Caste Inequality in Medical Crowdfunding in India

Arpit Shah

Journal of Development Studies, 2024, vol. 60, issue 11, 1793-1811

Abstract: Medical crowdfunding has gained significant popularity and importance, yet researchers argue that it might not offer equitable financial assistance to vulnerable groups. Studies in Western countries have highlighted disparities in medical crowdfunding based on racial, ethnic, and socioeconomic dimensions. Despite this, the equity implications of crowdfunding in India have not been thoroughly investigated. We present the initial empirical evidence indicating caste-based inequalities in medical crowdfunding within India. Leveraging a comprehensive dataset comprising 5527 medical crowdfunding campaigns from one of India’s largest platforms, we evaluate the impact of the recipient’s caste identity on campaign outcomes. Our methodology utilises administrative data to deduce caste from the recipient’s surname. Campaigns by individuals from dominant caste groups tend to garner higher funds compared to those from marginalised castes, largely due to higher average donations. Furthermore, individuals from Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (marginalised groups in India) initiate disproportionately fewer campaigns than dominant castes. Our findings remain robust across various performance metrics and alternative model specifications, even after adjusting for multiple campaign features and recipient locations. In summary, our study highlights how crowdfunding on for-profit platforms may exacerbate existing caste-related health disparities in India by disproportionately favouring privileged groups.

Date: 2024
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/00220388.2024.2383438 (text/html)
Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:taf:jdevst:v:60:y:2024:i:11:p:1793-1811

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
http://www.tandfonline.com/pricing/journal/FJDS20

DOI: 10.1080/00220388.2024.2383438

Access Statistics for this article

Journal of Development Studies is currently edited by Howard White, Oliver Morrissey and Ken Shadlen

More articles in Journal of Development Studies from Taylor & Francis Journals
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Chris Longhurst ().