Working Paper: CEPR ID: DP16736
Authors: Asadul Islam; Debayan Pakrashi; Soubhagya Sahoo; Liang Choon Wang; Yves Zenou
Abstract: Using a field experiment in India where patients are randomly assigned to rank among a set of physicians of the same gender but with different castes and years of experience, we show that the differences in patients’ physician choices are consistent with gender-based statistical discrimination. Labor market experience cannot easily overcome the discrimination that female doctors suffer. Further, we find that gender discrimination is greater for lower caste doctors, who typically suffer from caste discrimination. Given the increasing share of professionals from a lower caste background, our results suggest that the ‘intersectionality’ between gender and caste leads to increased gender inequality among professionals in India
Keywords: gender discrimination; statistical discrimination; caste discrimination; intersectionality; affirmative action
JEL Codes: J15; J16; I15; O12
Edges that are evidenced by causal inference methods are in orange, and the rest are in light blue.
| Cause | Effect |
|---|---|
| gender of doctors (I10) | patients' preferences (I11) |
| caste of doctors (I10) | patients' preferences (I11) |
| gender of doctors + experience (I11) | patients' preferences (I11) |
| caste of doctors + gender discrimination (J16) | patients' preferences (I11) |
| gender discrimination (J16) | gender inequality among lower caste professionals (I24) |