Religion, politician identity and development outcomes: evidence from India

Publication type

Journal Article

Authors

Publication date

August 15, 2014

Summary:

This paper investigates whether the religious identity of state legislators in India influences development outcomes, both for citizens of their religious group and for the population as a whole. Using an instrumental variables approach derived from a regression discontinuity, we find that increasing the political representation of Muslims improves health and education outcomes in the district from which the legislator is elected. We find no evidence of religious favoritism: Muslim children do not benefit more from Muslim political representation than children from other religious groups.

Published in

Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization

Volume and page numbers

Volume: 104 , p.4 -17

DOI

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jebo.2013.09.006

ISSN

18791751

Subjects

Notes

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• Religion, politician identity and development outcomes: evidence from India

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  2. Irma Clots-Figueras
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  4. Lakshmi Iyer

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