Wealth Inequality: Evidence from Two Villages in Bihar

Madhura Swaminathan and Shruti Nagbhushan

Review of Agrarian Studies, 2022, vol. 12, issue 1

Abstract: This paper examines inequality in ownership of wealth in two villages of North Bihar, drawing on data from the PARI surveys conducted in 2012. The analysis showed extreme levels of inequality, among the highest of the 23 villages surveyed by PARI. Inequality in wealth across socio-economic classes was extremely high, with the top one per cent of households comprising landlords and capitalist farmers owning the bulk of all assets of resident households and the class of manual workers owning a minuscule share of total assets. The present study provides concrete evidence of the vast gap between the wealth of a manual worker and a landlord. Land remained the most important component of household wealth, including among the very rich. Given the strong correlation between caste and class, we found, predictably, that Scheduled Castes were the group worst off in terms of asset ownership, with members of the Extremely Backward Classes close behind. There was heterogeneity among Backward Class (BC) households.

Keywords: Agricultural Finance; Land Economics/Use; Consumer/Household Economics (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
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