Does Higher level of Education Reduce Poverty and Increase Inequality? Evidence from Urban India

Tripathi, Sabyasachi (2016): Does Higher level of Education Reduce Poverty and Increase Inequality? Evidence from Urban India.

Abstract

By considering India’s 52 large urban agglomerations, this paper finds the relationship between higher level of education and poverty and inequality in urban India. Besides using city level education data from University Grants commission (UGC), the study uses two rounds of National Sample Survey (NSS) unit-level data on “consumption expenditure,” and “employment and unemployment” for the year 2011-12. An empirical analysis using OLS regression method has shown that city level education, proxied by city-wise total number of PhD students enrolled in the universities, has a negative impact on city level poverty rate as seen by poverty head-count ratio, poverty gap ratio, and squared poverty gap ratio. On the other hand, city level education has a positive impact on city level inequality. City-wise work force participation rate has a negative effect on city poverty rate. The article suggests that we need appropriate city level policy to promote higher level education for reduction in city level inequality and poverty rate for sustainable urban development in India.

• Item Type: MPRA Paper
• Language: English
• Keywords: Level of higher education, large agglomerations, poverty, inequality and Urban India
• Subjects: I - Health, Education, and Welfare > I2 - Education and Research Institutions > I25 - Education and Economic Development; I - Health, Education, and Welfare > I3 - Welfare, Well-Being, and Poverty > I32 - Measurement and Analysis of Poverty; R - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics > R1 - General Regional Economics > R13 - General Equilibrium and Welfare Economic Analysis of Regional Economies

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