Many Rivers to Cross: Social Identity, Cognition, and Labor Mobility in Rural India

Sébastien Michiels, Christophe Nordman and Suneha Seetahul

The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, 2021, vol. 697, issue 1, 66-80

Abstract: This study analyzes whether individual skills and personality traits facilitate labor market mobility of disadvantaged groups and rural migrants. We use a panel dataset of individuals in rural South India to explore the relationship between individual cognitive skills, personality traits, and income mobility. We take advantage of intragroup heterogeneity in terms of cognitive skills and personality traits to examine whether these personal characteristics enable individuals to overcome rigid social structures, exploring the role of these skills and traits in migrants’ income mobility. We show that despite strong rigidity in the area’s labor market structure, personality traits are important determinants of labor mobility, enabling individuals to overcome caste and gender discrimination, but that these personality traits do not contribute to increases in migrants’ income mobility.

Keywords: income mobility; cognitive skills; personality; Tamil Nadu; India (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
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Related works:
Working Paper: Many Rivers to Cross: Social Identity, Cognition and Labour Mobility in Rural India (2021)
Working Paper: Many Rivers to Cross: Social Identity, Cognition and Labour Mobility in Rural India (2021)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:sae:anname:v:697:y:2021:i:1:p:66-80

DOI: 10.1177/00027162211055990

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