IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/sae/soudev/v6y2011i1p1-24.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Assessing the ‘Kerala Model’

Author

Listed:
  • John Simister

    (John Simister, Senior Teaching Fellow, Economics Department, School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London. Email: js91@soas.ac.uk)

Abstract

Kerala is often praised as being more developed, in some respects, than the rest of India: several development indicators, such as literacy rates and health, suggest that Kerala is much more successful than the rest of India. However, a growing minority of observers have expressed disappointment with Kerala. Some writers suggest Kerala is poorer than we might expect given its high literacy rate; other writers argue that women in Kerala are not as empowered as previous researchers implied. This article tests the hypothesis that successes which have been achieved by the ‘Kerala model’ are mainly a result of education. This ‘education hypothesis’ is contrasted with various other possible explanations of Kerala’s success, which suggest Kerala is unique in some way—for reason(s) which are disputed and which often seem impossible to test by scientific analysis. However, Kerala is not successful in every respect; this article examines some remaining problems in Kerala.

Suggested Citation

  • John Simister, 2011. "Assessing the ‘Kerala Model’," Journal of South Asian Development, , vol. 6(1), pages 1-24, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:soudev:v:6:y:2011:i:1:p:1-24
    DOI: 10.1177/097317411100600101
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/097317411100600101
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1177/097317411100600101?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
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. S. Irudaya Rajan & S. Sudha & P. Mohanachandran, 2000. "Fertility Decline and Worsening Gender Bias in India: Is Kerala No Longer an Exception?," Development and Change, International Institute of Social Studies, vol. 31(5), pages 1085-1092, November.
    2. Basu, Alaka Malwade, 1992. "The Status of Women and the Quality of Life among the Poor," Cambridge Journal of Economics, Cambridge Political Economy Society, vol. 16(3), pages 249-267, September.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    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. Rossi, Pauline & Rouanet, Léa, 2015. "Gender Preferences in Africa: A Comparative Analysis of Fertility Choices," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 72(C), pages 326-345.
    2. Hina Nazli & Shahnaz Hamid, 1999. "Concerns of Food Security, Role of Gender and Intra-household Dynamics in Pakistan," PIDE Research Report 1999:3, Pakistan Institute of Development Economics.
    3. Pei-Shan Liao & Yang-Chih Fu & Chin-Chun Yi, 2005. "Perceived quality of life in Taiwan and Hong Kong: an intra-culture comparison," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 6(1), pages 43-67, March.
    4. Gahramanov, Emin & Hasanov, Rashad & Tang, Xueli, 2020. "Parental involvement and Children's human capital: A tax-subsidy experiment," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 85(C), pages 16-29.
    5. Musaddiq, Tareena & Said, Farah, 2023. "Educate the girls: Long run effects of secondary schooling for girls in Pakistan," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 161(C).
    6. Shoba Arun & Thankom Arun, 2002. "ICTs, gender and development: women in software production in Kerala," Journal of International Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 14(1), pages 39-50.
    7. MATTHEW McCARTNEY & AISHA GILL, 2007. "From South Asia to Diaspora: Missing Women and Migration," Working Papers 152, Department of Economics, SOAS University of London, UK.
    8. Arup Maharatna, 2009. "Can ‘Beautiful’ Be ‘Backward’? India’s Tribes in a Long-Term Demographic Perspective," Working Papers id:2191, eSocialSciences.
    9. John Simister & Judith Makowiec, 2008. "Domestic Violence in India," Indian Journal of Gender Studies, Centre for Women's Development Studies, vol. 15(3), pages 507-518, December.
    10. Patra, Nilanjan, 2008. "State-wise pattern of gender bias in child health in India," MPRA Paper 21435, University Library of Munich, Germany.

    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:sae:soudev:v:6:y:2011:i:1:p:1-24. 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: SAGE Publications (email available below). General contact details of provider: .

    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.