Gender, caste, and public goods provision in Indian village governments

This paper seeks to contribute to the literature on village governance and local public goods provision. Using data from 144 village-level governments in India's Tamil Nadu state, we examine whether the gender and caste of village government leaders influence village public goods provision. In parti...

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Autores principales: Gajwani, Kiran, Zhang, Xiaobo
Formato: Artículo preliminar
Lenguaje:Inglés
Publicado: International Food Policy Research Institute 2008
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://hdl.handle.net/10568/161238
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author Gajwani, Kiran
Zhang, Xiaobo
author_browse Gajwani, Kiran
Zhang, Xiaobo
author_facet Gajwani, Kiran
Zhang, Xiaobo
author_sort Gajwani, Kiran
collection Repository of Agricultural Research Outputs (CGSpace)
description This paper seeks to contribute to the literature on village governance and local public goods provision. Using data from 144 village-level governments in India's Tamil Nadu state, we examine whether the gender and caste of village government leaders influence village public goods provision. In particular, we examine: 1) whether public goods are provided in accordance with gender or caste preferences; and 2) whether public goods provision differs based on the knowledge level of the village government leader. We find evidence of different preferences for public goods between men and women, and between Scheduled Caste (SC) and non-SC persons. Additionally, a test of knowledge regarding the village government reveals that female and SC presidents receive lower scores relative to male and non-SC presidents, with women scoring lowest overall. We find that preferences and knowledge have little effect on public goods provision by female presidents, and hypothesize that this may be due to the influence of their male spouses. In the context of SC presidents, we find evidence that SC presidents provide more drinking water access-a location-specific public good-to SC-inhabited village areas.
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spelling CGSpace1612382025-11-06T05:41:27Z Gender, caste, and public goods provision in Indian village governments Gajwani, Kiran Zhang, Xiaobo governance public goods provision gender caste This paper seeks to contribute to the literature on village governance and local public goods provision. Using data from 144 village-level governments in India's Tamil Nadu state, we examine whether the gender and caste of village government leaders influence village public goods provision. In particular, we examine: 1) whether public goods are provided in accordance with gender or caste preferences; and 2) whether public goods provision differs based on the knowledge level of the village government leader. We find evidence of different preferences for public goods between men and women, and between Scheduled Caste (SC) and non-SC persons. Additionally, a test of knowledge regarding the village government reveals that female and SC presidents receive lower scores relative to male and non-SC presidents, with women scoring lowest overall. We find that preferences and knowledge have little effect on public goods provision by female presidents, and hypothesize that this may be due to the influence of their male spouses. In the context of SC presidents, we find evidence that SC presidents provide more drinking water access-a location-specific public good-to SC-inhabited village areas. 2008 2024-11-21T09:54:21Z 2024-11-21T09:54:21Z Working Paper https://hdl.handle.net/10568/161238 en Open Access application/pdf International Food Policy Research Institute Gajwani, Kiran; Zhang, Xiaobo. 2008. Gender, caste, and public goods provision in Indian village governments. IFPRI Discussion Paper 807. https://hdl.handle.net/10568/161238
spellingShingle governance
public goods provision
gender
caste
Gajwani, Kiran
Zhang, Xiaobo
Gender, caste, and public goods provision in Indian village governments
title Gender, caste, and public goods provision in Indian village governments
title_full Gender, caste, and public goods provision in Indian village governments
title_fullStr Gender, caste, and public goods provision in Indian village governments
title_full_unstemmed Gender, caste, and public goods provision in Indian village governments
title_short Gender, caste, and public goods provision in Indian village governments
title_sort gender caste and public goods provision in indian village governments
topic governance
public goods provision
gender
caste
url https://hdl.handle.net/10568/161238
work_keys_str_mv AT gajwanikiran gendercasteandpublicgoodsprovisioninindianvillagegovernments
AT zhangxiaobo gendercasteandpublicgoodsprovisioninindianvillagegovernments