Intergenerational mobility in India: new measures and estimates across time and social groups
Author(s)
Asher, Samuel
Novosad, Paul
Rafkin, Charlie
Type
Journal Article
Abstract
We study intergenerational mobility in India. We propose a new measure of upward mobility: the expected education rank of a child born to parents in the bottom half of the education distribution. This measure works well under data constraints common in developing countries and historical contexts. Intergenerational mobility in India has been constant and low since before liberalization. Among sons, we observe rising mobility for Scheduled Castes and declining mobility among Muslims. Daughters' intergenerational mobility is lower than sons', with less cross-group variation over time. A natural experiment suggests that affirmative action for Scheduled Castes has substantially improved their mobility.
Date Issued
2024-04-02
Date Acceptance
2024-03-27
Citation
American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, 2024, 16 (2), pp.66-98
ISSN
1945-7782
Publisher
American Economic Association
Start Page
66
End Page
98
Journal / Book Title
American Economic Journal: Applied Economics
Volume
16
Issue
2
Copyright Statement
© 2024 the American Economic Association.
Publication Status
Published