The Impact of Employment Quotas on the Economic Lives of Disadvantaged Minorities in India

Nishith Prakash ()
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Nishith Prakash: Northeastern University

No 13847, IZA Discussion Papers from Institute of Labor Economics (IZA)

Abstract: India has the world's biggest and arguably most aggressive employment-based affirmative action policy for minorities. This paper exploits the institutional features of a federally mandated employment quota policy to examine its causal impact on the economic lives of the two distinct minority groups (Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes). My main finding is that a 1-percentage point increase in the employment quota for Scheduled Castes increases the likelihood of obtaining a salaried job by 0.6-percentage points for male Scheduled Caste members residing in the rural sector. The employment quota policy has no impact for Scheduled Tribes. Contrary to popular notion, I do not find evidence of "elite-capture" among the Scheduled Castes – the impact is concentrated among members who have completed less than secondary education. Consistent with the employment results, I find that the policy improved the well-being of Scheduled Castes members in rural areas who have completed less than secondary education. Finally, the impact of the employment quota policy varies by state characteristics.

Keywords: consumption expenditure; Scheduled Tribes; Scheduled Castes; employment quota; public sector; India (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: H40 J21 J31 J45 O10 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 49 pages
Date: 2020-11
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-lma
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (15)

Published - published in: Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, 2020, 180, 494-509

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