Polarization, inequality and growth: The Indian experience

Sripad Motiram () and Nayantara Sarma ()
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Sripad Motiram: Indira Gandhi Institute of Development Research, Mumbai
Nayantara Sarma: Indira Gandhi Institute of Development Research, Mumbai

No 225, Working Papers from ECINEQ, Society for the Study of Economic Inequality

Abstract: We analyze polarization in India roughly in the past two and half decades using consumption expenditure data. We show that both bipolarization and multidimensional polarization (on several dimensions: caste, rural-urban, state, region) have increased since the 1990s. In the case of bipolarization, this is a reversal from the earlier trend (in the 1980s). Overall, our results suggest that the high growth that India has been witnessing since the 1990s has been associated with widening disparities. Comparing polarization and inequality, we find similarities, but also some differences. Our results therefore underscore the importance of studying polarization as distinct from traditional inequality.

Keywords: Polarization; Inequality; Growth in India. (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: D31 D63 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 44 pages
Date: 2011
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-ltv
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (4)

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