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Caste and Unequal Access to Education: An Experimental Study

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  • Ankush Asri
  • Deepti Bhatia
  • Urs Fischbacher

Abstract

We study caste-based discrimination in hiring practices of employers in a lab experiment in India. Students belonging to different castes are assigned the role of employees and employers. We test whether employers tend to discriminate in assessing the abilities of potential employees by varying employees access to education. Depending on the treatment, employers are presented information on actual performance, education and caste belonging of the employees. We find evidence for initial discrimination in favor of in-group by non-upper caste employers. However, this preference for in-group changes with time. Over time, as employers learn based on the experience gained in the experiment, they statistically discriminate in favor of upper caste employees.

Suggested Citation

  • Ankush Asri & Deepti Bhatia & Urs Fischbacher, 2022. "Caste and Unequal Access to Education: An Experimental Study," TWI Research Paper Series 127, Thurgauer Wirtschaftsinstitut, Universität Konstanz.
    • Handle: RePEc:twi:respas:0127
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Keywords

    Caste; discrimination; labour market outcomes; experiments;
    All these keywords.

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