Does social identity constrain rural entrepreneurship? Evidence on the role of financial inclusion

Sandhya Garg, Samarth Gupta, Sushanta Mallick · 2025 · Journal of Development Economics

Summary. Financial access significantly increases entrepreneurship among India's Scheduled Castes in non-agricultural sectors traditionally dominated by upper castes, particularly when bank branch proximity improved exogenously through the 2005 RBI Bank Branch Expansion Policy. For Scheduled Tribes, financial access increases hired employment within enterprises. Credit uptake drives these effects, demonstrating that financial inclusion can weaken social norms enforcing caste-based occupational segregation and promote more equitable economic participation.

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Garg, S., Gupta, S., & Mallick, S.. (2025). Does social identity constrain rural entrepreneurship? Evidence on the role of financial inclusion. Journal of Development Economics. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jdeveco.2025.103669

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  title   = {Does social identity constrain rural entrepreneurship? Evidence on the role of financial inclusion},
  author  = {Sandhya Garg and Samarth Gupta and Sushanta Mallick},
  journal = {Journal of Development Economics},
  year    = {2025},
  doi     = {10.1016/j.jdeveco.2025.103669},
  url     = {https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jdeveco.2025.103669}
}

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Details

DOI: 10.1016/j.jdeveco.2025.103669
Countries: India
Regions: Asia
Categories: funding, entrepreneurship, policy, general-innovation
Added: 2026-09-01