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Does Political Reservation for Minorities Affect Child Labor? Evidence from India

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  • Kaletski, Elizabeth

    (Ithaca College)

  • Prakash, Nishith

    (Northeastern University)

Abstract

This paper examines the impact of state level political reservation for two minority groups – Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes – on child labor in India. We estimate the effect of political reservation on child labor by exploiting the state variation in the share of seats reserved for the two groups in state legislative assemblies mandated by the Constitution of India. Using data from state and household level surveys on fifteen major Indian states, we find that at the household level, Schedule Tribe reservation decreases the incidence of child labor, while Scheduled Caste reservation increases the total number of children working. Our results survive a variety of robustness checks and potential explanations for the differential impact of SC and ST political reservation are also explored, including geographic isolation, caste fragmentation, support for the Congress Party, and decentralization of power.

Suggested Citation

  • Kaletski, Elizabeth & Prakash, Nishith, 2014. "Does Political Reservation for Minorities Affect Child Labor? Evidence from India," IZA Discussion Papers 8212, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    • Handle: RePEc:iza:izadps:dp8212
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    Cited by:

    1. Simone Schotte & Rachel M. Gisselquist & Tharcisio Leone, 2023. "Does affirmative action address ethnic inequality?: A systematic review of the literature," WIDER Working Paper Series wp-2023-14, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    2. Prakash, Nishith, 2008. "Improving the Labor Market Outcomes of Minorities: The Role of Employment Quota," MPRA Paper 11010, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    3. Kaletski, Elizabeth & Prakash, Nishith, 2016. "Does Political Reservation for Minorities Affect Child Labor? Evidence from India," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 87(C), pages 50-69.
    4. Elizabeth Kaletski & Nishith Prakash, 2017. "Can Elected Minority Representatives Affect Health Worker Visits? Evidence from India," Review of Development Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 21(1), pages 67-102, February.
    5. Mariella Sica, 2012. "Politics and Religion in India: Minorities," Transition Studies Review, Springer;Central Eastern European University Network (CEEUN), vol. 19(1), pages 131-138, September.
    6. Deininger,Klaus W. & Jin,Songqing & Nagarajan,Hari Krishnan & Singh,Sudhir K., 2020. "Political Reservation and Female Labor Force Participation in Rural India," Policy Research Working Paper Series 9350, The World Bank.
    7. Kshitij Chaudhary, 2015. "The effect of political decentralisation and affirmative action on Multidimensional Poverty Index: evidence from Indian States," Journal of Social and Economic Development, Springer;Institute for Social and Economic Change, vol. 17(1), pages 27-49, April.
    8. Elizabeth Kaletski & Nishith Prakash, 2016. "Affirmative action policy in developing countries: Lessons learned and a way forward," WIDER Working Paper Series wp-2016-52, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    9. Chatterjee, Somdeep & Pal, Debdatta, 2021. "Is there political elite capture in access to energy sources? Evidence from Indian households," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 140(C).
    10. Ao, Chon-Kit & Chatterjee, Somdeep, 2018. "The Effects of Political Reservations on Credit Access and Borrowing Composition: New Evidence from India," GLO Discussion Paper Series 227, Global Labor Organization (GLO).
    11. Sugata Bag & Suman Seth & Barnali Basak, 2023. "Heterogeneous effect of the Indian affirmative action: The role of caste certificates," Working papers 339, Centre for Development Economics, Delhi School of Economics.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    child labor; minorities; affirmative action; India;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • I38 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Welfare, Well-Being, and Poverty - - - Government Programs; Provision and Effects of Welfare Programs
    • J15 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Economics of Minorities, Races, Indigenous Peoples, and Immigrants; Non-labor Discrimination
    • J22 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Time Allocation and Labor Supply
    • J78 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Labor Discrimination - - - Public Policy (including comparable worth)

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