Socioeconomic, Institutional & Political Determinants of Human Rights Abuse: A Subnational Study of India, 1993-2002

Abstract

We conduct an econometric analysis of socioeconomic, institutional and political factors determining government respect for human rights within India. Using time series crosssectional data for 28 Indian states for the period 1993 ñ 2002, we find that internal threat poised by number of social violence events, presence of civil war and riot hit disturbed areas are strongly associated with human rights abuses. Amongst socioeconomic factors, ëexclusiveí economic growth, ëunevení development, poor social development spending,youth bulges and differential growth rates between minority religious groups explain the likelihood of human rights violations. Capturing power at the state and central level by Hindu national partiesí viz., Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Shiv Sena, further help understand the incidence of human rights violations within India. We also address the possible endogenity problem between human development and human rights. Using a system of simultaneous equation, we find that improvement in human development have positive impact on government respect for human rights within India.