Table 3.

Explaining height gaps between general caste children and children from ST, SC, and OBC groups

	Dependent Variable Is Height-for-Age z Score (ref. = general caste children)
	(1)	(2)	(3)	(4)	(5)	(6)	(7)
ST	−0.381***	−0.0705
	(0.0559)	(0.0653)
SC	−0.405***	−0.153**	−0.154**	0.0383	−0.132*	−0.200**	0.0080
	(0.0465)	(0.0545)	(0.0551)	(0.118)	(0.0646)	(0.0622)	(0.159)
OBC	−0.262***	−0.123*	−0.134**	−0.0200	−0.142*	−0.143*	0.0045
	(0.0417)	(0.0485)	(0.0494)	(0.0774)	(0.0598)	(0.0590)	(0.104)
N	24,840	23,111	18,141	18,141	18,141	18,147	18,140
R 2	.008	.201	.222	.364	.344	.229	.369
Own SES Bins		✓	✓			✓
Own SES × Caste Rank Bins				✓			✓
Own SES × SES Rank Bins					✓
Demographic and Neighborhood						✓	✓
Composition Controls						✓	✓
STs in the Sample	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	No	No

Notes: Coefficients are from OLS regressions, weighted using NFHS sample weights. Observations are rural children whose heights were measured by the NFHS-3. Standard errors, clustered by PSU, are shown in parentheses. ST = Scheduled Tribes. SC = Scheduled Castes. OBC = Other Backward Classes. The construction of controls for Own SES bins, Own SES × Caste rank bins, and Own SES × SES rank bins are discussed in the Data and Empirical Strategy section. Demographic controls include child birth order, child sex, and whether the child lives in a joint family with his/her grandparents. Neighborhood controls include the fraction of households in a child’s PSU with electricity, the fraction of births (last births to the mother) in the child’s PSU that got prenatal care, the fraction of SC households, the fraction of OBC households, and the fraction of general caste households in a child’s PSU.

^*p < .05

^**p < .01

^***p < .001 (two-sided tests)