A gender-based theory of the origin of the caste system of India

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Bidner, Chris; Eswaran, Mukesh
• 署名单位: Simon Fraser University; University of British Columbia
• 刊物名称: JOURNAL OF DEVELOPMENT ECONOMICS
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0304-3878
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jdeveco.2014.12.006
• 发表日期: 2015
• 页码: 142-158
• 关键词: Caste; Endogamy; GENDER

摘要

We propose a theory of the origins of India's caste system by explicitly recognizing the productivity of women in complementing their husbands' occupation-specific skill. The theory explains the core features of the caste system: its hereditary and hierarchical nature, and its insistence on endogamy (marriage only within castes). Endogamy is embraced by a group to minimize an externality that arises when group members marry outsiders. We demonstrate why the caste system embodies gender asymmetries in punishments for violations of endogamy and tolerates hypergamy (marrying up) more than hypogamy (marrying down). Our model also speaks to other aspects of caste, such as commensality restrictions and arranged/child marriages. We suggest that India's caste system is so unique because the Brahmins sought to preserve and orally transmit the Hindu scriptures for over a millennium with no script. We show that economic considerations were of utmost importance in the emergence of the caste system. (C) 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.