Caste-based crimes and economic status: Evidence from India

We study crimes against Scheduled Castes and Tribes (SCST) by upper castes in India. * Average per capita expenditures of caste groups proxies their economic status. * Expenditure ratio of SCST to upper castes is positively correlated with crimes. * Changes in the upper castes' economic well-being drive this relationship. Crimes against the historically marginalized Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (SC and ST) by the upper castes in India represent an extreme form of prejudice and discrimination. In this paper, we investigate whether changes in relative material standards of living betwee... Mehr ...