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Social exclusion and caste discrimination in public and private sectors in India: A decomposition analysis

Author

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  • S. Madheswaran

    (Institute for Social and Economic Change)

  • Smrutirekha Singhari

    (Institute for Social and Economic Change)

Abstract

This paper provides an empirical analysis of caste discrimination in the regular urban labour market in India. The affirmative action policy is confined to the minuscule public sector and excludes the vast private sector; therefore, analysis of caste discrimination has been conducted separately for public and private sector workers. To examine the wage gap between workers of forward castes (others) and lower castes (Scheduled Castes), the 50th, 61st, and 68th rounds of the Employment and Unemployment Survey data of the National Sample Survey Organisation (NSSO) have been used. The main conclusions, based on decomposition analysis, are that (a) endowment difference contributes more than discrimination to the raw wage gap; so, expanding educational opportunities for Scheduled Castes can be a useful strategy to reduce discriminatory treatment against them; (b) wages are lower for Scheduled Castes than for equally qualified forward castes by 19.4 per cent in the public sector and by 31.7 per cent in the private sector; (c) occupational discrimination, or unequal access to jobs, is more important than wage discrimination in both public and private sectors; and (d) the quantile regression results reveal a “glass ceiling effect” in the private sector and a “sticky floor effect” in the public sector. The empirical findings provide strong evidence for the extension of affirmative action policy in the private sector.

Suggested Citation

  • S. Madheswaran & Smrutirekha Singhari, 2016. "Social exclusion and caste discrimination in public and private sectors in India: A decomposition analysis," The Indian Journal of Labour Economics, Springer;The Indian Society of Labour Economics (ISLE), vol. 59(2), pages 175-201, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:ijlaec:v:59:y:2016:i:2:d:10.1007_s41027-017-0053-8
    DOI: 10.1007/s41027-017-0053-8
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    3. Shiney Chakraborty, 2020. "Gender Wage Differential in Public and Private Sectors in India," The Indian Journal of Labour Economics, Springer;The Indian Society of Labour Economics (ISLE), vol. 63(3), pages 765-780, September.
    4. Soumyajit Chakraborty & Alok K. Bohara, 2021. "The Cost of Being ‘Backward’ in India: Socio-religious Discrimination in the Labour Market," Indian Journal of Human Development, , vol. 15(2), pages 252-274, August.
    5. Pallavi Gupta & Satyanarayan Kothe, 2021. "Interpreting the Caste-based Earning Gaps in the Indian Labour Market: Theil and Oaxaca Decomposition Analysis," Papers 2110.06822, arXiv.org.
    6. Satinder Singh & Jajati K. Parida, 2022. "Employment and Earning Differentials Among Vocationally Trained Youth: Evidence from field studies in Punjab and Haryana in India," Millennial Asia, , vol. 13(1), pages 142-172, April.
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    9. Rahul MENON, 2021. "Determinants of inequality in Indian regular wage employment, 1993–2012," International Labour Review, International Labour Organization, vol. 160(3), pages 477-500, September.
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Caste discrimination; Wage discrimination; Job discrimination; India;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J16 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Economics of Gender; Non-labor Discrimination
    • J31 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Wages, Compensation, and Labor Costs - - - Wage Level and Structure; Wage Differentials
    • J71 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Labor Discrimination - - - Hiring and Firing
    • C21 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Single Equation Models; Single Variables - - - Cross-Sectional Models; Spatial Models; Treatment Effect Models

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