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Is COVID-19 'The Great Leveler'? The Critical Role of Social Identity in Lockdown- induced Job Losses

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  • Ashwini Deshpande

    (Department of Economics, Ashoka University)

  • Rajesh Ramachandran

    (University of Heidelberg)

Abstract

Using nationally representative panel data for 21,799 individuals between May 2018 and April 2020, this paper investigates whether the Covid-19 pandemic was indeed a Great Leveller in the sense that it imposed similar and equivalent labour market shocks on different caste groups. We find that while all caste groups lost jobs in the first month of the lockdown, the job losses for lowest-ranked castes are greater by a factor of three. The data shows that the disproportionate effects stem from lower levels of human capital and over-representation in vulnerable jobs for the lowest-ranked caste groups in the country.

Suggested Citation

  • Ashwini Deshpande & Rajesh Ramachandran, 2020. "Is COVID-19 'The Great Leveler'? The Critical Role of Social Identity in Lockdown- induced Job Losses," Working Papers 34, Ashoka University, Department of Economics.
    • Handle: RePEc:ash:wpaper:34
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    File URL: https://dp.ashoka.edu.in/ash/wpaper/paper34_0.pdf
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Cho, Seung Jin & Winters, John V., 2020. "The Distributional Impacts of Early Employment Losses from COVID-19," IZA Discussion Papers 13266, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    2. Tomaz Cajner & Leland D. Crane & Ryan A. Decker & John Grigsby & Adrian Hamins-Puertolas & Erik Hurst & Christopher Kurz & Ahu Yildirmaz, 2020. "The US Labor Market during the Beginning of the Pandemic Recession," Brookings Papers on Economic Activity, Economic Studies Program, The Brookings Institution, vol. 51(2 (Summer), pages 3-33.
    3. Deshpande, Ashwini & Ramachandran, Rajesh, 2019. "Traditional hierarchies and affirmative action in a globalizing economy: Evidence from India," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 118(C), pages 63-78.
    4. Ashwini Deshpande & Rajesh Ramachandran, 2020. "Which Indian Children are Short and Why? Social Identity, Childhood Malnutrition and Cognitive Outcomes," Working Papers 27, Ashoka University, Department of Economics.
    5. Ashwini Deshpande, 2020. "The Covid-19 Pandemic and Lockdown: First Effects on Gender Gaps in Employment and Domestic Work in India," Working Papers 30, Ashoka University, Department of Economics, revised 02 Jun 2020.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

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    Cited by:

    1. Paaritosh Nath & S. Nelson Mandela & Aishwarya Gawali, 2023. "Loss, Recovery and the Long Road Ahead: Tracking India's Informal Workers Through the Pandemic," The Indian Journal of Labour Economics, Springer;The Indian Society of Labour Economics (ISLE), vol. 66(1), pages 329-354, March.
    2. Praveen Jha & Preksha Mishra, 2022. "Persistent Vulnerabilities in the World of Work and Contemporary Capitalism: Some Reflections on India," The Indian Journal of Labour Economics, Springer;The Indian Society of Labour Economics (ISLE), vol. 65(2), pages 347-372, June.
    3. Beyer, Robert C.M. & Jain, Tarun & Sinha, Sonalika, 2023. "Lights out? COVID-19 containment policies and economic activity," Journal of Asian Economics, Elsevier, vol. 85(C).
    4. Archana Dang & Mausumi Das & Indrani Gupta, 2023. "COVID-19 And The Unequal Distribution Of Poverty Risks: Evidence From Urban India," IEG Working Papers 458, Institute of Economic Growth.
    5. Arjan Haan, 2020. "Labour Migrants During the Pandemic: A Comparative Perspective," The Indian Journal of Labour Economics, Springer;The Indian Society of Labour Economics (ISLE), vol. 63(4), pages 885-900, December.
    6. Ashwini Deshpande, 2022. "The Covid-19 pandemic and gendered division of paid work, domestic chores and leisure: evidence from India’s first wave," Economia Politica: Journal of Analytical and Institutional Economics, Springer;Fondazione Edison, vol. 39(1), pages 75-100, April.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    caste;

    JEL classification:

    • I14 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Health and Inequality
    • J15 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Economics of Minorities, Races, Indigenous Peoples, and Immigrants; Non-labor Discrimination
    • J21 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Labor Force and Employment, Size, and Structure
    • J70 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Labor Discrimination - - - General

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