IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/spr/ijlaec/v59y2016i2d10.1007_s41027-017-0053-8.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Social exclusion and caste discrimination in public and private sectors in India: A decomposition analysis

Author

Listed:
  • S. Madheswaran

    (Institute for Social and Economic Change)

  • Smrutirekha Singhari

    (Institute for Social and Economic Change)

Abstract

This paper provides an empirical analysis of caste discrimination in the regular urban labour market in India. The affirmative action policy is confined to the minuscule public sector and excludes the vast private sector; therefore, analysis of caste discrimination has been conducted separately for public and private sector workers. To examine the wage gap between workers of forward castes (others) and lower castes (Scheduled Castes), the 50th, 61st, and 68th rounds of the Employment and Unemployment Survey data of the National Sample Survey Organisation (NSSO) have been used. The main conclusions, based on decomposition analysis, are that (a) endowment difference contributes more than discrimination to the raw wage gap; so, expanding educational opportunities for Scheduled Castes can be a useful strategy to reduce discriminatory treatment against them; (b) wages are lower for Scheduled Castes than for equally qualified forward castes by 19.4 per cent in the public sector and by 31.7 per cent in the private sector; (c) occupational discrimination, or unequal access to jobs, is more important than wage discrimination in both public and private sectors; and (d) the quantile regression results reveal a “glass ceiling effect” in the private sector and a “sticky floor effect” in the public sector. The empirical findings provide strong evidence for the extension of affirmative action policy in the private sector.

Suggested Citation

  • S. Madheswaran & Smrutirekha Singhari, 2016. "Social exclusion and caste discrimination in public and private sectors in India: A decomposition analysis," The Indian Journal of Labour Economics, Springer;The Indian Society of Labour Economics (ISLE), vol. 59(2), pages 175-201, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:ijlaec:v:59:y:2016:i:2:d:10.1007_s41027-017-0053-8
    DOI: 10.1007/s41027-017-0053-8
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s41027-017-0053-8
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s41027-017-0053-8?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Deshpande, Ashwini & Weisskopf, Thomas E., 2014. "Does Affirmative Action Reduce Productivity? A Case Study of the Indian Railways," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 64(C), pages 169-180.
    2. Becker, Gary S., 1971. "The Economics of Discrimination," University of Chicago Press Economics Books, University of Chicago Press, edition 2, number 9780226041162, September.
    3. Oaxaca, Ronald, 1973. "Male-Female Wage Differentials in Urban Labor Markets," International Economic Review, Department of Economics, University of Pennsylvania and Osaka University Institute of Social and Economic Research Association, vol. 14(3), pages 693-709, October.
    4. Randall S. Brown & Marilyn Moon & Barbara S. Zoloth, 1980. "Occupational Attainment and Segregation by Sex," ILR Review, Cornell University, ILR School, vol. 33(4), pages 506-517, July.
    5. Alan S. Blinder, 1973. "Wage Discrimination: Reduced Form and Structural Estimates," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 8(4), pages 436-455.
    6. Banerjee, Biswajit & Knight, J. B., 1985. "Caste discrimination in the Indian urban labour market," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 17(3), pages 277-307, April.
    7. José Mata & José A. F. Machado, 2005. "Counterfactual decomposition of changes in wage distributions using quantile regression," Journal of Applied Econometrics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 20(4), pages 445-465.
    8. Tzannatos, Zafiris, 1987. "A General Equilibrium Model of Discrimination and Its Effects on Incomes," Scottish Journal of Political Economy, Scottish Economic Society, vol. 34(1), pages 19-36, February.
    9. Siddique, Zahra, 2008. "Caste Based Discrimination: Evidence and Policy," IZA Discussion Papers 3737, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    10. George A. Akerlof, 1980. "A Theory of Social Custom, of which Unemployment may be One Consequence," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 94(4), pages 749-775.
    11. Cotton, Jeremiah, 1988. "On the Decomposition of Wage Differentials," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 70(2), pages 236-243, May.
    12. Phelps, Edmund S, 1972. "The Statistical Theory of Racism and Sexism," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 62(4), pages 659-661, September.
    13. David Neumark, 1988. "Employers' Discriminatory Behavior and the Estimation of Wage Discrimination," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 23(3), pages 279-295.
    14. George Akerlof, 1976. "The Economics of Caste and of the Rat Race and Other Woeful Tales," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 90(4), pages 599-617.
    15. Oaxaca, Ronald L. & Ransom, Michael R., 1994. "On discrimination and the decomposition of wage differentials," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 61(1), pages 5-21, March.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Satinder Singh & J. K. Parida & I. C. Awasthi, 0. "Employability and Earning Differentials Among Technically and Vocationally Trained Youth in India," The Indian Journal of Labour Economics, Springer;The Indian Society of Labour Economics (ISLE), vol. 0, pages 1-24.
    2. Soumyajit Chakraborty & Alok K. Bohara, 2021. "The Cost of Being ‘Backward’ in India: Socio-religious Discrimination in the Labour Market," Indian Journal of Human Development, , vol. 15(2), pages 252-274, August.
    3. Pallavi Gupta & Satyanarayan Kothe, 2021. "Interpreting the Caste-based Earning Gaps in the Indian Labour Market: Theil and Oaxaca Decomposition Analysis," Papers 2110.06822, arXiv.org.
    4. Satinder Singh & Jatinder Singh, 2022. "Employment Scenario in Indian Punjab: Some Disquieting Features," Journal of Development Policy and Practice, , vol. 7(2), pages 158-179, July.
    5. Yasser Razak Hussain & Pranab Mukhopadhyay, 2023. "How Much do Education, Experience, and Social Networks Impact Earnings in India? A Panel Data Analysis Disaggregated by Class, Gender, Caste and Religion," SAGE Open, , vol. 13(4), pages 21582440231, December.
    6. Rahul MENON, 2021. "Determinants of inequality in Indian regular wage employment, 1993–2012," International Labour Review, International Labour Organization, vol. 160(3), pages 477-500, September.
    7. Shiney Chakraborty, 2020. "Gender Wage Differential in Public and Private Sectors in India," The Indian Journal of Labour Economics, Springer;The Indian Society of Labour Economics (ISLE), vol. 63(3), pages 765-780, September.
    8. Satinder Singh & J. K. Parida & I. C. Awasthi, 2020. "Employability and Earning Differentials Among Technically and Vocationally Trained Youth in India," The Indian Journal of Labour Economics, Springer;The Indian Society of Labour Economics (ISLE), vol. 63(2), pages 363-386, June.
    9. Shiba Shankar Pattayat & Jajati Keshari Parida & Kirtti Ranjan Paltasingh, 2023. "Gender Wage Gap among Rural Non-farm Sector Employees in India: Evidence from Nationally Representative Survey," Review of Development and Change, , vol. 28(1), pages 22-44, June.
    10. Satinder Singh & Jajati K. Parida, 2022. "Employment and Earning Differentials Among Vocationally Trained Youth: Evidence from field studies in Punjab and Haryana in India," Millennial Asia, , vol. 13(1), pages 142-172, April.
    11. Ravi Srivastava, 2019. "Emerging Dynamics of Labour Market Inequality in India: Migration, Informality, Segmentation and Social Discrimination," The Indian Journal of Labour Economics, Springer;The Indian Society of Labour Economics (ISLE), vol. 62(2), pages 147-171, June.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Singhari, Smrutirekha & Madheswaran, S., 2016. "Social exclusion and caste discrimination in public and private sectors in India: A decomposition analysis," Working Papers 361, Institute for Social and Economic Change, Bangalore.
    2. Ravi Srivastava, 2019. "Emerging Dynamics of Labour Market Inequality in India: Migration, Informality, Segmentation and Social Discrimination," The Indian Journal of Labour Economics, Springer;The Indian Society of Labour Economics (ISLE), vol. 62(2), pages 147-171, June.
    3. Tushar Agrawal, 2014. "Gender and caste-based wage discrimination in India: some recent evidence [Geschlecht und Kaste-ansässige Lohndiskriminierung in Indien: Einige Neue Beweise]," Journal for Labour Market Research, Springer;Institute for Employment Research/ Institut für Arbeitsmarkt- und Berufsforschung (IAB), vol. 47(4), pages 329-340, December.
    4. Chen, Yiu Por (Vincent) & Zhang, Yuan, 2018. "A decomposition method on employment and wage discrimination and its application in urban China (2002–2013)," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 110(C), pages 1-12.
    5. Sonja C. Kassenboehmer & Mathias G. Sinning, 2014. "Distributional Changes in the Gender Wage Gap," ILR Review, Cornell University, ILR School, vol. 67(2), pages 335-361, April.
    6. Jonathan B. Berk, 1999. "Statistical Discrimination in a Competitive Labor Market," NBER Working Papers 6871, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    7. Jean-Louis Arcand & Béatrice D'hombres, 2004. "Racial discrimination in the Brazilian labour market: wage, employment and segregation effects," Journal of International Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 16(8), pages 1053-1066.
    8. O B Bodvarsson & John Sessions, 2010. "Nationality Discrimination in the Labor Market: Theory and Test," Department of Economics Working Papers 08/10, University of Bath, Department of Economics.
    9. Ashwini Deshpande & Smriti Sharma, 2016. "Disadvantage and discrimination in self-employment: caste gaps in earnings in Indian small businesses," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 46(2), pages 325-346, February.
    10. Robert Breunig & Sandrine Rospabe, 2005. "Parametric vs. semi-parametric estimation of the male-female wage gap: An application to France," ANU Working Papers in Economics and Econometrics 2005-458, Australian National University, College of Business and Economics, School of Economics.
    11. Tilahun Temesgen, 2006. "Decomposing Gender Wage Differentials in Urban Ethiopia: Evidence from Linked Employer-Employee (LEE) Manufacturing Survey Data," Global Economic Review, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 35(1), pages 43-66.
    12. Dominique Meurs & Sophie Ponthieux, 2006. "L'écart des salaires entre les femmes et les hommes peut-il encore baisser ?," Économie et Statistique, Programme National Persée, vol. 398(1), pages 99-129.
    13. Karolina Goraus & Joanna Tyrowicz, 2014. "Gender Wage Gap in Poland – Can It Be Explained by Differences in Observable Characteristics?," Ekonomia journal, Faculty of Economic Sciences, University of Warsaw, vol. 36.
    14. Carla Canelas & Silvia Salazar, 2014. "Gender and ethnic inequalities in LAC countries," IZA Journal of Labor & Development, Springer;Forschungsinstitut zur Zukunft der Arbeit GmbH (IZA), vol. 3(1), pages 1-15, December.
    15. Dang, Rui, 2015. "Explaining the body mass index gaps between Turkish immigrants and Germans in West Germany 2002-2012: A decomposition analysis of socio-economic causes," Ruhr Economic Papers 580, RWI - Leibniz-Institut für Wirtschaftsforschung, Ruhr-University Bochum, TU Dortmund University, University of Duisburg-Essen.
    16. Andrej Cupák & Pavel Ciaian & d'Artis Kancs, 2021. "Comparing the immigrant-native pay gap: A novel evidence from home and host countries," EERI Research Paper Series EERI RP 2021/05, Economics and Econometrics Research Institute (EERI), Brussels.
    17. Noe', Chiara, 2009. "Subject of degree and the gender wage gap: Evidence from Italy," MPRA Paper 47289, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    18. Carla Canelas & Silvia Salazar, 2014. "Gender and Ethnicity in Bolivia, Ecuador and Guatemala," Documents de travail du Centre d'Economie de la Sorbonne 14021, Université Panthéon-Sorbonne (Paris 1), Centre d'Economie de la Sorbonne.
    19. Taiwo Aderemi & Ibrahim Alley, 2019. "Gender pay gap in the workplace: the case of public and private sectors in Nigeria," Journal of Social and Economic Development, Springer;Institute for Social and Economic Change, vol. 21(2), pages 370-391, December.
    20. Judith K. Hellerstein & David Neumark, 2006. "Using Matched Employer–Employee Data to Study Labor Market Discrimination," Chapters, in: William M. Rodgers III (ed.), Handbook on the Economics of Discrimination, chapter 2, Edward Elgar Publishing.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Caste discrimination; Wage discrimination; Job discrimination; India;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J16 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Economics of Gender; Non-labor Discrimination
    • J31 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Wages, Compensation, and Labor Costs - - - Wage Level and Structure; Wage Differentials
    • J71 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Labor Discrimination - - - Hiring and Firing
    • C21 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Single Equation Models; Single Variables - - - Cross-Sectional Models; Spatial Models; Treatment Effect Models

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:spr:ijlaec:v:59:y:2016:i:2:d:10.1007_s41027-017-0053-8. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.