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Can Public Employment Schemes Increase Equilibrium Wages? Evidence from a Natural Experiment in India

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  • Erlend Berg
  • Sambit Bhattacharyya
  • D Rajasekhar
  • R Manjula

Abstract

We estimate the impact of the Indian government’s major rural public works programme, the National Rural Employment Guarantee (NREG), on agricultural wages. The rollout of NREG in three phases is used to identify difference-in-difference estimates of the programme effect. Using monthly wage data from the period 2000-2011 for a panel of 209 districts across 18 Indian states, we find that on average NREG boosts the growth rate of real daily agricultural wages 4.8 per cent per year. The effect is concentrated in some states and in the agricultural season. The effect appears to be gender-neutral and biased towards unskilled labour. We argue that rural public employment programmes constitute a potentially important anti-poverty policy tool.

Suggested Citation

  • Erlend Berg & Sambit Bhattacharyya & D Rajasekhar & R Manjula, 2014. "Can Public Employment Schemes Increase Equilibrium Wages? Evidence from a Natural Experiment in India," The Centre for Market and Public Organisation 14/317, The Centre for Market and Public Organisation, University of Bristol, UK.
    • Handle: RePEc:bri:cmpowp:14/317
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    File URL: http://www.bristol.ac.uk/cmpo/publications/papers/2014/wp317.pdf
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    6. Clément Imbert & John Papp, 2012. "Equilibrium Distributional Impacts of Government. Employment Programs: Evidence from India's Employment Guarantee," PSE Working Papers halshs-00680451, HAL.
    7. Jha, Raghbendra & Bhattacharyya, Sambit & Gaiha, Raghav, 2011. "Social safety nets and nutrient deprivation: An analysis of the National Rural Employment Guarantee Program and the Public Distribution System in India," Journal of Asian Economics, Elsevier, vol. 22(2), pages 189-201, April.
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    11. Subbarao, Kalanidhi, 2003. "Systemic shocks and social protection : role and effectiveness of public works programs," Social Protection and Labor Policy and Technical Notes 25606, The World Bank.
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    Cited by:

    1. Deininger,Klaus W. & Jin,Songqing & Nagarajan,Hari Krishnan & Singh,Sudhir K., 2020. "Political Reservation and Female Labor Force Participation in Rural India," Policy Research Working Paper Series 9350, The World Bank.
    2. Imbert, Clément & Papp, John, 2016. "Short-term Migration Rural Workfare Programs and Urban Labor Markets - Evidence from India," The Warwick Economics Research Paper Series (TWERPS) 1116, University of Warwick, Department of Economics.
    3. Deininger, Klaus & Nagarajan, Hari K & Singh, Sudhir K, 2020. "Women's political leadership and economic empowerment: Evidence from public works in India," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 48(2), pages 277-291.
    4. Gehrke, Esther & Hartwig, Renate, 2015. "How can public works programmes create sustainable employment?," IDOS Discussion Papers 11/2015, German Institute of Development and Sustainability (IDOS).
    5. Clément Imbert & John Papp, 2015. "Labor Market Effects of Social Programs: Evidence from India's Employment Guarantee," American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, American Economic Association, vol. 7(2), pages 233-263, April.
    6. Deininger,Klaus W. & Nagarajan,Hari Krishnan & Singh,Sudhir K. & Deininger,Klaus W. & Nagarajan,Hari Krishnan & Singh,Sudhir K., 2016. "Short-term effects of India's employment guarantee program on labor markets and agricultural productivity," Policy Research Working Paper Series 7665, The World Bank.
    7. Gehrke, Esther, 2015. "Can public works infrastructure affect employment outcomes? Evidence from the NREGS in India," IDOS Discussion Papers 9/2015, German Institute of Development and Sustainability (IDOS).
    8. Merfeld, Joshua D., 2019. "Spatially heterogeneous effects of a public works program," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 136(C), pages 151-167.
    9. Kurosaki, Takashi & Usami, Yoshifumi, 2016. "A Note on the Reliability of Agricultural Wage Data in India: Reconciliation of Monthly AWI Data for District-Level Analysis," Review of Agrarian Studies, Foundation for Agrarian Studies, vol. 6(1), July.
    10. Merfeld, Joshua D, 2017. "Spatially Heterogeneous Effects of a Public Works Program," MPRA Paper 80630, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    11. Reddy, Amarender A. & Rani, Radhika Ch. & Reddy, G.P., 2014. "Labor Scarcity and Farm Mechanisation: A Cross State Comparison," Indian Journal of Agricultural Economics, Indian Society of Agricultural Economics, vol. 69(3), pages 1-12.
    12. Li, Yanan & Liu, Yanyan, 2016. "Does Providing Public Works Increase Workers' Wage Bargaining Power in Private Sectors? -- Evidence from National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme in India," 2016 Annual Meeting, July 31-August 2, Boston, Massachusetts 236181, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.

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    Keywords

    public works; workfare; agricultural wages; NREG; India;
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