This paper addresses the question of how traditional institutions interact with the forces of globalization to shape the economic mobility and welfare of particular groups of individuals in the new economy. We explore the role of one such traditional institution?the caste system?in shaping...

This paper studies how traditional networks in rural and urban India have responded to economic development. In rural areas, the impact of the Green Revolution on within-network inequality has resulted in defection by the wealthiest members of caste-based social insurance networks. In Bombay,...