1. Gender inequality and caste: Field experimental evidence from India.
- Author
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Islam, Asad, Pakrashi, Debayan, Sahoo, Soubhagya, Wang, Liang Choon, and Zenou, Yves
- Subjects
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GENDER inequality , *CASTE discrimination , *SEX discrimination , *CASTE , *GENDER , *WOMEN physicians - Abstract
• Patients statistically discriminate doctors by gender in an experiment in India • Caste quotas for college seats increase gender discrimination of low-caste doctors • Caste quotas for college seats reduce gender discrimination of high-caste doctors • Caste quotas for college seats worsen overall gender inequality of professionals Using a field experiment in India where patients are randomly assigned to rank among a set of physicians of the same gender but with different castes and years of experience, we show that the differences in patients' physician choices are consistent with gender-based statistical discrimination. Labor market experience cannot easily overcome the discrimination that female doctors suffer. Further, we find that gender discrimination is greater for lower caste doctors, who typically suffer from caste discrimination. Given the increasing share of professionals from a lower caste background, our results suggest that the 'intersectionality' between gender and caste leads to increased gender inequality among professionals in India. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2021
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