Department of Economics FLAME University invites you to attend a research talk in the Economics Seminar Series, 2024 by Dr. Neha Bailwal

Title of the Paper
Does Population Composition of a Village Influence Public School Quality? Evidence from Rural India 

Abstract: 
In this paper, we investigate whether the population composition of villages is associated with the quality of public schools in rural India. We use two parameters to assess the quality of public schools – school infrastructure and teachers’ presence. Using a recent round of Census and District Information System for Education data, we find that the caste composition of a village is associated with the quality of public schools. Villages inhabited by a higher share of socially backward groups have lower quality public schools as compared to villages inhabited by higher castes. We also highlight several potential mechanisms like access to information, role of social and personal networks, and political and economic representation at the village level to explain the main findings of our paper. 
 

About the Speaker
Dr. Neha Bailwal is an Assistant Professor of Economics at FLAME university. After  her Ph.D, she served as a postdoctoral fellow at the Faculty of Business and Economics, University of Göttingen, Germany. Prior to FLAME University, she was a visiting scientist at the Economics and Planning Unit, Indian Statistical Institute Delhi, and as a visiting researcher at the Chair of Political Economy & Development at the University of Zurich, Switzerland. Neha’s research work broadly focuses on development issues in rural India, with a specific focus on education and caste discrimination. Her research mainly aims to understand why despite best attempts and promising policy reforms, there exists a persistence gap in economic outcomes across social groups in India. In some of her recent work, she investigates the issue of caste discrimination in school provision and its impact on educational outcome gaps across social groups in rural India. She also looked at how village social structure affects the learning outcome of children belonging to marginalised caste groups.