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Caste, Ethnicity and Poverty in Rural India

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Author Info
Ira N. Gang () (Rutgers University)
Myeong-Su Yun () (Tulane University)
Kunal Sen () (University of East Anglia)

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Abstract

This paper analyzes the determinants of rural poverty in India, contrasting the situation of the Scheduled Caste (SC) and Schedule Tribe (ST) households with the non-scheduled population. The incidence of poverty among SC and ST households is significantly higher than non-scheduled households. Using a probit decomposition analysis, we decompose the difference in the poverty rates between the scheduled castes (or tribes) and non-scheduled households into a part explained by the differences in characteristics and a part explained by the differences in probit coefficients. The paper finds that for SC households, differences in characteristics explain the gap in poverty rates more than differences in coefficients; while for ST households, it is the reverse. Differences in educational attainment explain about one quarter of the poverty gap for both social groups. Occupational structure strongly matters in determining the poverty gap for both SC and ST, as does differences in returns to individual occupations. While poverty rates are not very different between SC and ST households, the analysis suggests that the underlying factors for the higher incidence of poverty in these social groups are to a large extent different.

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Paper provided by Rutgers University, Department of Economics in its series Departmental Working Papers with number 200225.

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Date of creation: 21 Oct 2002
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Handle: RePEc:rut:rutres:200225

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Related research
Keywords: caste ethnicity poverty probit decomposition

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Find related papers by JEL classification:
I32 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Welfare and Poverty - - - Measurement and Analysis of Poverty
O12 - Economic Development, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Microeconomic Analyses of Economic Development

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Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.:

  1. Ashwini Deshpande, 2000. "Does Caste Still Define Disparity? A Look at Inequality in Kerala, India," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 90(2), pages 322-325, May. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  2. Deshpande, Ashwini, 2001. "Caste at Birth? Redefining Disparity in India," Review of Development Economics, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 5(1), pages 130-44, February. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  3. Meenakshi, J. V. & Ray, Ranjan, 2002. "Impact of household size and family composition on poverty in rural India," Journal of Policy Modeling, Elsevier, vol. 24(6), pages 539-559, October. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  4. Dreze, Jean & Kingdon, Geeta Gandhi, 2001. "School Participation in Rural India," Review of Development Economics, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 5(1), pages 1-24, February. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  5. Lanjouw, Peter & Ravallion, Martin, 1995. "Poverty and Household Size," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 105(433), pages 1415-34, November. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  6. Akerlof, George A, 1976. "The Economics of Caste and of the Rat Race and Other Woeful Tales," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, MIT Press, vol. 90(4), pages 599-617, November. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  7. Dreze, Jean & Srinivasan, P. V., 1997. "Widowhood and poverty in rural India: Some inferences from household survey data," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 54(2), pages 217-234, December. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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(explanations, Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.)

  1. Ira N. Gang & Kunal Sen & Myeong-Su Yun, 2006. "Poverty in Rural India: Ethnicity and Caste," Departmental Working Papers 200634, Rutgers University, Department of Economics. [Downloadable!]
  2. Rohit Mutatkar, 2005. "Social group disparities and poverty in India," Indira Gandhi Institute of Development Research, Mumbai Working Papers 2005-004, Indira Gandhi Institute of Development Research, Mumbai, India. [Downloadable!]
  3. Chakravarty Sujoy & Dand Sejal A, 2005. "Food Insecurity in India: Causes and Dimensions," IIMA Working Papers 2005-04-01, Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad, Research and Publication Department. [Downloadable!]
  4. Sumon Kumar Bhaumik & Manisha Chakrabarty, 2006. "Earnings Inequality in India: Has the Rise of Caste and Religion Based Politics in India Had an Impact?," IZA Discussion Papers 2008, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA). [Downloadable!]
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  5. Yun, Myeong-Su, 2003. "Decomposing Differences in the First Moment," IZA Discussion Papers 877, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA). [Downloadable!]
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