Working Papers
Affirmative action and private education: spillover effects of India's Right to Education Act, Job Market Paper (Under Review)
Under India's Right to Education Act (2009), private schools were required to reserve 25% of primary school seats for socioeconomically disadvantaged children. This paper examines the policy's spillover effects on the private schooling market. Using household survey data and a difference-in-differences approach, it compares private school enrolment and fees for disadvantaged children across two age cohorts and survey rounds. The results show a post-policy increase of 15–20% in private school enrolment, and a decline in fees ranging from ₹414 to ₹581 (0.07–0.09 SD). These effects are driven not by direct admissions under the policy, but by a supply-side response—specifically, the expansion of low-fee private schools that made private education more accessible for disadvantaged children.
From quotas to classrooms: the impact of minority representatives on development and education in India (with Trudy Owens and Richard Upward)
We provide new evidence on the effect of minority elected state representatives on the effectiveness of policies targeted at minority groups. We examine the role of Scheduled Caste (SC) representation in India's state assemblies in shaping the implementation and outcomes of the Right to Education (RTE) Act, a nationally mandated policy that varied widely in its implementation. Using data on candidates in all state assembly elections from 1974 to 2017, we exploit two discontinuities in the reservation of constituencies for Scheduled Castes (SCs). We find that SC reservation significantly improved schooling outcomes following the RTE Act, particularly for SC children. In contrast, we find no evidence that SC representatives improved broad development outcomes, even after considering a period when constituency-level development funds were widely available. These results suggest that minority representatives are most effective when they can influence the local operation of policies that directly target their communities, rather than through general development spending. We also find that the reservation process after 2008 significantly increased female representation.
Stratifier or Equaliser? Heterogeneity in Private Premium in India Over Two Decades (with Shriyam Gupta)
This paper evaluates the heterogeneous returns to learning from private schooling in India by analyzing data from three rounds of the India Human Development Survey (IHDS) over two decades (2004–2024). Using a stratification method, the study accounts for both selection bias and heterogeneity in estimating the effects of private schooling on learning outcomes. We find that learning gains vary with a child's likelihood of attending private schools. Between 2004 and 2011, children least likely to attend private schools—typically from disadvantaged groups—experienced the largest gains. However, by 2022–24, the benefits were similarly distributed across all likelihoods of attending private schools. This paper contributes to understanding the dynamics of private schooling and its changing role on learning inequality in India.
Using longitudinal school data from India, this paper examines enrolment trends of socially disadvantaged children post the Right to Education (RTE) Act, which mandated the reservation of 25% of private school places for such children. Post-RTE, a significant increase is observed in disadvantaged children attending private schools. Difference-in-differences analysis reveals greater increases in schools previously below the 25% quota, especially those participating in the reservation policy. The results are however driven by a 'substitution' of places, where private schools are replacing free places under the policy with fee-paying disadvantaged children.
Work in Progress
Dry years, lost schooling: evidence from Indian villages (with Shweta Gupta)
Hot days, poor learning: The effect of heat stress on test scores in India (with Shweta Gupta)