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Residential Segregation and Unequal Access to Local Public Services in India: Evidence from 1.5m Neighborhoods

Author

Listed:
  • Sam Asher

    (Imperial College London)

  • Kritarth Jha

    (Development Data Lab)

  • Paul Novosad

    (Dartmouth College Economics Department and NBER)

  • Anjali Adukia

    (University of Chicago Harris School of Public Policy and NBER)

  • Brandon Tan

    (Harvard University Department of Economics)

Abstract

We study residential segregation and access to public services across 1.5 million urban and rural neighborhoods in India. Muslim and Scheduled Caste segregation in India is high by global standards, and only slightly lower than Black-White segregation in the U.S. Within cities, public facilities and infrastructure are systematically less available in Muslim and Scheduled Caste neighborhoods. Nearly all regressive allocation is across neighborhoods within cities—at the most informal and least studied form of government. These inequalities are not visible in the aggregate data typically used for research and policy.

Suggested Citation

  • Sam Asher & Kritarth Jha & Paul Novosad & Anjali Adukia & Brandon Tan, 2026. "Residential Segregation and Unequal Access to Local Public Services in India: Evidence from 1.5m Neighborhoods," Working Papers 2026-28, Becker Friedman Institute for Research In Economics.
    • Handle: RePEc:bfi:wpaper:2026-28
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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • H4 - Public Economics - - Publicly Provided Goods
    • H41 - Public Economics - - Publicly Provided Goods - - - Public Goods
    • I24 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Education and Inequality
    • J15 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Economics of Minorities, Races, Indigenous Peoples, and Immigrants; Non-labor Discrimination
    • O15 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Economic Development: Human Resources; Human Development; Income Distribution; Migration
    • R12 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - General Regional Economics - - - Size and Spatial Distributions of Regional Economic Activity; Interregional Trade (economic geography)
    • R13 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - General Regional Economics - - - General Equilibrium and Welfare Economic Analysis of Regional Economies
    • R23 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - Household Analysis - - - Regional Migration; Regional Labor Markets; Population

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