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Social Identity

Markets, marriage, and norms: Understanding female labour force participation in India

  • Perspectives

How dowry shapes migration decisions in modern India

While migration is a critical driver of economic development, it may disrupt arrangements wherein parents rely on sons for old-age support. Leveraging new survey data, this article shows that at the t...

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First to wake, last to eat: How India’s quest for gender parity begins on an unequal footing

Women are predominantly responsible for domestic work, the burden of which is typically heavier in the morning. Analysing data from India’s 2019 Time-Use Survey, this article shows that women tend ...

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Do judges favour defendants like themselves? Evidence from Indian courts

Around the world, research has shown that people in positions of power tend to favour those who share their social identity. To examine whether the same is true in Indian courts, this article analyses...

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Lineage norms and women’s political participation

While reservation for local political representation of women has made major headway, this has not addressed the structural problems that prevent the full incorporation of women into politics. Based ...

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Reducing intimate partner violence: Laying the groundwork with young males

Two out of five ever-married women in Bihar have experienced marital violence. Based on a study of ‘Do Kadam Barabari Ke Ore’ – a programme imparting gender-transformative life skills to young ...

  • Notes from the Field

Fruits of liberation? Women’s work participation and adoption of household appliances

Does increase in women’s work participation lead to greater adoption of household appliances, or is it the other way round? To address this question, this article analyses US data from the Second Wo...

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Does gender (still) determine destiny in India?

Emerging evidence of convergence in educational attainment between girls and boys seems at odds with a large body of research on gender-based discrimination against girls in India. In this context, th...

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Sex workers, stigma, and self-image: Evidence from Kolkata’s brothels

Being poor or marginalised often brings stigma, which may distort a person’s self-image, inducing sub-optimal choices and resulting in a psychological poverty trap. Based on a study conducted in Kol...

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Women and work: How much does measurement matter?

Female labour force participation in India has been on the decline – dropping from an already low 29% in 2004-05 to 17% in 2017-18. However, the extent of women’s economic participation depends o...

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Women’s legal rights and gender gaps in property ownership

Amendments to succession laws have sought to address gender-based discrimination in property inheritance in India. Analysing Demographic and Health Survey data, collected in about 40 countries since 2...

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Dowries and women’s well-being post marriage

Dowries are transfers of wealth from the bride's family to the groom or his family at the time of marriage. Analysing nationally representative survey data from rural India, this article shows that do...

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Leaders and citizens: Women’s political participation in India

Women’s political participation has emerged as a key element of the discourse around the upcoming state elections in India. In this post, Nalini Gulati and Ella Spencer explore the evidence on vario...

  • Perspectives

Social identity, health networks, and health knowledge

Health knowledge, driven by education, is a critical factor for the achievement of good health outcomes. Analysing data from the Indian Human Development Survey 2004-05, this article examines how know...

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Matter of mobility: Barriers to women’s work and education, and the dangers at home

As countries across the world implemented lockdowns to mitigate the spread of Covid-19, both women and men have been largely confined to their homes but with differential impacts. In this post, Nikita...

  • Perspectives

Gendered breadwinner norms and work decisions

The male breadwinner norm – the idea that a man must earn more than his wife – can potentially impact labour-market outcomes of married women. Using nationally representative data from India for t...

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Anisha Sharma

Ashoka University

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Advaith Jayakumar

Columbia University

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Farzana Afridi

Indian Statistical Institute, Delhi Centre

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Gaurav Khanna

University of California, San Diego

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Natalie Bau

University of California, Los Angeles

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Alessandra Voena

Stanford University

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Udayan Rathore

Wadhwani Foundation

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Samuel Asher

Imperial College London

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Most Popular Social Identity Posts

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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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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Measuring caste inequality across Indian states

Although recent research on inequality shows that upper castes have the highest levels of material well-being, there is a wide variation in caste inequality across India. Measuring three forms of cast...

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