History, social divisions, and public goods in rural India

• 成果类型: Article; Proceedings Paper
• 署名作者: Banerjee, A; Iyer, L; Somanathan, R
• 署名单位: Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT); Harvard University; University of Michigan System; University of Michigan
• 刊物名称: JOURNAL OF THE EUROPEAN ECONOMIC ASSOCIATION
• ISSN/ISSBN: 1542-4766
• DOI: 10.1162/jeea.2005.3.2-3.639
• 发表日期: 2005
• 页码: 639-647
• 关键词: ethnic divisions

摘要

We examine the influence of three historically important sources of social divisions on the availability of public goods in rural India: colonial power, landowner-peasant relations as determined by the land tenure system and social fragmentation based on the Hindu caste system and the presence of sizable religious minorities. Using data on public goods from 1991, we find that regions that were under British colonial power in the pre-independence period and those where agrarian power was concentrated in the hands of landlords have lower access to these goods as do areas with high levels of social fragmentation.