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Spatially heterogeneous effects of a public works program

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  • Merfeld, Joshua D.

Abstract

Most research on labor market effects of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme focuses on outcomes at the district level. This paper shows that such a focus masks substantial spatial heterogeneity: treated villages located near untreated areas see smaller increases in casual wages than treated villages located farther from untreated areas. Spatial differences in implementation or program leakages do not appear to drive this spatial heterogeneity. The effects of the program on private-sector employment display similar intra-district heterogeneity and these effects on employment are highly correlated with the effect on wages. Overall, these results suggest that worker mobility leads a district-level focus to underestimate the true effect of the program on wages. Quantifying this underestimate using two separate methods produces very similar results; the overall effect on wages appears to be approximately twice as large as district-level estimates suggest.

Suggested Citation

  • Merfeld, Joshua D., 2019. "Spatially heterogeneous effects of a public works program," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 136(C), pages 151-167.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:deveco:v:136:y:2019:i:c:p:151-167
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jdeveco.2018.10.007
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Chatterjee, Jagori & Merfeld, Joshua D., 2020. "Protecting Girls from Droughts with Social Safety Nets," IZA Discussion Papers 13694, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    2. Joshua D Merfeld, 2020. "Moving Up or Just Surviving? Nonfarm Self‐Employment in India," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 102(1), pages 32-53, January.
    3. Nandy, Amarendu & Tiwari, Chhavi & Kundu, Sayantan, 2021. "India’s Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme – How does it influence seasonal rural out-migration decisions?," Journal of Policy Modeling, Elsevier, vol. 43(6), pages 1181-1203.
    4. Karthik Muralidharan & Paul Niehaus & Sandip Sukhtankar, 2023. "General Equilibrium Effects of (Improving) Public Employment Programs: Experimental Evidence From India," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 91(4), pages 1261-1295, July.
    5. Jules Gazeaud & Victor Stephane, 2023. "Productive Workfare? Evidence from Ethiopia's Productive Safety Net Program," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 105(1), pages 265-290, January.
    6. C. Justin Cook & Manisha Shah, 2022. "Aggregate Effects from Public Works: Evidence from India," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 104(4), pages 797-806, October.
    7. Klonner, Stefan & Oldiges, Christian, 2022. "The welfare effects of India’s rural employment guarantee," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 157(C).
    8. Chatterjee, Jagori & Merfeld, Joshua D., 2021. "Protecting girls from droughts with social safety nets," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 147(C).
    9. Sarma, Nayantara, 2022. "Domestic violence and workfare: An evaluation of India’s MGNREGS," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 149(C).

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    India; Public works; Labor; Wages; Spillovers;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D50 - Microeconomics - - General Equilibrium and Disequilibrium - - - General
    • H53 - Public Economics - - National Government Expenditures and Related Policies - - - Government Expenditures and Welfare Programs
    • I38 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Welfare, Well-Being, and Poverty - - - Government Programs; Provision and Effects of Welfare Programs
    • J38 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Wages, Compensation, and Labor Costs - - - Public Policy
    • J46 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Particular Labor Markets - - - Informal Labor Market

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