Hate Crimes in India: an Economic Analysis of Violence and Atrocities against Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes
نویسندگان
چکیده
Crimes against the historically marginalized Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (SC/ST) by the upper castes in India represent an extreme form of prejudice and discrimination. In this paper, we investigate the effect of changes in relative material standards of living between the SC/STs and upper castes as measured by the ratio of consumption expenditures of SC/STs to that of upper castes on changes in the incidence of crimes against SC/STs. Based on the hierarchical social structure implied by the caste system, we posit that an improvement in the economic position of lower castes relative to the upper castes is positively correlated with the incidence of crimes committed by the upper castes against the lower castes. Using official district level crime data for the period 2001-10, we find a positive association between crimes and expenditure of SC/ST vis-à-vis the upper castes such that a widening of the economic gap between groups is associated with a decrease in caste-based crimes. Moreover, this effect is driven by changes in the upper castes’ economic well-being rather than changes in the economic position of the lower castes and tribes. JEL classification: J15, K42
منابع مشابه
Hate Crimes in India: An Economic Analysis of Violence and Atrocities against Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes Speaker: Smriti Sharma Abstract Crimes against the historically marginalized Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (SC/ST) by the upper castes in India
Crimes against the historically marginalized Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (SC/ST) by the upper castes in India represent an extreme form of prejudice and discrimination. In this paper, we investigate the effect of convergence in material standard of living between the SC/ST and upper castes, as measured by expenditures, on hate crimes against SC/ST. Using district level crime data for ...
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