Belief Systems and DurableInequalities: An Experimental Investigation of Indian Caste

Hoff, Karla ; Pandey, Priyanka

World Bank, Washington, D.C.

关键词: ANATOMY;    ARGUMENTS;    ATTENTION;    BELIEF SYSTEMS;    BELIEFS;   

DOI  :  10.1596/1813-9450-3351
RP-ID  :  WPS3351

学科分类：社会科学、人文和艺术（综合）

来源: World Bank Open Knowledge Repository

【 摘 要 】

If discrimination against anhistorically oppressed social group is dismantled, will thegroup forge ahead? The authors present experimental evidencethat a history of social and legal disabilities may havepersistent effects on a group's earnings through itsimpact on individuals' expectations. In the firstexperiment, 321 high-caste and 321 low-caste junior highschool male student volunteers in rural India performed thetask of solving mazes under economic incentives. There wereno caste differences in performance when caste was notpublicly revealed, but making caste salient created a largeand robust caste gap. When a nonhuman factor influencingrewards (a random draw) was introduced, the caste gapdisappeared. To test whether the low caste'santicipation of prejudicial treatment caused the caste gap,the authors conducted a second experiment that manipulatedthe scope for discretion in rewarding performance. When thelink between performance and payoffs was purely mechanical,making caste salient did not affect behavior. Instead, itwas in the case where there was scope for discretion andjudgment in rewarding performance that making caste salienthad an effect. The results suggest that when caste identityis salient, low-caste subjects expect that others will judgethem prejudicially. Mistrust undermines motivation. Theexperimental design enables the authors to exclude asexplanations of the caste gap in performance socioeconomicdifferences and a lack of self-confidence by low-caste participants.