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Income Inequality and Caste in Village India

Author

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  • Vikas Rawal

    (Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, vikasrawal@agrarianresearch.org.)

  • Madhura Swaminathan

    (Indian Statistical Institute, Kolkata.)

Abstract

In this paper, we examine inequality in incomes between households of different castes in rural India, using a unique dataset comprising household data from a cross-section of eight villages across four States. The focus of this paper is on Dalit or Scheduled Caste households. We begin with very simple measures of differences between groups, such as proportional representation in different quintiles and the frequency distribution of households across income levels in different social groups. We then estimate a standard GE(2) inequality index along with its decomposition by caste. Lastly, we compute an alternative benchmark for assessing the share of between-group inequality in total inequality as suggested by Elbers, Lanjouw, Mistiaen, and Ozler (ELMO 2008). Our analysis shows high levels of income inequality between households of different caste groups.

Suggested Citation

  • Vikas Rawal & Madhura Swaminathan, 2011. "Income Inequality and Caste in Village India," Journal, Review of Agrarian Studies, vol. 1(2), pages 108-133, July-Dece.
    • Handle: RePEc:fas:journl:v:1:y:2011:i:2:p:108-133
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Swaminathan, Madhura & Rawal, Vikas, 2011. "Is India Really a Country of Low Income-Inequality? Observations from Eight Villages," Review of Agrarian Studies, Foundation for Agrarian Studies, vol. 1(1), July.
    2. Chris Elbers & Peter Lanjouw & Johan Mistiaen & Berk Özler, 2008. "Reinterpreting between-group inequality," The Journal of Economic Inequality, Springer;Society for the Study of Economic Inequality, vol. 6(3), pages 231-245, September.
    3. Ravi Kanbur, 2006. "The policy significance of inequality decompositions," The Journal of Economic Inequality, Springer;Society for the Study of Economic Inequality, vol. 4(3), pages 367-374, December.
    4. Chen, Chau-Nan & Tsaur, Tien-Wang & Rhai, Tong-Shieng, 1982. "The Gini Coefficient and Negative Income," Oxford Economic Papers, Oxford University Press, vol. 34(3), pages 473-478, November.
    5. Lanjouw, Peter & Rao, Vijayendra, 2011. "Revisiting Between-Group Inequality Measurement: An Application to the Dynamics of Caste Inequality in Two Indian Villages," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 39(2), pages 174-187, February.
    6. Ashwini Deshpande, 2000. "Does Caste Still Define Disparity? A Look at Inequality in Kerala, India," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 90(2), pages 322-325, May.
    7. Vani K. Borooah, 2005. "Caste, Inequality, and Poverty in India," Review of Development Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 9(3), pages 399-414, August.
    8. Jayadev, Arjun & Reddy, Sanjay G., 2011. "Inequalities between Groups: Theory and Empirics," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 39(2), pages 159-173, February.
    9. Desai, Sonalde & Dubey, Amaresh & Joshi, Brij Lal & Sen, Mitali & Sharif, Abusaleh & Vanneman, Reeve, 2010. "Human Development in India: Challenges for a Society in Transition," OUP Catalogue, Oxford University Press, number 9780198065128.
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    Cited by:

    1. Vijesh V Krishna & Lagesh M Aravalath & Surjit Vikraman, 2019. "Does caste determine farmer access to quality information?," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 14(1), pages 1-22, January.
    2. Singh, Shamsher, 2015. "Residential Segregation and Access to Basic Amenities: A Village-Level Case Study," Review of Agrarian Studies, Foundation for Agrarian Studies, vol. 5(2), December.
    3. I Maruthi & Pesala Peter, 2018. "Caste discrimination practices in rural Karnataka," Working Papers 418, Institute for Social and Economic Change, Bangalore.
    4. Krishna, V. & Vikraman, S. & Aravalath, L., 2018. "Caste-based social segregation and access to public extension services in India," 2018 Conference, July 28-August 2, 2018, Vancouver, British Columbia 276944, International Association of Agricultural Economists.
    5. Soumya Balasubramanya & David Stifel & Muzna Alvi & Claudia Ringler, 2022. "The role of social identity in improving access to water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) and health services: Evidence from Nepal," Development Policy Review, Overseas Development Institute, vol. 40(4), July.
    6. Shukla, Prakash Kumar & Reddy A, Bheemeshwar & Kumar, Dushyant, 2024. "Class in caste: Inequalities in human capital investments in children in India," International Journal of Educational Development, Elsevier, vol. 106(C).

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