Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/35634 
Authors: 
Year of Publication: 
2009
Series/Report no.: 
IZA Discussion Papers No. 3973
Publisher: 
Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA), Bonn
Abstract: 
This paper examines the differences in welfare, as measured by per capita expenditure (PCE), between social groups in rural India across the entire welfare distribution. The paper establishes that the disadvantage suffered by two historically disadvantaged groups - Scheduled Castes (SCs) and Scheduled Tribes (STs) - is underestimated when the comparison group is Non-SCs/STs rather than general category (mostly higher castes). The ST households are the most disadvantaged followed by the SC and the Other Backward Caste households with respect to general category households, and the disadvantage exists across the entire distribution. Better covariates and better returns to those covariates contribute to the advantage of the general category households. The findings suggest that the policies to raise the human capital and strengthening the other productive assets of the SC and the ST households must remain a focus of attention besides promoting a more active labor market in rural India.
Subjects: 
India
social groups
inequality
quantile regression decomposition
JEL: 
C15
D63
O53
Persistent Identifier of the first edition: 
Document Type: 
Working Paper

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