they are discontinued. These results contrast with the significant positive effects of past women's quotas found in similar contexts.

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  • Rikhil R. Bhavnani, 2017. "Do the Effects of Temporary Ethnic Group Quotas Persist? Evidence from India," American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, American Economic Association, vol. 9(3), pages 105-123, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:aea:aejapp:v:9:y:2017:i:3:p:105-23
    Note: DOI: 10.1257/app.20160030
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    1. De Paola, Maria & Scoppa, Vincenzo & Lombardo, Rosetta, 2010. "Can gender quotas break down negative stereotypes? Evidence from changes in electoral rules," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 94(5-6), pages 344-353, June.
    2. Klaus Deininger & Songqing Jin & Hari K. Nagarajan & Fang Xia, 2015. "Does Female Reservation Affect Long-Term Political Outcomes? Evidence from Rural India," Journal of Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 51(1), pages 32-49, January.
    3. Chin, Aimee & Prakash, Nishith, 2011. "The redistributive effects of political reservation for minorities: Evidence from India," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 96(2), pages 265-277, November.
    4. Chauchard, Simon, 2014. "Can Descriptive Representation Change Beliefs about a Stigmatized Group? Evidence from Rural India," American Political Science Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 108(2), pages 403-422, May.
    5. Dunning, Thad & Nilekani, Janhavi, 2013. "Ethnic Quotas and Political Mobilization: Caste, Parties, and Distribution in Indian Village Councils," American Political Science Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 107(1), pages 35-56, February.
    6. Bhavnani, Rikhil R., 2009. "Do Electoral Quotas Work after They Are Withdrawn? Evidence from a Natural Experiment in India," American Political Science Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 103(1), pages 23-35, February.
    7. Aidt, T. & Golden, M. A. & Tiwari, D., 2011. "Incumbents and Criminals in the Indian National Legislature," Cambridge Working Papers in Economics 1157, Faculty of Economics, University of Cambridge.
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    Cited by:

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    2. Ghosh, Sugata & Mitra, Anirban, 2022. "Ethnic identities, public spending and political regimes," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 50(1), pages 256-279.
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    5. Aneja, Abhay & Ritadhi, S.K., 2022. "Can political parties improve minority wellbeing? Evidence from India’s “Silent Revolution”," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 158(C).
    6. Tushar Bharati, 2020. "Co-ethnic Voters and Candidate Choice by Political Parties: Evidence from India," Economics Discussion / Working Papers 20-05, The University of Western Australia, Department of Economics.
    7. Rikhil R. Bhavnani & Alexander Lee, 2021. "Does Affirmative Action Worsen Bureaucratic Performance? Evidence from the Indian Administrative Service," American Journal of Political Science, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 65(1), pages 5-20, January.
    8. Anderson, Siwan & Francois, Patrick, 2023. "Reservations and the politics of fear," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 225(C).
    9. Motghare, Swapnil, 2023. "Contemporaneous and lasting effects of electoral gender quotas," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 170(C).
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    11. Joo, Hailey Hayeon & Lee, Jungmin, 2018. "Encountering female politicians," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 151(C), pages 88-122.
    12. Ao, Chon-Kit & Chatterjee, Somdeep, 2018. "The Effects of Political Reservations on Credit Access and Borrowing Composition: New Evidence from India," GLO Discussion Paper Series 227, Global Labor Organization (GLO).

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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • D72 - Microeconomics - - Analysis of Collective Decision-Making - - - Political Processes: Rent-seeking, Lobbying, Elections, Legislatures, and Voting Behavior
    • J15 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Economics of Minorities, Races, Indigenous Peoples, and Immigrants; Non-labor Discrimination
    • J16 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Economics of Gender; Non-labor Discrimination
    • O15 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Economic Development: Human Resources; Human Development; Income Distribution; Migration
    • O17 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Formal and Informal Sectors; Shadow Economy; Institutional Arrangements
    • Z13 - Other Special Topics - - Cultural Economics - - - Economic Sociology; Economic Anthropology; Language; Social and Economic Stratification

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