10/11/2026 - 12:45 - LECL 61
Rajesh Ramachandran
(Monash Univeristy Malaysia)
will give a presentation on
Can Changing Identity Overcome Inherited Disadvantage? Evidence from Religious Conversion in India
Abstract:
Can individuals overcome economic disadvantages associated with identities they inherit by changing how they identify? While social identities shape access to economic opportunities, individuals sometimes attempt to escape inherited stigma by adopting alternative identities. Whether such changes improve economic outcomes, and under what conditions, remains poorly understood. We study this question through religious conversion among historically disadvantaged castes in India, where conversion offered a means of rejecting caste-based exclusion but also altered access to religious and state institutions. Using three nationally representative datasets spanning nearly three decades, we exploit variation in religious affiliation within narrowly defined caste (jāti) groups to examine differences in education, occupation, assets, and exposure to stigma. We find substantial heterogeneity in economic outcomes across adopted religious identities. Scheduled Caste Christians and Buddhists/Sikhs exhibit higher educational attainment and asset ownership than their Hindu counterparts, whereas Scheduled Caste Muslims fare worse economically despite reporting lower exposure to untouchability. To address selection into religious affiliation, we exploit B. R. Ambedkar’s 1956 mass conversion movement among the Mahar caste, instrumenting Buddhist affiliation with distance from Nagpur, the site of the movement. Instrumental-variable estimates indicate substantial gains in schooling among Buddhist Mahars. Together, the findings suggest that identity reformulation can weaken the persistence of inherited disadvantage, but that escaping social stigma does not necessarily translate into economic mobility. The returns to identity change appear to depend on the institutional opportunities and constraints associated with the adopted identity.
(Joint work with Ashwini Deshpande)
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