Does Affirmative Action Work? Caste, Gender, College Quality, and Academic Success in India

TLDR

Public policy in modern India features affirmative action programs intended to reduce inequality that stems from a centuries‑old caste structure and history of disparate treatment by gender. The study examines the impact of a quota‑based admissions policy for disadvantaged castes and women, and evaluates whether it harms beneficiaries by placing them in ill‑prepared programs. The authors analyze a quota‑based admissions policy applied uniformly across more than 200 engineering colleges, fixing percentage quotas for disadvantaged castes and women. The policy raises attendance among targeted students, especially at higher‑quality institutions, and shows no adverse effects on their academic performance. JEL codes: O15, O17, I23, I28, J15, J16, Z13.

Abstract

Public policy in modern India features affirmative action programs intended to reduce inequality that stems from a centuries-old caste structure and history of disparate treatment by gender. We study the effects of one such affirmative action program: an admissions policy that fixes percentage quotas, common across more than 200 engineering colleges, for disadvantaged castes and for women. We show that the program increases college attendance of targeted students, particularly at relatively higher-quality institutions. An important concern is that affirmative action might harm intended beneficiaries by placing them in academic programs for which they are ill-prepared. We find no evidence of such adverse impacts. (JEL O15, O17, I23, I28, J15, J16, Z13)