òòò½Íø Review
ISSN 0002-8282 (Print) | ISSN 1944-7981 (Online)
Residential Segregation and Unequal Access to Local Public Services in India: Evidence from 1.5 Million Neighborhoods
òòò½Íø Review
(pp. 4041–76)
Abstract
We study residential segregation and access to public services across 1.5 million urban and rural neighborhoods in India. Muslim and Scheduled Caste segregation in India is high by global standards and only slightly lower than Black-White segregation in the United States. Within cities, public facilities and infrastructure are systematically less available in Muslim and Scheduled Caste neighborhoods. Nearly all regressive allocation is across neighborhoods within cities—at the most informal and least studied form of government. These inequalities are not visible in the aggregate data typically used for research and policy.Citation
Asher, Sam ⓡ Kritarth Jha ⓡ Paul Novosad ⓡ Anjali Adukia ⓡ Brandon Tan. 2026. "Residential Segregation and Unequal Access to Local Public Services in India: Evidence from 1.5 Million Neighborhoods." òòò½Íø Review 116 (11): 4041–76. DOI: 10.1257/aer.20240179Additional Materials
JEL Classification
- H76 State and Local Government: Other Expenditure Categories
- J15 Economics of Minorities, Races, Indigenous Peoples, and Immigrants; Non-labor Discrimination
- O15 Economic Development: Human Resources; Human Development; Income Distribution; Migration
- O17 Formal and Informal Sectors; Shadow Economy; Institutional Arrangements
- O18 Economic Development: Urban, Rural, Regional, and Transportation Analysis; Housing; Infrastructure
- R23 Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics: Regional Migration; Regional Labor Markets; Population; Neighborhood Characteristics