JATI, LOCAL PUBLIC GOODS AND VILLAGE GOVERNANCE: PRIVATE ACTIONS AND PUBLIC OUTCOMES

This paper purports to understand whether voting along narrow parochial lines in
socially and ethnically fragmented societies has measurable gains. Using data from rural
India, we establish that identity based voting, driven by membership in social and
informal networks, will lead to enhanced participation in welfare programs, which in turn
leads to increased consumption growth. We also show that reducing agency costs does
not necessarily remove the need for identity‐based voting, and that such voting behavior
is a means for engaging in capture of public and private benefits by these groups. Some
policy recommendations are also advanced.