Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/325005 
Year of Publication: 
2025
Series/Report no.: 
CESifo Working Paper No. 12014
Publisher: 
CESifo GmbH, Munich
Abstract: 
Inequality and social mobility in India are longstanding social issues. We document patterns of absolute inequality, relative inequality and social mobility for India as a whole as well as for Indian states grouped by level of development. The analysis uses easy to understand indexes constructed using selected percentiles and percentile ratios of household consumption expenditures from the National Sample Surveys for 1983 to 2011-12. We augment the analysis of inequality and social mobility with an assessment of the degree to which the states are diverging in these respects over time. Throughout the paper, we compare the patterns revealed by the percentile measures with those based on corresponding Gini coefficients. The investigation reveals three distinct subperiods across major Indian states during which inequality and social mobility stand in different relation to each other. Contrasts uncovered among the three subperiods identified in our analysis may prove useful to scholars who want to study connections between inequality, social mobility, economic growth and public redistributive policy actions.
Subjects: 
absolute and relative inequality
social mobility
percentile-based indexes
Gini coefficient
absolute divergence
Gini decomposition
household consumption expenditure survey
Indian states
Bimarou vs. Non-Bimarou states
JEL: 
D31
D63
R12
Document Type: 
Working Paper
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