Birds of a Feather Flock Together? Examining Caste Diversity During COVID-19 Pandemic in India

51 Pages Posted: 12 Apr 2022

See all articles by Upasak Das

Upasak Das

University of Manchester

Udayan Rathore

Oxford Policy Management India Private Ltd.

Prasenjit Sarkhel

University of Kalyani

Abstract

The effect of population or social homogeneity has been documented to have mixed evidence on public good provisioning and welfare outcomes. In this paper, we examine the implications of caste-group homogeneity in India in a pandemic setting taking the case of the COVID-19 pandemic. In particular, we assess the effect of spread of COVID-19 infection during the early nationwide lockdown and the subsequent unlocking period. After controlling for a range of confounding possibilities and multiple robustness checks, our findings show that homogeneous districts experienced slower growth in infection. These effects are stronger during the early period of the lockdown but are found to weaken with time. Overall, the influence of caste-group homogeneity remains statistically significant for about 2.5 months (about 75 days) after the initiation of the lockdown but turns insignificant thereafter. Notably, we account for a range of unobserved heterogeneities including differential testing, mobility and under reporting of cases. We find suggestive evidence of higher engagement of community health workers, higher socialization and involvement in unpaid voluntary works among residents of caste homogenous localities, which can be some potential pathways that explain our results. The findings underscore the importance of strengthening social cohesion among community members. Based on these results, we recommend identification of caste-group diverse areas for zoning and implementing a differentiated policy response.

Note:
Funding Information: No funding has been received for this work.

Conflict of Interests: We confirm that there are no known conflicts of interest associated with this publication among the authors.

Keywords: Social homogeneity, India, Caste, COVID-19 cases, Lockdown

Suggested Citation

Das, Upasak and Rathore, Udayan and Sarkhel, Prasenjit, Birds of a Feather Flock Together? Examining Caste Diversity During COVID-19 Pandemic in India. Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=4081915 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.4081915

Upasak Das (Contact Author)

University of Manchester ( email )

Manchester
United Kingdom

Udayan Rathore

Oxford Policy Management India Private Ltd. ( email )

St. Aldates Courtyard
Oxford OX1 1BN
United Kingdom

Prasenjit Sarkhel

University of Kalyani ( email )

Block C, University Of Kalyani
Kalyani
West Bengal, 741235
India

Do you have negative results from your research you’d like to share?

Paper statistics

Downloads
29
Abstract Views
238
PlumX Metrics