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Decomposing Nutritional Inequality by Caste and Class: A Quantitative Approach to Reckon Intersectionality

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  • Achin Chakraborty

    (Institute of Development Studies Kolkata)

  • Simantini Mukhopadhyay

    (Institute of Development Studies Kolkata)

Abstract

We decompose inequality in nutritional status of Indian children along the axes ofcaste and economic class. Inequality is measured by the most commonly decomposed measures of the General Entropy Class. We first use the traditional method of inequality decomposition and find out how the ‘between group' component differs when we consider different groupings, namely caste, class, and caste-class intersections. However, since the traditional method of inequality decomposition is sensitive to the relative sizes and the number of groups under question, the decompositions are not comparable across alternative groupings.In this paper, we use a corrected method of inequality decomposition and show that compared to the traditional method, it is more meaningful even in the non-income space.

Suggested Citation

  • Achin Chakraborty & Simantini Mukhopadhyay, 2017. "Decomposing Nutritional Inequality by Caste and Class: A Quantitative Approach to Reckon Intersectionality," Economics Bulletin, AccessEcon, vol. 37(2), pages 1339-1350.
    • Handle: RePEc:ebl:ecbull:eb-16-00757
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Inequality Decomposition; Child Nutrition; Caste; Class; India;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D3 - Microeconomics - - Distribution

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