The Redistributive Effects of Political Reservation for Minorities: Evidence from India

Aimee Chin and Nishith Prakash

No 16509, NBER Working Papers from National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc

Abstract: We examine the impact of political reservation for disadvantaged minority groups on poverty. To address the concern that political reservation is endogenous, we take advantage of the state-time variation in reservation in state legislative assemblies in India generated by national policies that cause reservations to be revised and the time lags with which revised reservations are implemented. Using data on sixteen major Indian states for the period 1960-2000, we find that increasing the share of seats reserved for Scheduled Tribes significantly reduces poverty while increasing the share of seats reserved for Scheduled Castes has no impact on poverty. Political reservation for Scheduled Tribes has a greater effect on rural poverty than urban poverty, and appears to benefit people near the poverty line as well as those far below it.

JEL-codes: I38 J15 J78 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2010-10
Note: PE POL
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (4)

Published as Chin, Aimee & Prakash, Nishith, 2011. "The redistributive effects of political reservation for minorities: Evidence from India," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 96(2), pages 265-277, November.

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Related works:
Journal Article: The redistributive effects of political reservation for minorities: Evidence from India (2011)
Working Paper: The Redistributive Effects of Political Reservation for Minorities: Evidence from India (2010)
Working Paper: The Redistributive Effects of Political Reservation for Minorities: Evidence from India (2009)
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