IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/sae/urbstu/v62y2025i7p1435-1463.html

Salience of social identities in explaining homeownership patterns in India

Author

Listed:
  • Ashish Gupta

    (RICS School of Built Environment, Amity University, India)

  • Prashant Das

    (Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad, India)

  • N Edward Coulson

    (University of California Irvine, USA)

  • Abhiman Das

    (Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad, India)

Abstract

Indian society presents heterogeneity across two identities – that is, religion and caste – that lead to heterogenous economic outcomes, but affirmative action is mostly applicable to caste. Our empirical models affirm that economically less secure households have a higher homeownership propensity in India. Minority religions and backward castes also have a significantly higher propensity to own homes. This is in sharp contrast to findings in the US where minority households are associated with lower homeownership rates. Further, religious and caste-based identities in India lead to different household behaviours in differing demographic mixes. Religious identity in India is more salient than caste identity in explaining differing homeownership patterns.

Suggested Citation

  • Ashish Gupta & Prashant Das & N Edward Coulson & Abhiman Das, 2025. "Salience of social identities in explaining homeownership patterns in India," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 62(7), pages 1435-1463, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:urbstu:v:62:y:2025:i:7:p:1435-1463
    DOI: 10.1177/00420980241289795
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/00420980241289795
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1177/00420980241289795?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. Sonalde Desai & Veena Kulkarni, 2008. "Changing educational inequalities in india in the context of affirmative action," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 45(2), pages 245-270, May.
    2. Samuel Stroope, 2012. "Caste, Class, and Urbanization: The Shaping of Religious Community in Contemporary India," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 105(3), pages 499-518, February.
    3. Diane Coffey & Ashwini Deshpande & Jeffrey Hammer & Dean Spears, 2019. "Local Social Inequality, Economic Inequality, and Disparities in Child Height in India," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 56(4), pages 1427-1452, August.
    4. Karen Coelho & Ashima Sood, 2022. "Urban studies in India across the millennial turn: Histories and futures," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 59(13), pages 2613-2637, October.
    5. Naveen Bharathi & Deepak Malghan & Sumit Mishra & Andaleeb Rahman, 2022. "Residential segregation and public services in urban India," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 59(14), pages 2912-2932, November.
    6. Erica Field & Matthew Levinson & Rohini Pande & Sujata Visaria, 2008. "Segregation, Rent Control, and Riots: The Economics of Religious Conflict in an Indian City," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 98(2), pages 505-510, May.
    7. Emerick, Kyle, 2018. "Agricultural productivity and the sectoral reallocation of labor in rural India," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 135(C), pages 488-503.
    8. Samantha Friedman & Emily Rosenbaum, 2004. "Nativity status and racial/ethnic differences in access to quality housing: Does homeownership bring greater parity?," Housing Policy Debate, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 15(4), pages 865-901.
    9. S. Chandrasekhar & Arup Mitra, 2019. "Migration, caste and livelihood: evidence from Indian city-slums," Urban Research & Practice, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 12(2), pages 156-172, April.
    10. Albert Adu-Gyamfi & Patrick Brandful Cobbinah & Michael Poku-Boansi, 2021. "Positionality of women in homeownership: a process of gender contract negotiation," Housing Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 36(2), pages 180-212, February.
    11. Chris Foye & David Clapham & Tommaso Gabrieli, 2018. "Home-ownership as a social norm and positional good: Subjective wellbeing evidence from panel data," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 55(6), pages 1290-1312, May.
    12. Diaz-Serrano, Luis & Raya, Josep M., 2014. "Mortgages, immigrants and discrimination: An analysis of the interest rates in Spain," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 45(C), pages 22-32.
    13. Michael Ewens & Bryan Tomlin & Liang Choon Wang, 2014. "Statistical Discrimination or Prejudice? A Large Sample Field Experiment," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 96(1), pages 119-134, March.
    14. 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.
    15. Luke, Nancy & Munshi, Kaivan, 2007. "Social affiliation and the demand for health services: Caste and child health in South India," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 83(2), pages 256-279, July.
    16. Kevin Lang & Ariella Kahn-Lang Spitzer, 2020. "Race Discrimination: An Economic Perspective," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 34(2), pages 68-89, Spring.
    17. 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.
    18. Siwan Anderson, 2011. "Caste as an Impediment to Trade," American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, American Economic Association, vol. 3(1), pages 239-263, January.
    19. Coulson, N. Edward, 1999. "Why Are Hispanic- and Asian-American Homeownership Rates So Low?: Immigration and Other Factors," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 45(2), pages 209-227, March.
    20. Helen XH Bao, 2024. "Is hiding my first name enough? Using behavioural interventions to mitigate racial and gender discrimination in the rental housing market," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 61(11), pages 2156-2175, August.
    21. Kaivan Munshi, 2019. "Caste and the Indian Economy," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 57(4), pages 781-834, December.
    22. Coulson, N. Edward & Li, Herman, 2013. "Measuring the external benefits of homeownership," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 77(C), pages 57-67.
    23. 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.
    24. Dirk W. Early & Paul E. Carrillo & Edgar O. Olsen, 2019. "Racial rent differences in U.S. housing markets: Evidence from the housing voucher program," Journal of Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 59(4), pages 669-700, September.
    25. Stuart A. Gabriel & Gary Painter, 2008. "Mobility, Residential Location and the American Dream: The Intrametropolitan Geography of Minority Homeownership," Real Estate Economics, American Real Estate and Urban Economics Association, vol. 36(3), pages 499-531, September.
    26. Bayer, Patrick & Casey, Marcus & Ferreira, Fernando & McMillan, Robert, 2017. "Racial and ethnic price differentials in the housing market," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 102(C), pages 91-105.
    27. Laurie S. Goodman & Christopher Mayer, 2018. "Homeownership and the American Dream," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 32(1), pages 31-58, Winter.
    28. Aaronson, Daniel, 2000. "A Note on the Benefits of Homeownership," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 47(3), pages 356-369, May.
    29. Dietz, Robert D. & Haurin, Donald R., 2003. "The social and private micro-level consequences of homeownership," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 54(3), pages 401-450, November.
    30. Ira N. Gang & Kunal Sen & Myeong-Su Yun, 2017. "Is Caste Destiny? Occupational Diversification among Dalits in Rural India," The European Journal of Development Research, Palgrave Macmillan;European Association of Development Research and Training Institutes (EADI), vol. 29(2), pages 476-492, April.
    31. Basant, Rakesh & Sen, Gitanjali, 2009. "Who Participates in Higher Education in India? Rethinking the Role of Affirmative Action," IIMA Working Papers WP2009-11-01, Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad, Research and Publication Department.
    32. Ferguson, Michael F & Peters, Stephen R, 2000. "Is Lending Discrimination Always Costly?," The Journal of Real Estate Finance and Economics, Springer, vol. 21(1), pages 23-44, July.
    33. Gautam Bhan, 2024. "Operationalising social protection: Reflections from urban India," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 61(5), pages 765-781, April.
    34. Kusum Mundra & Ruth Uwaifo Oyelere, 2019. "Homeownership trends among the never married," Housing Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 34(1), pages 162-187, January.
    35. Abhijit Banerjee & Esther Duflo & Clément Imbert & Santhosh Mathew & Rohini Pande, 2020. "E-governance, Accountability, and Leakage in Public Programs: Experimental Evidence from a Financial Management Reform in India," American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, American Economic Association, vol. 12(4), pages 39-72, October.
    36. Berkovec, James A & Canner, Glenn B. & Gabriel, Stuart A. & Hannan, Timothy H., 1994. "Race, Redlining, and Residential Mortgage Loan Performance," The Journal of Real Estate Finance and Economics, Springer, vol. 9(3), pages 263-294, November.
    37. Ihlanfeldt, Keith & Mayock, Tom, 2009. "Price discrimination in the housing market," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 66(2), pages 125-140, September.
    38. Megbolugbe, Isaac F & Cho, Man, 1996. "Racial and Ethnic Differences in Housing Demand: An Econometric Investigation," The Journal of Real Estate Finance and Economics, Springer, vol. 12(3), pages 295-318, May.
    39. Donald R. Haurin & Hazel A. Morrow‐Jones, 2006. "The impact of real Estate Market knowledge on tenure choice: A comparison of black and white households," Housing Policy Debate, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 17(4), pages 625-653, January.
    40. Iyer, Sriya & Shrivastava, Anand, 2018. "Religious riots and electoral politics in India," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 131(C), pages 104-122.
    41. Kim McKee, 2012. "Young People, Homeownership and Future Welfare," Housing Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 27(6), pages 853-862.
    42. Prashant Das & N. Edward Coulson & Alan Ziobrowski, 2019. "Caste, Faith, Gender: Determinants of Homeownership in Urban India," The Journal of Real Estate Finance and Economics, Springer, vol. 59(1), pages 27-55, July.
    43. Hilber, Christian A.L. & Liu, Yingchun, 2008. "Explaining the black-white homeownership gap: The role of own wealth, parental externalities and locational preferences," Journal of Housing Economics, Elsevier, vol. 17(2), pages 152-174, June.
    44. Sait Bayrakdar & Rory Coulter & Philipp Lersch & Sergi Vidal, 2019. "Family formation, parental background and young adults’ first entry into homeownership in Britain and Germany," Housing Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 34(6), pages 974-996, July.
    45. Kaivan Munshi & Mark Rosenzweig, 2006. "Traditional Institutions Meet the Modern World: Caste, Gender, and Schooling Choice in a Globalizing Economy," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 96(4), pages 1225-1252, September.
    46. Eli Beracha & Ken H. Johnson, 2012. "Lessons from Over 30 Years of Buy versus Rent Decisions: Is the American Dream Always Wise?," Real Estate Economics, American Real Estate and Urban Economics Association, vol. 40(2), pages 217-247, June.
    47. Miki Malul & Mosi Rosenboim & Tal Shavit, 2010. "Costs of Mistrust between Ethnic Majority and Minorities: Evidence from Israel," Review of Social Economy, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 68(4), pages 447-464.
    48. Francesca Fiori & Elspeth Graham & Zhiqiang Feng, 2020. "Inequalities in the transition to homeownership among young people in Scotland," Housing Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 35(3), pages 506-536, March.
    49. Banerjee, Abhijit & Bertrand, Marianne & Datta, Saugato & Mullainathan, Sendhil, 2009. "Labor market discrimination in Delhi: Evidence from a field experiment," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 37(1), pages 14-27, March.
    50. Rowan Arundel & Richard Ronald, 2021. "The false promise of homeownership: Homeowner societies in an era of declining access and rising inequality," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 58(6), pages 1120-1140, May.
    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. Prashant Das & N. Edward Coulson & Alan Ziobrowski, 2019. "Caste, Faith, Gender: Determinants of Homeownership in Urban India," The Journal of Real Estate Finance and Economics, Springer, vol. 59(1), pages 27-55, July.
    2. Wang, Jia & Winters, John V. & Yuan, Weici, 2022. "Can legal status help unauthorized immigrants achieve the American dream? Evidence from the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 95(C).
    3. Cummins, Joseph & Guo, Jingyan & Agarwal, Neha & Aiyar, Anaka & Jain, Vaishali & Bergmann, Andrew, 2024. "Caste Differences in Child Growth: Disentangling Endowment and Investment Effects," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 179(C).
    4. Dayanandan, Ajit & Donker, Han, 2025. "Caste affiliation and M&A transactions in India," Journal of Contemporary Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 21(3).
    5. Zorlu, Aslan & Mulder, Clara H. & van Gaalen, Ruben, 2014. "Ethnic disparities in the transition to home ownership," Journal of Housing Economics, Elsevier, vol. 26(C), pages 151-163.
    6. Laurent Gobillon & Matthieu Solignac, 2020. "Homeownership of immigrants in France: selection effects related to international migration flows [A nation of immigrants: assimilation and economic outcomes in the age of mass migration]," Journal of Economic Geography, Oxford University Press, vol. 20(2), pages 355-396.
    7. Miriam Marcén & Marina Morales, 2020. "The effect of culture on home‐ownership," Journal of Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 60(1), pages 56-87, January.
    8. Durba Chakrabarty & Michael J. Osei & John V. Winters & Danyang Zhao, 2019. "Which immigrant and minority homeownership rates are gaining ground in the US?," Journal of Economics and Finance, Springer;Academy of Economics and Finance, vol. 43(2), pages 273-297, April.
    9. Xavier Fontaine & Katsunori Yamada, 2013. "Caste Comparisons: Evidence from India," ISER Discussion Paper 0867, Institute of Social and Economic Research, The University of Osaka.
    10. Hembre, Erik & Dantas, Raissa, 2022. "Tax incentives and housing decisions: Effects of the Tax Cut and Jobs Act," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 95(C).
    11. Ha, Sejeong & Hilber, Christian A.L. & Schöni, Olivier, 2021. "Do long-distance moves discourage homeownership? Evidence from England," Journal of Housing Economics, Elsevier, vol. 53(C).
    12. Munshi, K., 2017. "Caste and the Indian Economy," Cambridge Working Papers in Economics 1759, Faculty of Economics, University of Cambridge.
    13. Miyamoto, Tomohisa & Bedi, Arjun S., 2024. "English Language Premium in a Marriage Market: Experimental Evidence from Delhi," IZA Discussion Papers 17366, IZA Network @ LISER.
    14. Diane Coffey & Ashwini Deshpande & Jeffrey Hammer & Dean Spears, 2019. "Local Social Inequality, Economic Inequality, and Disparities in Child Height in India," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 56(4), pages 1427-1452, August.
    15. Núria Rodríguez‐Planas, 2018. "Mortgage finance and culture," Journal of Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 58(4), pages 786-821, September.
    16. Raffaele Grotti & Helen Russell & Bertrand Maître & Davide Gritti, 2024. "The Experience of Housing Discrimination and Housing Deprivation Across Social Groups in Ireland," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 175(1), pages 195-215, October.
    17. Ashmita Gupta & Neha Hui, 2025. "Does Liberalisation Reduce Labour Market Inequality? Caste and Occupational Outcomes in India," Economics Discussion Papers em-dp2025-05, Department of Economics, University of Reading.
    18. Chhavi Tiwari & Srinivas Goli & Mohammad Zahid Siddiqui & Pradeep S. Salve, 2022. "Poverty, wealth inequality and financial inclusion among castes in Hindu and Muslim communities in Uttar Pradesh, India," Journal of International Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 34(6), pages 1227-1255, August.
    19. Mosse, David, 2018. "Caste and development: Contemporary perspectives on a structure of discrimination and advantage," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 110(C), pages 422-436.
    20. Jo Blanden & Andrew Eyles & Stephen Machin, 2023. "Intergenerational home ownership," The Journal of Economic Inequality, Springer;Society for the Study of Economic Inequality, vol. 21(2), pages 251-275, June.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;

    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:sae:urbstu:v:62:y:2025:i:7:p:1435-1463. 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: http://www.gla.ac.uk/departments/urbanstudiesjournal .

    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.