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Traditional hierarchies and affirmative action in a globalizing economy: Evidence from India

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  • Deshpande, Ashwini
  • Ramachandran, Rajesh

Abstract

We compare successive age cohorts of three broad social groups – Scheduled Castes and Tribes (SC-STs), Other Backward Classes (OBCs) and “Others” and provide the first disaggregated picture of the evolution of inter-caste disparities in India. The results show that absolute caste gaps in years of schooling and prestigious occupation of white-collar jobs have remained static, whereas log wages below the median have convergence and above the median diverged. Examining extension of job quotas to OBCs in 1993, we find positive effects of affirmative action on probability of holding government jobs, as well as on secondary schooling completion.

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  • Deshpande, Ashwini & Ramachandran, Rajesh, 2019. "Traditional hierarchies and affirmative action in a globalizing economy: Evidence from India," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 118(C), pages 63-78.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:wdevel:v:118:y:2019:i:c:p:63-78
    DOI: 10.1016/j.worlddev.2019.02.006
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    Cited by:

    1. Ashwini Deshpande & Rajesh Ramachandran, 2020. "Is COVID-19 'The Great Leveler'? The Critical Role of Social Identity in Lockdown- induced Job Losses," Working Papers 34, Ashoka University, Department of Economics.
    2. Deshpande, Ashwini & Khanna, Shantanu, 2021. "Can weak ties create social capital? Evidence from Self-Help Groups in rural India," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 146(C).
    3. Utteeyo Dasgupta & Subha Mani & Smriti Sharma & Saurabh Singhal, 2023. "Social Identity, Behavior, and Personality: Evidence from India," Journal of Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 59(4), pages 472-489, April.
    4. Bharathi, Naveen & Malghan, Deepak & Mishra, Sumit & Rahman, Andaleeb, 2021. "Fractal urbanism: City size and residential segregation in India," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 141(C).
    5. Diego Maiorano, 2019. "The 2019 Indian Elections and the Ruralization of the BJP," Studies in Indian Politics, , vol. 7(2), pages 176-190, December.
    6. Assem Abu Hatab & Padmaja Ravula & Swamikannu Nedumaran & Carl-Johan Lagerkvist, 2022. "Perceptions of the impacts of urban sprawl among urban and peri-urban dwellers of Hyderabad, India: a Latent class clustering analysis," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 24(11), pages 12787-12812, November.
    7. Nawazuddin Ahmed & Dinesh K. Nauriyal, 2023. "Occupational and Educational Mobility Among Indian Muslims: Primary Survey-Based Evidence," Millennial Asia, , vol. 14(2), pages 228-259, June.
    8. Diego Maiorano & Suruchi Thapar‐Björkert & Hans Blomkvist, 2022. "Politics as Negotiation: Changing Caste Norms in Rural India," Development and Change, International Institute of Social Studies, vol. 53(1), pages 217-248, January.
    9. Ashwini Deshpande & Rajesh Ramachandran, 2020. "Which Indian Children are Short and Why? Social Identity, Childhood Malnutrition and Cognitive Outcomes," Working Papers 27, Ashoka University, Department of Economics.
    10. Subedi, Mukti Nath & Rafiq, Shuddhasattwa & Ulker, Aydogan, 2022. "Effects of Affirmative Action on Educational and Labour Market Outcomes: Evidence from Nepal's Reservation Policy," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 200(C), pages 443-463.
    11. Utteeyo Dasgupta & Subha Mani & Smriti Sharma & Saurabh Singhal, 2020. "Social Identity, Behavior, and Personality," Working Papers 308280016, Lancaster University Management School, Economics Department.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Affirmative action; Caste; India; Education; Occupation; Other Backward Classes;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • I24 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Education and Inequality
    • J45 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Particular Labor Markets - - - Public Sector Labor Markets
    • J71 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Labor Discrimination - - - Hiring and Firing
    • O15 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Economic Development: Human Resources; Human Development; Income Distribution; Migration

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