A Passage to India: Essays on the Political Economy of Entrepreneurshi

This dissertation examines the political economy considerations of entrepreneurship in India. The first substantive chapter of this dissertation studies the effects of constitutionally-mandated political representation on entrepreneurship and economic activity of scheduled caste and scheduled tribe populations in India. Results indicate a null-effect of constitutionally mandated political representation on economic outcomes of under-represented (SC and ST) groups in India.;The second substantive chapter of this dissertation examines the role of social structure on welfare consequences of employment choice in rural and urban India. Results in this chapter show that the social structure of a region is associated with entrepreneurial choice and welfare outcomes of various social groups, even after controlling for individual and household level characteristics. Analysis of employment choice reveals that there is a sectoral division of labor in rural and urban India. The relative welfare of lower caste individuals, compared to other backward caste and upper caste individuals is significantly lower in districts with higher degree of social and economic stratification.;The third substantive chapter of this dissertation examines the effects of collective violence on intergenerational occupational mobility of Hindus and Muslims in India. Results in this chapter show that collective violence is negatively associated with upward intergenerational occupational mobility and upward intergenerational education mobility in India. Collective violence effects economic development of regions by increasing the likelihood of intergenerational persistence in occupation. Empirical findings indicate a 4.6 to 7.1 percentage point lower upward intergenerational occupational mobility in states with high incidence of Hindu-Muslim collective violence relative to states with low incidence of Hindu-Muslim collective violence. The analyses in this dissertation show that politics, social structure, and collective violence play an important antecedent role on entrepreneurship in India.