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  3. American Economic Journal: Applied Economics
  4. April 2012
  5. Castes and Labor Mobility

Castes and Labor Mobility

  • Viktoria Hnatkovska
  • Amartya Lahiri
  • Sourabh Paul
American Economic Journal: Applied Economics
vol. 4, no. 2, April 2012
(pp. 274-307)
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Abstract

We examine the relative fortunes of the historically disadvantaged scheduled castes and tribes (SC/ST) in India in terms of their education attainment, occupation choices, consumption and wages. We study the period 1983-2005 using household survey data from successive rounds of the National Sample Survey. We find that this period has been characterized by a significant convergence of education, occupation distribution, wages and consumption levels of SC/STs toward non-SC/ST levels. Using various decomposition approaches we find that the improvements in education account for a major part of the wage and consumption convergence. (JEL I24, O15, O17, Z13)

Citation

Hnatkovska, Viktoria, Amartya Lahiri, and Sourabh Paul. 2012. "Castes and Labor Mobility." American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, 4 (2): 274-307. DOI: 10.1257/app.4.2.274

Additional Materials

JEL Classification

  • I24 Education and Inequality
  • O15 Economic Development: Human Resources; Human Development; Income Distribution; Migration
  • O17 Formal and Informal Sectors; Shadow Economy; Institutional Arrangements
  • Z13 Economic Sociology; Economic Anthropology; Social and Economic Stratification
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