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A (paid) passage to India: Migration and revealed willingness to pay for upper‐caste status.

  • Published In: Economic Inquiry, 2023, v. 61, n. 3. P. 652 1 of 3

  • Database: Academic Search Ultimate 2 of 3

  • Authored By: Persaud, Alexander 3 of 3

Abstract

How much are individuals willing to pay for privileged status in a society with systemic discrimination? Utilizing unique data on indentured Indians in Fiji paying to return to India, I calculate how much upper‐caste individuals were willing to pay historically for their status. I show the lower bound of the value of the uppermost castes in north India equaled almost 2.5 years' gross wages. The ordering follows hypothesized inter‐caste hierarchies and shows diminishing effects as caste status falls. Men entirely drive the effects. My results show some of the first evidence quantifying caste status values and speak to caste's persistence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Additional Information

  • Source:Economic Inquiry. 2023/07, Vol. 61, Issue 3, p652
  • Document Type:Article
  • Subject Area:Social Sciences and Humanities
  • Publication Date:2023
  • ISSN:0095-2583
  • DOI:10.1111/ecin.13139
  • Accession Number:163991322
  • Copyright Statement:Copyright of Economic Inquiry is the property of Wiley-Blackwell and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

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