Work

A Division of Laborers: Identity and Efficiency in India

Year: 2021

Type: report

Abstract: Workers' social identity affects their occupation, and therefore the structure and prosperity of the aggregate economy.We estimate a general equilibrium Roy model of this phenomenon in the Indian caste system, where work and identity are particularly intertwined.New data on occupation, wages, and caste's traditional occupations and social status show that workers are over-represented in their traditional occupations and under-represented in socially higher or lower occupations.We consider counterfactuals removing castes' hierarchical and occupational links.Despite more efficient human capital allocation, aggregate output gains are small-in some counterfactuals negative-due to weaker caste networks and reduced learning across generations.

Source: National Bureau of Economic Research

DOI: 10.3386/w28462

Authors: Guilhem Cassan, Daniel Keniston, Tatjana Kleineberg

Institutions: Louisiana State University, National Bureau of Economic Research, World Bank, University of Namur

Language: English

Topic: South Asian Studies and Diaspora

Subfield: Philosophy

Field: Arts and Humanities

Domain: Social Sciences

SDGs: Decent work and economic growth, No poverty, Reduced inequalities

Open Access status: green

Funders: World Bank Group, Fonds De La Recherche Scientifique - FNRS, Fonds Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek, Vlaamse regering