IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/streco/v61y2022icp59-69.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Inequality and locational determinants of the distribution of living standards in India

Author

Listed:
  • Kumar, Rishabh
  • Balasubramanian, Sriram
  • Loungani, Prakash

Abstract

We analyze consumption distribution in India purely on the basis of location – a combination of the state and sector (urban, rural) – and find that it explains a third of the variation in living standards. Consumption is also shown to be positively related to locational inequality. The main reason is that in poorer locations, consumption is tightly (less unequally) distributed around a low level, making class a poor predictor of higher living standards compared to the aggregate. In effect, from an individual’s perspective, living standards are higher in richer, but more unequal, locations in India. We analyze these paradoxes as evidence of an ongoing Kuznets type processes. Our results have implications for the persistence of economic migration within a fast-growing emerging economy. Individuals can choose to change their location to enjoy better living standards, but not necessarily trade other social, or individual predictors, like caste, religion and gender.

Suggested Citation

  • Kumar, Rishabh & Balasubramanian, Sriram & Loungani, Prakash, 2022. "Inequality and locational determinants of the distribution of living standards in India," Structural Change and Economic Dynamics, Elsevier, vol. 61(C), pages 59-69.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:streco:v:61:y:2022:i:c:p:59-69
    DOI: 10.1016/j.strueco.2022.02.007
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0954349X22000169
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.strueco.2022.02.007?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Lucas Chancel & Thomas Piketty, 2019. "Indian Income Inequality, 1922‐2015: From British Raj to Billionaire Raj?," Review of Income and Wealth, International Association for Research in Income and Wealth, vol. 65(S1), pages 33-62, November.
    2. Amrit Amirapu & Arvind Subramanian, 2015. "Manufacturing or Services? An Indian Illustration of a Development Dilemma," Working Papers id:7521, eSocialSciences.
    3. Anoop S. Kumar & P. Yazir & G. G. Gopika, 2019. "Consumption Inequality In India After Liberalization: A Caste Based Assessment," The Singapore Economic Review (SER), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 64(01), pages 139-155, March.
    4. Basole, Amit & Basu, Deepankar, 2015. "Fuelling Calorie Intake Decline: Household-Level Evidence from Rural India," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 68(C), pages 82-95.
    5. Branko Milanovic, 2015. "Global Inequality of Opportunity: How Much of Our Income Is Determined by Where We Live?," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 97(2), pages 452-460, May.
    6. Angus Deaton and Jean Drèze & Jean Drèze, 2002. "Poverty and Inequality in India: A Reexamination," Working papers 107, Centre for Development Economics, Delhi School of Economics.
    7. Facundo Alvaredo & Thomas Piketty & Emmanuel Saez & Lucas Chancel & Gabriel Zucman, 2018. "World Inequality Report 2018," PSE-Ecole d'économie de Paris (Postprint) halshs-01885458, HAL.
    8. Petia Topalova, 2007. "Trade Liberalization, Poverty and Inequality: Evidence from Indian Districts," NBER Chapters, in: Globalization and Poverty, pages 291-336, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    9. Chauvin, Juan Pablo & Glaeser, Edward & Ma, Yueran & Tobio, Kristina, 2017. "What is different about urbanization in rich and poor countries? Cities in Brazil, China, India and the United States," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 98(C), pages 17-49.
    10. Amit Basole & Deepankar Basu, 2015. "Non-Food Expenditures and Consumption Inequality in India," UMASS Amherst Economics Working Papers 2015-06, University of Massachusetts Amherst, Department of Economics.
    11. Kaivan Munshi & Mark R. Rosenzweig, 2005. "Why is Mobility in India so Low? Social Insurance, Inequality, and Growth," CID Working Papers 121, Center for International Development at Harvard University.
    12. Angus Deaton & Valerie Kozel, 2005. "Data and Dogma: The Great Indian Poverty Debate," The World Bank Research Observer, World Bank, vol. 20(2), pages 177-199.
    13. Anindya S. Chakrabarti & Arnab Chatterjee & Tushar Nandi & Asim Ghosh & Anirban Chakraborti, 2018. "Quantifying invariant features of within-group inequality in consumption across groups," Journal of Economic Interaction and Coordination, Springer;Society for Economic Science with Heterogeneous Interacting Agents, vol. 13(3), pages 469-490, October.
    14. Rohit Lamba & Arvind Subramanian, 2020. "Dynamism with Incommensurate Development: The Distinctive Indian Model," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 34(1), pages 3-30, Winter.
    15. Bhalla, Surjit, 2011. "Inclusion and growth in India: some facts, some conclusions," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 38366, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    16. Amrit Amirapu and Arvind Subramanian, 2015. "Manufacturing or Services? An Indian Illustration of a Development Dilemma - Working Paper 409," Working Papers 409, Center for Global Development.
    17. Gaurav Datt & Martin Ravallion & Rinku Murgai, 2020. "Poverty and Growth in India over Six Decades," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 102(1), pages 4-27, January.
    18. Ashwini Deshpande, 2001. "Caste at Birth? Redefining Disparity in India," Review of Development Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 5(1), pages 130-144, February.
    19. repec:pri:rpdevs:deaton_dreze_poverty_india is not listed on IDEAS
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Balasubramanian, Sriram & Kumar, Rishabh & Loungani, Prakash, 2020. "Inequality and locational determinants of the distribution of living standards in India," SocArXiv rmcej, Center for Open Science.
    2. Branko Milanovic, 2022. "After the Financial Crisis: The Evolution of the Global Income Distribution Between 2008 and 2013," Review of Income and Wealth, International Association for Research in Income and Wealth, vol. 68(1), pages 43-73, March.
    3. Dhongde, Shatakshee, 2017. "Measuring Segregation of the Poor: Evidence from India," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 89(C), pages 111-123.
    4. J.Salcedo Cain & Rana Hasan & Devashish Mitra, 2010. "Trade Liberalization and Poverty Reduction: New Evidence from Indian States," Working Papers 3333, School of International and Public Affairs, Columbia University, revised Nov 2010.
    5. Tarozzi, Alessandro & Mahajan, Aprajit, 2007. "Child Nutrition in India in the Nineties," Economic Development and Cultural Change, University of Chicago Press, vol. 55(3), pages 441-486, April.
    6. Tarozzi, Alessandro & Mahajan, Aprajit, 2007. "Child Nutrition in India in the Nineties," Economic Development and Cultural Change, University of Chicago Press, vol. 55(3), pages 441-486, April.
    7. Rohit Lamba & Arvind Subramanian, 2020. "Dynamism with Incommensurate Development: The Distinctive Indian Model," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 34(1), pages 3-30, Winter.
    8. Saon Ray & Sabyasachi Kar, 2020. "Kuznets’ tension in India: Two episodes," IEG Working Papers 386, Institute of Economic Growth.
    9. Lucas Chancel & Thomas Piketty, 2019. "Indian Income Inequality, 1922‐2015: From British Raj to Billionaire Raj?," Review of Income and Wealth, International Association for Research in Income and Wealth, vol. 65(S1), pages 33-62, November.
    10. Saon Ray & Sabyasachi Kar, 2020. "Kuznets' tension in India: Two episodes," WIDER Working Paper Series wp-2020-24, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    11. Amit Basole & Deepankar Basu, 2015. "Non-Food Expenditures and Consumption Inequality in India," UMASS Amherst Economics Working Papers 2015-06, University of Massachusetts Amherst, Department of Economics.
    12. Sinha Roy,Sutirtha & Van Der Weide,Roy, 2022. "Poverty in India Has Declined over the Last Decade But Not As Much As Previously Thought," Policy Research Working Paper Series 9994, The World Bank.
    13. Angus Deaton & Jean Dreze, 2008. "Nutrition in India: Facts and Interpretations," Working Papers 1071, Princeton University, Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs, Research Program in Development Studies..
    14. Amrit Amirapu, 2021. "Justice Delayed Is Growth Denied: The Effect of Slow Courts on Relationship-Specific Industries in India," Economic Development and Cultural Change, University of Chicago Press, vol. 70(1), pages 415-451.
    15. Peter Lanjouw & Hai-Anh Dang, 2018. "Welfare dynamics in India over a quarter-century: Poverty, vulnerability, and mobility, 1987–2012," WIDER Working Paper Series 175, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    16. Hai-Anh H. Dang & Peter F. Lanjouw, 2020. "Welfare Dynamics in India over a Quarter Century: Poverty, Vulnerability, and Mobility during 1987-2012," Working Papers 540, ECINEQ, Society for the Study of Economic Inequality.
    17. Hai-Anh H. Dang & Peter F. Lanjouw, 2023. "Regression-based imputation for poverty measurement in data-scarce settings," Chapters, in: Jacques Silber (ed.), Research Handbook on Measuring Poverty and Deprivation, chapter 13, pages 141-150, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    18. Chhavi Tiwari & Srinivas Goli & Mohammad Zahid Siddiqui & Pradeep S. Salve, 2022. "Poverty, wealth inequality and financial inclusion among castes in Hindu and Muslim communities in Uttar Pradesh, India," Journal of International Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 34(6), pages 1227-1255, August.
    19. Grabowski, Richard & Self, Sharmistha, 2017. "The development of manufacturing: Unintended consequence," Journal of Asian Economics, Elsevier, vol. 52(C), pages 1-11.
    20. Brian, McCaig, 2011. "Exporting out of poverty: Provincial poverty in Vietnam and U.S. market access," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 85(1), pages 102-113, September.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:streco:v:61:y:2022:i:c:p:59-69. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/inca/525148 .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.