| dc.description.abstract |
Reservation policy in local governments – Gram Panchayats – in India is one of three
key means of affirmative action, ensuring lower caste groups are represented fairly
in political institutions. Researchers have found local political reservations for
Scheduled Caste (SC) and Scheduled Tribe (ST) populations strongly associated with
more SC- and ST-friendly policies, increases in welfare spending and investment in
infrastructure, as well as lower household poverty levels. This paper explores one
potential indirect benefit of reservations, namely improvements in education attainment.
The theory of role model effects is applied to the context of political reservations
- greater presence of SC and ST presidents in Gram Panchayats could act as a positive
role model of stereotype-defying success for SC and ST children, incentivizing more
investment in education attainment. The paper tests the relationship between reservation
rates and average completed years of schooling in a dose-response regression model
at the sub-district level, using a sample of 13,408 SC children and 6,066 ST children
ages 5 to 18 in Karnataka. The results of the analysis suggest that more SC and ST
presidents in Gram Panchayats are associated with increases in education attainment
among SC and ST children. Further research would be valuable to strengthen these findings
and expand the literature on indirect benefits of reservations.
|
|
