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Social Identity

The complexity of female empowerment interventions

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The distributional consequences of political reservations

This article identifies and attempts to fill in the gaps in understanding the effects of reservations for Scheduled Castes (SCs) in Panchayats. Using data from a state-wide census, multiple administra...

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Caste-based differences in self-help groups: Evidence from a rural livelihood programme

The National Rural Livelihood Mission aims to increase income and improve wellbeing for rural households. Using survey data from nine states in India, this article analyses the existence of caste-base...

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India’s Women’s Reservation Act: A big win for governance and beyond

Amidst debates about the recently passed women's reservation act and whether it will reduce gender disparities on the ground, Wattal and Gopalan summarise evidence from a number of randomised evaluati...

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Gender norms and competitiveness: Evidence from the tribes of Northeast India

The under-representation of women in leadership positions is often attributed to systematic gender differences in the inclination to compete. Do gender-balanced social norms have the potential to clos...

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Mental health disparities in India

While a large, multidisciplinary literature focusses on disparities in physical health across social groups, the mental health dimension remains invisible. Analysing data from a WHO survey conducted i...

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A road map for closing gender gaps in Bihar: Gender Responsive Budgeting

The state of Bihar was one of the early starters on Gender Responsive Budgeting in India, having published its first ‘Gender Budget Statement’ in 2008-09. Based on a review of the literature on th...

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A permanent cordon-sanitaire: Dalits and Muslims in urban India

Near-perfect segregation and hierarchical ordering of residential space, based on caste or religious identity, is a well-known feature of rural India. Studies have also documented the persistence of s...

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Does the gender of your co-worker matter? Evidence from call centres

Several theories suggest that gender integration in the workplace may have negative effects in gender-segregated societies. Based on an experiment conducted with 765 employees in call centres located ...

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Nakusha: Son preference, ‘unwanted’ girls, and gender gaps in schooling

Indian society is commonly associated with a strong cultural preference for sons. Using nationally representative data from 1986-2017, this article examines parental investment in the education of son...

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Atrocities, murders, and untouchability: Measuring caste-based discrimination

How can we best measure inter-caste tension and discrimination in India? In this post, Victoire Girard highlights the limitations of using statistics compiled under the Prevention of Atrocities Act, w...

  • Perspectives

Covid-19: ‘Shadow pandemic’ and violence against women

Violence against women is a problem worldwide, with economic costs ranging from 1% to 4% of global GDP. This article investigates if the magnitudes and types of violence against women have changed dur...

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Demographic shocks and female labour force participation: Evidence from 1918 flu pandemic

The Influenza pandemic of 1918 killed about 5% of India’s population. This article finds that districts most adversely affected by influenza mortality saw a temporary increase in the country’s fem...

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How mothers-in-law influence women’s social networks and reproductive health

Restrictive social norms and strategic constraints imposed by family members can limit women’s access to and benefit from social networks. Based on a survey in rural Uttar Pradesh, this article show...

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Does caste identity still matter for occupational choice?

In today’s India, to what extent do people avoid jobs solely due to their sense of caste identity? This article discusses an experiment in rural Odisha that involves offering one-day jobs to workers...

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Son preference, maternal health, and women’s survival: A cross-cultural analysis

Lifetime risk of maternal death in developing countries is 33 times higher as compared to the developed world. This article examines the role of cultural norms in influencing maternal morbidity and mo...

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Nikita Mujumdar

Deputy Managing Editor, I4I

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Anamika Priyadarshini

Centre for Catalyzing Change (C3)

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Madhu Joshi

Centre for Catalyzing Change (C3)

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Shubha Bhattacharya

Centre for Catalyzing Change (C3)

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Arnab Mukherji

Indian Institute of Management Bangalore

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Hema Swaminathan

Asian Development Bank & Indian Institute of Manag

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Pragya Bhuwania

University of California, Los Angeles

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Most Popular Social Identity Posts

A division of labourers: Caste identity and efficiency in India

Castes in India are closely associated with certain occupations and determine the jobs done by millions. This study uses a new dataset to show that a large proportion of workers still work in their ca...

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Sex ratios and religion in India and South Asia

In South Asia, low child sex ratios are increasingly an isolated Indian phenomenon. Within India, child sex ratios are ‘normal’ among Christians and Muslims but much lower among Hindus, Sikhs, and...

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Hindu-Muslim fertility differentials in India: An update

Building on past research, Saswata Ghosh and Pallabi Das estimate the state- and district-level fertility differentials between Hindus and Muslims using data from the latest round of the NFHS. They sh...

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