Impact of an Affirmative Action Program in Employment on Child Mortality in India

Sumedha Gupta, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam and Tinbergen Institute
Gerard G.J. van den Berg, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam and Tinbergen Institute
Annette Bergemann, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam

We evaluate whether a major affirmative action program for a deprived caste in India has affected infant and child mortality rates and fertility rates among the target caste and among adjacent castes. The program reserves a substantial fraction of public sector jobs for those from the deprived caste and was implemented on September 8, 1993. We use the National Family and Health Survey and we allow mortality rates to depend on family composition, conditions very early in life, current conditions, caste affiliation, and the implementation of the affirmative action program in employment. First results point towards a slight decrease of the child mortality rate for the target group of the program in rural areas - the areas where the child mortality has been highest.