Culture, Development, and Government: Reservations in India

Osborne, Evan W.

doi:10.1086/452520

Cited by 45 publications

(12 citation statements)

References 9 publications

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“…11 In May 2006, the government announced a plan to extend the 27 percent reservation for the OBC to all central universities, resulting in massive protests. Parliament passed the bill in the winter session of 2006-2007. However, in March 2007, the Supreme Court gave a stay order on the bill, citing the lack of data on which groups are indeed economically and socially disadvantaged.…”

Section: History Of Affirmative Action Policies In Indiamentioning

confidence: 99%

Affirmative action in education: Evidence from engineering college admissions in India

Bertrand

Hanna

Mullainathan

2010

Journal of Public Economics

197

126

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Many countries mandate affirmative action in university admissions for traditionally disadvantaged groups. Little is known about either the efficacy or costs of these programs. This paper examines affirmative action in engineering colleges in India for "lower-caste" groups. We find that it successfully targets the financially disadvantaged: the marginal upper-caste applicant comes from a more advantaged background than the marginal lower-caste applicant who displaces him. Despite much lower entrance exam scores, the marginal lower-caste entrant does benefit: we find a strong, positive economic return to admission. These findings contradict common arguments against affirmative action: that it is only relevant for richer lower-caste members, or that those who are admitted are too unprepared to benefit from the education. However, these benefits come at a cost. Our point estimates suggest that the marginal upper-caste entrant enjoys nearly twice the earnings level gain as the marginal lower-caste entrant. This finding illustrates the program's redistributive nature: it benefits the poor, but costs resources in absolute terms. One reason for this lower level gain is that a smaller fraction of lower-caste admits end up employed in engineering or advanced technical jobs. Finally, we find no evidence that the marginal upper-caste applicant who is rejected due to the policy ends up with more negative attitudes towards lower castes or towards affirmative action programs. On the other hand, there is some weak evidence that the marginal lower-caste admits become stronger supporters of affirmative action programs.

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Section: History Of Affirmative Action Policies In Indiamentioning

confidence: 99%

Affirmative action in education: Evidence from engineering college admissions in India

Bertrand

Hanna

Mullainathan

2010

Journal of Public Economics

197

126

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“…Members of each jati are typically and traditionally engaged in the same occupation. 3 See Osborne (2001), for the history and evolution of India's reservation policy. discrimination" virtually includes the effect of "wage discrimination" because their analyses on labor market participation are based on a reduced-form approach.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Caste discrimination and transaction costs in the labor market: Evidence from rural North India

Ito

2009

Journal of Development Economics

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This paper is an empirical attempt to quantify caste-based discrimination in the labor market using household data taken from rural North India. In the regression analysis, transaction costs associated with entry into the labor market and reservation wages are estimated simultaneously along with market wages. The estimation results provide evidence of the existence of transaction costs in the labor market and discrimination against backward classes with regard to access to regular employment. In line with previous studies, the results suggest that the achievements of India's reservation policy so far have at best been limited. In addition, a comparison between the estimates from the model employed in this paper and conventional (reduced-form) approaches shows that discrimination in labor market entry is likely to be underestimated in the conventional reduced-form approaches.JEL classification codes: D23, J22, J24, J71

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“…The share of nonfarm wage 13 Other languages spoken in the region include Bhutia, Dzongkha, Groma, Gurung, Lepcha, Limbu, Magar, Majhi, Majhwar, Newari, Rai, Sherpa, Sunuwar, Tamang, Thulung, Tibetan, and Yakha. 14 For a detailed description of the social system and caste-based preferential policies in India, see Gallanter (1984) and Osborne (2001). 15 As noted by Borooah, Dubey, and Iyer (2007), if one were to establish a hierarchy of communities in terms of the "desirability" of the economic status, scheduled castes/scheduled tribes would lie at the bottom, the general category Hindus would be at the top, and the other backward classes would be in the middle.…”

Section: The Importance Of Nonfarm Incomesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Rural Nonfarm Employment and Incomes in the Himalayas

Micevska

Rahut

2008

Economic Development and Cultural Change

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Nonfarm activities generate, on average, about 60% of rural households' incomes in the Himalayas. This article analyzes the determinants of participation in nonfarm activities and of nonfarm incomes across rural households. A unique data set collected in the Himalayan region of India allows us to deal with the heterogeneity of rural nonfarm activities by using aggregations into categories that are useful both analytically and for policy purposes. We conduct an empirical inquiry that reveals that education plays a major role in accessing more remunerative nonfarm employment. Other household assets and characteristics such as land, social status, and geographical location also play a role. (c) 2008 by The University of Chicago. All rights reserved..

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Culture, Development, and Government: Reservations in India

Cited by 45 publications

References 9 publications

Affirmative action in education: Evidence from engineering college admissions in India

Affirmative action in education: Evidence from engineering college admissions in India

Caste discrimination and transaction costs in the labor market: Evidence from rural North India

Rural Nonfarm Employment and Incomes in the Himalayas

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