When does representation deliver? Inequality, anchoring, and redistribution from caste quotas

• In Event: New Frontiers in Research on Descriptive Representation

Brief Overview

When do ethnic quotas deliver substantive gains? Under sharp inequality, social sanctions and competition costs favor grassroots leaders. I show why SC quotas raise uptake and shift benefits to coethnics, with out-group spillovers under high poverty.

Author

• Tanisha Mohapatra, University of Oxford