Caste System

In standard economics, individuals are rational actors and economic forces undermine institutions that impose large inefficiencies. The persistence of the caste system is evidence of the need for psychologically more realistic models of decision-ma...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Author:	Hoff, Karla
Format:	Working Paper
Language:	English en_US
Published:	Washington, DC: World Bank 2017
Subjects:	culture caste discrimination endogamy stereotype threat social identity psychology institutions behavioral economics
Online Access:	http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/452461482847661084/Caste-system http://hdl.handle.net/10986/25832

id	okr-10986-25832
recordtype	oai_dc
spelling	okr-10986-258322021-06-08T14:42:46Z Caste System Hoff, Karla culture caste discrimination endogamy stereotype threat social identity psychology institutions behavioral economics In standard economics, individuals are rational actors and economic forces undermine institutions that impose large inefficiencies. The persistence of the caste system is evidence of the need for psychologically more realistic models of decision-making in economics. The caste system divides South Asian society into hereditary groups whose lowest ranks are represented as innately polluted. After the historical encounter between colonial powers and South Asia, caste became capable of expressing and systematizing what had been diverse forms of social identity, community, and organization. This paper reviews work that estimates the economic costs of the caste system in particular environments: (1) In North India, discrimination between higher-caste landowners and lower-caste tenants in markets for groundwater for irrigation reduces the tenants' agricultural yields by 45 percent. (2) Making caste identity public in North Indian classrooms reduces the cognitive performance of low-caste boys by 23 percent. (3) Because of lower-caste men's control of working-class occupations, the proportion of lower-caste children enrolled in English-language schools in Mumbai after India opened itself up to the world market grew only one-fourth as quickly for boys as for girls, restricting boys' occupational mobility. Given the benefit of access to caste-based networks, most Indians practice caste endogamy. The caste system is a dramatic example of an institution to which it may pay each individual to conform because others conform. The caste system also illustrates the two-way influence between people and institutions emphasized in psychology: people construct institutions, and institutions shape understandings. Abolition by law of an institution may change neither understandings nor behavior. 2017-01-10T18:18:07Z 2017-01-10T18:18:07Z 2016-12 Working Paper http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/452461482847661084/Caste-system http://hdl.handle.net/10986/25832 English en_US Policy Research Working Paper;No. 7929 CC BY 3.0 IGO http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/igo World Bank Washington, DC: World Bank Publications & Research Publications & Research :: Policy Research Working Paper 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	culture caste discrimination endogamy stereotype threat social identity psychology institutions behavioral economics
spellingShingle	culture caste discrimination endogamy stereotype threat social identity psychology institutions behavioral economics Hoff, Karla Caste System
geographic_facet	South Asia India
relation	Policy Research Working Paper;No. 7929
description	In standard economics, individuals are rational actors and economic forces undermine institutions that impose large inefficiencies. The persistence of the caste system is evidence of the need for psychologically more realistic models of decision-making in economics. The caste system divides South Asian society into hereditary groups whose lowest ranks are represented as innately polluted. After the historical encounter between colonial powers and South Asia, caste became capable of expressing and systematizing what had been diverse forms of social identity, community, and organization. This paper reviews work that estimates the economic costs of the caste system in particular environments: (1) In North India, discrimination between higher-caste landowners and lower-caste tenants in markets for groundwater for irrigation reduces the tenants' agricultural yields by 45 percent. (2) Making caste identity public in North Indian classrooms reduces the cognitive performance of low-caste boys by 23 percent. (3) Because of lower-caste men's control of working-class occupations, the proportion of lower-caste children enrolled in English-language schools in Mumbai after India opened itself up to the world market grew only one-fourth as quickly for boys as for girls, restricting boys' occupational mobility. Given the benefit of access to caste-based networks, most Indians practice caste endogamy. The caste system is a dramatic example of an institution to which it may pay each individual to conform because others conform. The caste system also illustrates the two-way influence between people and institutions emphasized in psychology: people construct institutions, and institutions shape understandings. Abolition by law of an institution may change neither understandings nor behavior.
format	Working Paper
author	Hoff, Karla
author_facet	Hoff, Karla
author_sort	Hoff, Karla
title	Caste System
title_short	Caste System
title_full	Caste System
title_fullStr	Caste System
title_full_unstemmed	Caste System
title_sort	caste system
publisher	Washington, DC: World Bank
publishDate	2017
url	http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/452461482847661084/Caste-system http://hdl.handle.net/10986/25832
_version_	1764460262978486272

Caste System

Similar Items