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In this paper, we show that the village social structure shapes the learning outcome of marginalised children in rural India. Exploiting the variation in the dominant social group in the village, we find a significant impact of village dominance. The reading and arithmetic skills of Scheduled Castes are better in their own castes-dominated villages compared to higher castes-dominated villages. Our findings show that village dominance affects learning outcomes primarily through differential teachers' behaviour. Children from marginalised castes are more likely to be scolded, beaten up, and treated unfairly by teachers in villages dominated by higher castes compared to their own castes. We do not find evidence of other mechanisms like the difference in parent and children's aspirations, caste diversity, discrimination in the village, or positive group externalities, which could explain why children from Scheduled Castes fare better in their own castes-dominated villages. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Caste is a unique marker of social stratification in India. There are significant eco- nomic inequalities and considerable disparities in educational achievements between historically disadvantaged caste groups and Others. Unequal investments in their chil- dren's human capital by caste can perpetuate income inequalities and reproduce class differences between caste groups. This paper analyses caste-based disparities in house- hold expenditure on children's school education using nationally representative social expenditure data on education from 2007–08 and 2017–18 in India. The paper uses a recentered influence function (RIF) based decomposition analysis to pinpoint the key factors underpinning the disparity in private educational expenditure between disadvantaged caste groups and Others. Further, to overcome the problem of heterogeneity of data the study also employs propensity score matching (PSM) as robustness check for the decomposition analysis. The findings from decomposition and matching approaches reveal that differences in endowments, specifically income differences, between caste groups explain most of the caste-based gap in children's human capital investments. The study has implications for public policy to address educational and economic disparities between disadvantaged caste groups (ST, SC and OBC) and Others in India. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• The paper examines the effect of social identity on learning for adults under a hierarchical social setting. • Using primary data from a randomized controlled experiment in India where illiterate adult female learners were randomly assigned to a free technology-based literacy program, we found positive and significant impact of matching an upper caste teacher with a lower caste student on literacy scores. • We find suggestive evidence of an increase in students' confidence measures when matched with an upper caste teacher. The paper examines the effect of social identity on adult learning within a hierarchical social setting— an important yet often understudied issue for effective adult education. We leverage the random matching of students and teachers from a randomized controlled experiment in India, where illiterate adult female learners aged 18–45 were randomly assigned to a literacy program. We find a positive and significant impact of matching an upper caste teacher with a lower caste adult student on literacy scores. We also find suggestive evidence of an increase in students' confidence measures when matched with an upper caste teacher, indicating a plausible impact mechanism. Our findings highlight the need for future research on social identity and its influence on adult learning, particularly in countries with existing deep-rooted hierarchical social constructs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]