Journal Article
Disadvantage and discrimination in self-employment
Using the 2004–2005 India Human Development Survey data, we estimate and decompose the earnings of household businesses owned by historically marginalized social groups known as Scheduled Castes and Tribes (SCSTs) and non-SCSTs across the earnings...
Working Paper
How status inequality between ethnic groups affects public goods provision
This article contributes to the growing scholarship on how ethnic inequality can dampen the provision of public goods and services. On the one hand, it pushes beyond purely economic inequality to include status inequality between population groups...
Working Paper
Are caste categories misleading?
This paper examines the relationship between caste and gender inequality in three states in India. When households are grouped using conventional, government-defined categories of caste we find patterns that are consistent with existing literature...
Journal Article
Caste-based crimes and economic status
Crimes against the historically marginalized Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (SC and ST) by the upper castes in India represent an extreme form of prejudice and discrimination. In this paper, we investigate whether changes in relative material...
Working Paper
Conspicuous consumption for social parity
The extant literature on status-signalling primarily adopts Veblen’s theory of class to caste and racial identities. This study aims to adopt a more suitable theoretical lens that is more relevant not only for class identities, but also for other...
Working Paper
Other Backward Classes and the politics of reservations in India
The paper examines the existing state of reservations, more specifically, reservation policies and reservations for government jobs for the Other Backward Classes (OBCs) in India. It discusses the progression and ramifications of these policies and...
Blog
'Love thy neighbour'?: Evidence from a randomized neighbourhood relocation policy in India
by
Shreya Bhattacharya
April 2021
Caste in India plays an instrumental role in determining access to education, jobs, public spaces, and social networks. For instance, despite state...
Journal Article
Stabbed in the back?
This study provides the first country-wide research evidence that an affirmative action policy may induce a backlash. I exploit the timing of the implementation of castebased electoral quotas across and within the states of India. The results show...
Working Paper
Behind the numbers: exploring caste inequities in entrepreneurial success
The documented under-representation of marginalized groups in business ownership and the labour market is a concerning issue. This study explores how caste disparities in small-firm entrepreneurship impact on firm performance in India, focusing on...
Working Paper
Mandated political representation and crimes against the low castes
Mandated political representation over the last twenty years has had a different impact on the reporting of crime by the low castes than what is observed for the reporting of crime by women. I exploit the timing of the implementation of mandated...
Working Paper
Double jeopardy?
This paper presents the results of an attitude survey administered to university students in India that attempts to delineate the social–psychological mechanisms of ‘externalization’ and ‘internalization’ to understand the possible consequences of...
Blog
Research insights, new friends and meeting Stiglitz: Shreya Bhattacharya - 2018 PhD Fellow
by
UNU-WIDER, Shreya Bhattacharya
March 2019
In the fall of 2018 UNU-WIDER welcomed 11 doctoral students from around the world as part of our PhD Fellowship Programme. The students, from Ghana...
Working Paper
For whom does the phone (not) ring?
Using an audit experiment carried out on of India’s largest real estate websites, we document striking variations between landlords’ treatment of upper-caste Hindus, Other Backward Castes, Scheduled Castes, and Muslims. We find strong evidence of...
Working Paper
Caste differences in behaviour and personality
The persistent gap in economic outcomes between the upper and lower caste groups in India is typically explained through differences in endowments and the presence of discrimination. While there is sizable literature that examines caste gaps in...
Blog
Moving out of identity silos and into intersectionality: The example of gender identity
by
Smriti Sharma
May 2019
Women are undoubtedly doing better today than they were even 40-50 years ago. The gender gap has shrunk in many areas, including educational...