Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/282728 
Year of Publication: 
2023
Series/Report no.: 
IZA Discussion Papers No. 16601
Publisher: 
Institute of Labor Economics (IZA), Bonn
Abstract: 
We examine how village level social group dominance affects the educational and occupational mobility of minority and other social groups in rural India across multiple generations. Theoretically, we distinguish between upper caste and own group dominance and examine the mechanisms underpinning inequality in mobility outcomes. We find inequality in upward educational mobility to have significantly narrowed over time with SCs doing better in upper caste and own-dominated villages, while STs and Muslims do worse in own-dominated villages. In contrast, for occupational mobility, we find no evidence of minority groups catching up with upper castes while SCs and STs are particularly disadvantaged, but SCs, again, do comparatively better in their own dominated villages. Exploring the mechanisms that explain the relationships between land dominance regimes and mobility, we find that a combination of agroecological and natural resource base and social cohesion of villages underpin the differences observed more than public goods provision. Our findings suggest a new pattern of inequality where historically disadvantaged groups appear less able to convert educational gains into labour market and occupational progress.
Subjects: 
educational mobility
occupational mobility
caste
village dominance regimes
India
JEL: 
J62
J71
O12
Document Type: 
Working Paper

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