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A Gender-Based Theory of the Origin of the Caste System of India

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  • Chris Bidner
  • Mukesh Eswaran

Abstract

This paper proposes a theory of the origins of India’s caste system by explicitly recognizing the productivity of women in complementing their husbands’ skills. Its interesting to know the emergence of caste system its hereditary nature, its insistence on endogamy (marriage only within castes), and its hierarchical character. [BREAD Working Paper No. 367]. URL:[http://ipl.econ.duke.edu/bread/papers/working/367.pdf].

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  • Chris Bidner & Mukesh Eswaran, 2013. "A Gender-Based Theory of the Origin of the Caste System of India," Working Papers id:5206, eSocialSciences.
    • Handle: RePEc:ess:wpaper:id:5206
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    2. Siwan Anderson & Chris Bidner, 2021. "An Institutional Perspective on the Economics of the Family," Discussion Papers dp21-14, Department of Economics, Simon Fraser University.
    3. Cassan,Guilhem & Keniston,Daniel & Kleineberg,Tatjana Karina, 2021. "A Division of Laborers : Identity and Efficiency in India," Policy Research Working Paper Series 9544, The World Bank.
    4. Ray, Tridip & Roy Chaudhuri, Arka & Sahai, Komal, 2020. "Whose education matters? An analysis of inter caste marriages in India," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 176(C), pages 619-633.
    5. Munshi, K., 2017. "Caste and the Indian Economy," Cambridge Working Papers in Economics 1759, Faculty of Economics, University of Cambridge.
    6. Momoe Makino, 2019. "Marriage, dowry, and women’s status in rural Punjab, Pakistan," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 32(3), pages 769-797, July.
    7. Alexander Persaud, 2023. "A (paid) passage to India: Migration and revealed willingness to pay for upper‐caste status," Economic Inquiry, Western Economic Association International, vol. 61(3), pages 652-674, July.
    8. Righetto, Giovanni, 2023. "Marriage patterns and the gender gap in labor force participation: Evidence from Italy," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 82(C).
    9. Ravichandran, Thanammal & Farnworth, Cathy Rozel & Galiè, Alessandra, 2021. "Empowering women in dairy cooperatives in Bihar and Telangana, India: a gender and caste analysis," 2021 Annual Meeting, August 1-3, Austin, Texas 338772, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
    10. Sampreet Singh Goraya, 2019. "How does Caste Affect Entrepreneurship? Birth vs Worth," Working Papers 1104, Barcelona School of Economics.
    11. Prasheela Karan & Jung-Sook Lee & Richard Hugman, 2021. "Combatting Gender Oppression: Applying Intersectionality in Microfinance Self-help Groups," The European Journal of Development Research, Palgrave Macmillan;European Association of Development Research and Training Institutes (EADI), vol. 33(6), pages 1649-1665, December.
    12. Coulibaly, Thierry Yerema & Managi, Shunsuke, 2022. "Populations in slums are happier than rural populations: The case of Mumbai," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 122(C).
    13. Fabrizio Adriani & Silvia Sonderegger, 2018. "The Signaling Value of Punishing Norm-Breakers and Rewarding Norm-Followers," Games, MDPI, vol. 9(4), pages 1-32, December.
    14. Mohanty, Aatishya & Saxena, Akshar, 2023. "Diarrheal disease, sanitation, and culture in India," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 317(C).
    15. Dasgupta, Indraneel & Pal, Sarmistha, 2021. "Touch thee not: Group conflict, caste power and untouchability in rural India," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 49(2), pages 442-466.
    16. Ishika Gupta & Prakashan Chellattan Veettil & Stijn Speelman, 2020. "Caste, Social Networks and Variety Adoption," Journal of South Asian Development, , vol. 15(2), pages 155-183, August.
    17. Varshney, Deepak & Mishra, Ashok K. & Joshi, Pramod K. & Roy, Devesh, 2022. "Social networks, heterogeneity, and adoption of technologies: Evidence from India," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 112(C).
    18. Gupta, I. & Veettil, P.C. & Speelman, S., 2018. "Caste, Technology and Social Networks," 2018 Conference, July 28-August 2, 2018, Vancouver, British Columbia 277048, International Association of Agricultural Economists.
    19. Bahrami-Rad, Duman, 2021. "Keeping it in the family: Female inheritance, inmarriage, and the status of women," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 153(C).
    20. Abhilasha Srivastava & John Willoughby, 2023. "Capital, Caste, and Patriarchy: Theory of Marriage Formation in India," Review of Radical Political Economics, Union for Radical Political Economics, vol. 55(1), pages 47-69, March.
    21. Sisir Debnath & Tarun Jain, 2020. "Social connections and tertiary health‐care utilization," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 29(4), pages 464-474, April.

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