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The agricultural wage gap within rural villages

Author

Listed:
  • Baysan, Ceren
  • Dar, Manzoor H.
  • Emerick, Kyle
  • Li, Zhimin
  • Sadoulet, Elisabeth

Abstract

We use unique data on daily labor-market outcomes for Indian casual workers to study labor reallocation between agricultural and non-agricultural activities within rural areas. Controlling for both individual time-invariant attributes and time-varying shocks, we find that workers who switch sectors across years or even within a week can obtain 23% higher wages by taking non-agricultural jobs. We then estimate a discrete choice model of daily labor allocation that decomposes preferences for jobs into two types of disamenities: (i) those associated with job characteristics and (ii) those associated with location. We find that the first type of disamenity is 23% of wages for men and 38% for women, and the second type is 36% of wages for men and 31% for women.

Suggested Citation

  • Baysan, Ceren & Dar, Manzoor H. & Emerick, Kyle & Li, Zhimin & Sadoulet, Elisabeth, 2024. "The agricultural wage gap within rural villages," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 168(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:deveco:v:168:y:2024:i:c:s0304387824000191
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jdeveco.2024.103270
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    2. Delavallade, Clara & Gittard, Melanie Colette Jacqueline & Vaillant, Julia, 2025. "Women and Climate Adaptation in Rural Sub-Saharan Africa : Constraints and Research Priorities," Policy Research Working Paper Series 11095, The World Bank.
    3. Faieta, Elena & Feng, Zhexin & Serafinelli, Michel, 2025. "Rural Employment Evolutions," IZA Discussion Papers 17715, IZA Network @ LISER.
    4. Gwee, Yi Jie, 2025. "Seeds of Change : The Effects of the Introduction of Bt Cotton in India," Policy Research Working Paper Series 11275, The World Bank.
    5. Imbert, Clément & Papp, John, 2020. "Costs and benefits of rural-urban migration: Evidence from India," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 146(C).
    6. Sarthak Joshi, 2025. "Spatial Shocks and Gender Employment Gaps," Edinburgh School of Economics Discussion Paper Series 323, Edinburgh School of Economics, University of Edinburgh.
    7. Elena Faieta & Zhexin Feng & Michel Serafinelli, 2025. "Rural Employment Evolutions," CESifo Working Paper Series 11699, CESifo.

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