CAGE Working Papers June 2026
CAGE Working Papers June 2026
Tuesday 30 Jun 2026CAGE research papers draw on our global academic network of research associates and address topics aligned to our four core themes.
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811 Caste and Meritocracy in IndiaLink opens in a new window
Authors: Bishnupriya Gupta, Kaivan Munshi, and Swapnil Singh
Theme: Global Economic History
Summary: The caste system in India acts as a barrier to meritocracy. For centuries the lowest castes were disadvantaged socially and economically. Evidence from the colonial censuses of the early twentieth century shows large differences in literacy and occupation between the highest and the lowest castes. After independence, India adopted affirmative action in state-funded education and public sector jobs that benefited people in the so-called scheduled castes and tribes, who were the disadvantaged groups. We show that since the 1980s, there has been convergence in education and occupation between the upper castes and that population.
Authors: Andreas Ferrara
Theme: Global Economic History
Summary: This paper provides a practical guide to using large language models (LLMs) for economic research, particularly with complex data sources such as text, images, audio, and historical records. It outlines a step-by-step workflow covering model selection, prompting, cost management, validation, and reproducibility. Reviewing recent applications and presenting four worked examples, the guide demonstrates how LLMs can extract, link, classify, and harmonize data at scale. It also offers best-practice recommendations, checklists, and replication tools for applied researchers.
809 Political Participation Under Uncertain NormsLink opens in a new window
Authors: Thiemo Fetzer, Lukas Hensel, Christopher Roth, Hannah Zillessen
Theme: Responsive Public Policy
Summary: This paper examines how information about uncertainty in political norms affects democratic engagement in the context of Brexit. Through an experiment, it varies information about agreement and uncertainty among Leave and Remain supporters regarding the appropriateness of a second referendum. The findings show that learning others are uncertain—especially within one鈥檚 own political camp—increases willingness to publicly support campaigns on either side. The results suggest that reducing perceived conformity pressures can encourage political participation and promote depolarization without changing underlying political preferences.