Religion, politician identity and development outcomes: evidence from India Articles uri icon

authors

  • BHALOTRA, SONIA
  • CLOTS FIGUERAS, IRMA
  • CASSAN, GUILHEM
  • IYER, LAKSHMI

publication date

  • August 2014

start page

  • 4

end page

  • 17

volume

  • 104

International Standard Serial Number (ISSN)

  • 0167-2681

Electronic International Standard Serial Number (EISSN)

  • 1879-1751

abstract

  • This paper investigates whether the religious identity of state legislators in India influences development outcomes, both for citizens of their religious group and for the population as a whole. Using an instrumental variables approach derived from a regression discontinuity, we find that increasing the political representation of Muslims improves health and education outcomes in the district from which the legislator is elected. We find no evidence of religious favoritism: Muslim children do not benefit more from Muslim political representation than children from other religious groups. (C) 2013 Elsevier BM. All rights reserved.

keywords

  • religion; politician identity; infant mortality; primary education; india; muslim