Belief Systems and Durable Inequalities: An Experimental Investigation of Indian Caste
If discrimination against an historically oppressed social group is dismantled, will the group forge ahead? The authors present experimental evidence that a history of social and legal disabilities may have persistent effects on a group's earn...
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| Format: | Policy Research Working Paper |
| Language: | English en_US |
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World Bank, Washington, D.C.
2013
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| Online Access: | http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2004/06/4963583/belief-systems-durable-inequalities-experimental-investigation-indian-caste http://hdl.handle.net/10986/14063 |
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okr-10986-140632021-04-23T14:03:20Z Belief Systems and Durable Inequalities: An Experimental Investigation of Indian Caste Hoff, Karla Pandey, Priyanka ANATOMY ARGUMENTS ATTENTION BELIEF SYSTEMS BELIEFS CAREERS CASTES COLONIALISM DISABILITIES DISCRIMINATION EDUCATIONAL EXPERIENCE EMPOWERMENT ENROLLMENT IDENTITY LAWS LEARNING LEARNING EFFECT LITERACY MOTIVATION PARENTS PARTNERSHIP PLAYING POLLUTION POSTER POWER PRIMARY SCHOOL PRIMARY SCHOOLING PSYCHOLOGY RURAL CHILDREN SCHOOLS SLAVERY SOCIAL CLASSES SOCIAL GROUPS SOCIAL INEQUALITY WAGES WASTE ABILITY ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT ACHIEVEMENT TESTS BELIEF SYSTEMS BELIEFS COMPETENCE DISCRIMINATION EDUCATIONAL EXPERIENCE IDENTITY PERCEPTION PRIMARY SCHOOL RURAL CHILDREN SOCIAL GROUPS SOCIAL STATUS CASTE DISCRIMINATION CASTES SOCIAL STRATIFICATION If discrimination against an historically oppressed social group is dismantled, will the group forge ahead? The authors present experimental evidence that a history of social and legal disabilities may have persistent effects on a group's earnings through its impact on individuals' expectations. In the first experiment, 321 high-caste and 321 low-caste junior high school male student volunteers in rural India performed the task of solving mazes under economic incentives. There were no caste differences in performance when caste was not publicly revealed, but making caste salient created a large and robust caste gap. When a nonhuman factor influencing rewards (a random draw) was introduced, the caste gap disappeared. To test whether the low caste's anticipation of prejudicial treatment caused the caste gap, the authors conducted a second experiment that manipulated the scope for discretion in rewarding performance. When the link between performance and payoffs was purely mechanical, making caste salient did not affect behavior. Instead, it was in the case where there was scope for discretion and judgment in rewarding performance that making caste salient had an effect. The results suggest that when caste identity is salient, low-caste subjects expect that others will judge them prejudicially. Mistrust undermines motivation. The experimental design enables the authors to exclude as explanations of the caste gap in performance socioeconomic differences and a lack of self-confidence by low-caste participants. 2013-06-20T17:16:21Z 2013-06-20T17:16:21Z 2004-06 http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2004/06/4963583/belief-systems-durable-inequalities-experimental-investigation-indian-caste http://hdl.handle.net/10986/14063 English en_US Policy Research Working Paper;No.3351 CC BY 3.0 IGO http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/igo/ World Bank World Bank, Washington, D.C. Publications & Research :: Policy Research Working Paper Publications & Research South Asia India |
| repository_type |
Digital Repository |
| institution_category |
Foreign Institution |
| institution |
Digital Repositories |
| building |
World Bank Open Knowledge Repository |
| collection |
World Bank |
| language |
English en_US |
| topic |
ANATOMY ARGUMENTS ATTENTION BELIEF SYSTEMS BELIEFS CAREERS CASTES COLONIALISM DISABILITIES DISCRIMINATION EDUCATIONAL EXPERIENCE EMPOWERMENT ENROLLMENT IDENTITY LAWS LEARNING LEARNING EFFECT LITERACY MOTIVATION PARENTS PARTNERSHIP PLAYING POLLUTION POSTER POWER PRIMARY SCHOOL PRIMARY SCHOOLING PSYCHOLOGY RURAL CHILDREN SCHOOLS SLAVERY SOCIAL CLASSES SOCIAL GROUPS SOCIAL INEQUALITY WAGES WASTE ABILITY ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT ACHIEVEMENT TESTS BELIEF SYSTEMS BELIEFS COMPETENCE DISCRIMINATION EDUCATIONAL EXPERIENCE IDENTITY PERCEPTION PRIMARY SCHOOL RURAL CHILDREN SOCIAL GROUPS SOCIAL STATUS CASTE DISCRIMINATION CASTES SOCIAL STRATIFICATION |
| spellingShingle |
ANATOMY ARGUMENTS ATTENTION BELIEF SYSTEMS BELIEFS CAREERS CASTES COLONIALISM DISABILITIES DISCRIMINATION EDUCATIONAL EXPERIENCE EMPOWERMENT ENROLLMENT IDENTITY LAWS LEARNING LEARNING EFFECT LITERACY MOTIVATION PARENTS PARTNERSHIP PLAYING POLLUTION POSTER POWER PRIMARY SCHOOL PRIMARY SCHOOLING PSYCHOLOGY RURAL CHILDREN SCHOOLS SLAVERY SOCIAL CLASSES SOCIAL GROUPS SOCIAL INEQUALITY WAGES WASTE ABILITY ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT ACHIEVEMENT TESTS BELIEF SYSTEMS BELIEFS COMPETENCE DISCRIMINATION EDUCATIONAL EXPERIENCE IDENTITY PERCEPTION PRIMARY SCHOOL RURAL CHILDREN SOCIAL GROUPS SOCIAL STATUS CASTE DISCRIMINATION CASTES SOCIAL STRATIFICATION Hoff, Karla Pandey, Priyanka Belief Systems and Durable Inequalities: An Experimental Investigation of Indian Caste |
| geographic_facet |
South Asia India |
| relation |
Policy Research Working Paper;No.3351 |
| description |
If discrimination against an
historically oppressed social group is dismantled, will the
group forge ahead? The authors present experimental evidence
that a history of social and legal disabilities may have
persistent effects on a group's earnings through its
impact on individuals' expectations. In the first
experiment, 321 high-caste and 321 low-caste junior high
school male student volunteers in rural India performed the
task of solving mazes under economic incentives. There were
no caste differences in performance when caste was not
publicly revealed, but making caste salient created a large
and robust caste gap. When a nonhuman factor influencing
rewards (a random draw) was introduced, the caste gap
disappeared. To test whether the low caste's
anticipation of prejudicial treatment caused the caste gap,
the authors conducted a second experiment that manipulated
the scope for discretion in rewarding performance. When the
link between performance and payoffs was purely mechanical,
making caste salient did not affect behavior. Instead, it
was in the case where there was scope for discretion and
judgment in rewarding performance that making caste salient
had an effect. The results suggest that when caste identity
is salient, low-caste subjects expect that others will judge
them prejudicially. Mistrust undermines motivation. The
experimental design enables the authors to exclude as
explanations of the caste gap in performance socioeconomic
differences and a lack of self-confidence by low-caste participants. |
| format |
Publications & Research :: Policy Research Working Paper |
| author |
Hoff, Karla Pandey, Priyanka |
| author_facet |
Hoff, Karla Pandey, Priyanka |
| author_sort |
Hoff, Karla |
| title |
Belief Systems and Durable Inequalities: An Experimental Investigation of Indian Caste |
| title_short |
Belief Systems and Durable Inequalities: An Experimental Investigation of Indian Caste |
| title_full |
Belief Systems and Durable Inequalities: An Experimental Investigation of Indian Caste |
| title_fullStr |
Belief Systems and Durable Inequalities: An Experimental Investigation of Indian Caste |
| title_full_unstemmed |
Belief Systems and Durable Inequalities: An Experimental Investigation of Indian Caste |
| title_sort |
belief systems and durable inequalities: an experimental investigation of indian caste |
| publisher |
World Bank, Washington, D.C. |
| publishDate |
2013 |
| url |
http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2004/06/4963583/belief-systems-durable-inequalities-experimental-investigation-indian-caste http://hdl.handle.net/10986/14063 |
| _version_ |
1764430430239457280 |