Is Blood Thicker Than Water? Untouchability And Public Infrastructure

This study contributes to a burgeoning literature on the role of social norms in prevent-ing some groups from accessing public goods. Looking at the case of untouchability rules in India that forbid sharing water with low castes, we show that a distribution of water through common sources, either wells or tanks, is linked to an increase in the number of violent acts against the ex-untouchables. By contrast, a more individualized distribution, through taps for instance, is associated with less violence. This effect is seen as the expres-sion of a norm which excludes low castes from accessing water and is violently enforced. The relationship between water distribution and violence against ex-untouchables is robust to many econometric specifications. We provide the first quantitative assessment of the vio-lent enforcement of untouchability rules at the sub-continent scale, although untouchability practices have been outlawed for more than 60 years by the Constitution of India. Finally, this study underlines the need for policy makers to shift their attention from the quantitative allocation of public goods to the effective access to these goods