Skip to Main Content
HBS Home
  • About
  • Academic Programs
  • Alumni
  • Faculty & Research
  • Baker Library
  • Giving
  • Harvard Business Review
  • Initiatives
  • News
  • Recruit
  • Map / Directions
Faculty & Research
  • Faculty
  • Research
  • Featured Topics
  • Academic Units
  • …→
  • Harvard Business School→
  • Faculty & Research→
Publications
Publications
  • Article
  • Economic & Political Weekly

Caste and Entrepreneurship in India

By: Lakshmi Iyer, Tarun Khanna and Ashutosh Varshney
  • Format:Electronic
ShareBar

Abstract

It is now widely accepted that the lower castes have risen in Indian politics. Has there been a corresponding change in the economy? Using comprehensive data on enterprise ownership from the Economic Censuses of 1990, 1998, and 2005, we document substantial caste differences in entrepreneurship across India. The Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes are significantly under-represented in the ownership of enterprises and the share of the workforce employed by them. These differences are widespread across all states, have decreased very modestly between 1990 and 2005, and cannot be attributed to broad differences in access to physical or human capital.

Keywords

Equality and Inequality; Income; Entrepreneurship; Rank and Position; India

Citation

Iyer, Lakshmi, Tarun Khanna, and Ashutosh Varshney. "Caste and Entrepreneurship in India." Economic & Political Weekly 48, no. 6 (February 9, 2013): 52–60.
  • Read Now

About The Author

Tarun Khanna

Strategy
→More Publications

More from the Authors

    • January 2023
    • Management Science

    Firm-Induced Migration Paths and Strategic Human-Capital Outcomes

    By: Prithwiraj (Raj) Choudhury, Tarun Khanna and Victoria Sevcenko
    • November–December 2022
    • Harvard Business Review

    Your Company Needs a Space Strategy. Now.

    By: Matthew Weinzierl, Prithwiraj (Raj) Choudhury, Tarun Khanna, Alan MacCormack and Brendan Rosseau
    • November 2022 (Revised January 2023)
    • Faculty Research

    AES Corp: A Global Power Transformation

    By: Tarun Khanna, Allison M. Ciechanover and Matt Higgins
More from the Authors
  • Firm-Induced Migration Paths and Strategic Human-Capital Outcomes By: Prithwiraj (Raj) Choudhury, Tarun Khanna and Victoria Sevcenko
  • Your Company Needs a Space Strategy. Now. By: Matthew Weinzierl, Prithwiraj (Raj) Choudhury, Tarun Khanna, Alan MacCormack and Brendan Rosseau
  • AES Corp: A Global Power Transformation By: Tarun Khanna, Allison M. Ciechanover and Matt Higgins
ǁ
Campus Map
Harvard Business School
Soldiers Field
Boston, MA 02163
→Map & Directions
→More Contact Information
  • Make a Gift
  • Site Map
  • Jobs
  • Harvard University
  • Trademarks
  • Policies
  • Accessibility
  • Digital Accessibility
Copyright © President & Fellows of Harvard College