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Rural Nonfarm Employment andIncomes in the Himalayas

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  • Maja Micevska

    (Indian Council for Research on International Economic Rela)

  • Dil Bahadur Rahut

    (Indian Council for Research on International Economic Rela)

Abstract

Nonfarm activities generate on average about 60 percent of rural households' incomes in the Himalayas. This paper analyzes the determinants of participation in nonfarm activities and of nonfarm incomes across rural households. A unique data set collected in the Himalayan region of India allows us to deal with the heterogeneity of rural nonfarm activities by using aggregations into categories that are useful both analytically and for policy purposes. We conduct an empirical inquiry that reveals that education plays a major role in accessing more remunerative nonfarm employment. Other household assets and characteristics such as land, social status, and geographical location also play a role

Suggested Citation

  • Maja Micevska & Dil Bahadur Rahut, 2008. "Rural Nonfarm Employment andIncomes in the Himalayas," Indian Council for Research on International Economic Relations, New Delhi Working Papers 205, Indian Council for Research on International Economic Relations, New Delhi, India.
    • Handle: RePEc:ind:icrier:205
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    2. Ma, Wanglin & Vatsa, Puneet & Zheng, Hongyun & Rahut, Dil Bahadur, 2022. "Nonfarm employment and consumption diversification in rural China," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 76(C), pages 582-598.
    3. Chloé Duvivier Duvivier & Mary-Françoise Renard & Shi Li, 2012. "Are workers close to cities paid higher non-agricultural wages in rural China?," CERDI Working papers halshs-00673698, HAL.
    4. C. Duvivier & S. Li & M.-F. Renard, 2013. "Are workers close to cities paid higher nonagricultural wages in rural China?," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 45(30), pages 4308-4322, October.
    5. Birthal, Pratap Singh & Negi, Digvijay S. & Jha, Awadesh K. & Singh, Dhiraj, 2014. "Income Sources of Farm Households in India: Determinants, Distributional Consequences and Policy Implications," Agricultural Economics Research Review, Agricultural Economics Research Association (India), vol. 27(1).
    6. Nguyen, Huy, 2014. "The effect of land fragmentation on labor allocation and the economic diversity of farm households: The case of Vietnam," MPRA Paper 57643, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    7. Dzanku, Fred Mawunyo, 2019. "Food security in rural sub-Saharan Africa: Exploring the nexus between gender, geography and off-farm employment," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 113(C), pages 26-43.
    8. Carol Newman & Christina Kinghan, 2015. "Social capital, political connections, and household enterprises: Evidence from Vietnam," WIDER Working Paper Series 001, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    9. Khosla, Sunil & Jena, Pradyot Ranjan & Rahut, Dil Bahadur, 2023. "Can rural livelihood programs enhance capabilities and reduce vulnerability to poverty? Evidence from a tribal region of eastern India," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 77(C), pages 85-98.
    10. Briones, M.R., 2018. "IFAD RESEARCH SERIES 20 - Transformation and diversification of the rural economy in Asia," IFAD Research Series 280069, International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD).
    11. Christina Kinghan & Carol Newman, 2015. "Social capital, political connections, and household Enterprises: Evidence from Vietnam," WIDER Working Paper Series wp-2015-001, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    12. Rayamajhi, Santosh & Smith-Hall, Carsten & Helles, Finn, 2012. "Empirical evidence of the economic importance of Central Himalayan forests to rural households," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 20(C), pages 25-35.
    13. Hoang, Trung X. & Pham, Cong S. & Ulubaşoğlu, Mehmet A., 2014. "Non-Farm Activity, Household Expenditure, and Poverty Reduction in Rural Vietnam: 2002–2008," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 64(C), pages 554-568.
    14. Meena, P.C. & Kumar, Ranjit & Sivaramane, N. & Kumar, Sanjiv & Srinivas, K. & Dhandapani, A. & Khan, Elias, 2017. "Non-Farm Income as an Instrument for Doubling Farmers’ Income: Evidences from Longitudinal Household Survey," Agricultural Economics Research Review, Agricultural Economics Research Association (India), vol. 30(Conferenc).
    15. Rahut, Dil Bahadur & Scharf, Maja Micevska, 2012. "Livelihood diversification strategies in the Himalayas," Australian Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics, Australian Agricultural and Resource Economics Society, vol. 56(4), pages 1-25, December.
    16. Dil Bahadur Rahut & Khondoker Abdul Mottaleb & Akhter Ali, 2018. "Rural Livelihood Diversification Strategies and Household Welfare in Bhutan," The European Journal of Development Research, Palgrave Macmillan;European Association of Development Research and Training Institutes (EADI), vol. 30(4), pages 718-748, September.
    17. Amit Kundu & Sangita Das, 2019. "Push and (or) Pull? Drivers of Labour Force Participation in Indian Agriculture," The Indian Journal of Labour Economics, Springer;The Indian Society of Labour Economics (ISLE), vol. 62(3), pages 413-430, September.
    18. Dil Bahadur Rahut Chhetri & Pradyot Ranjan Jena & Akhter Ali & Bhagirath Behera & Nar Bahadur Chhetri, 2015. "Rural Nonfarm Employment, Income, and Inequality: Evidence from Bhutan," Asian Development Review, MIT Press, vol. 32(2), pages 65-94, September.
    19. Carsten Lohmann & Ingo Liefner, 2014. "Spatial Patterns of Private Sector and Public Sector Non-Agricultural Jobs in Rural Northeast Thailand," Regional Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 48(4), pages 710-726, April.
    20. Tran Quang, Tuyen, 2014. "Determinants of nonfarm participation among ethnic minorities in the Northwest Mountains, Vietnam," MPRA Paper 59158, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised 08 Oct 2014.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Nonfarm employment; Rural households; Incomes; Education; India;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • O15 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Economic Development: Human Resources; Human Development; Income Distribution; Migration
    • O18 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Urban, Rural, Regional, and Transportation Analysis; Housing; Infrastructure
    • Q12 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Agriculture - - - Micro Analysis of Farm Firms, Farm Households, and Farm Input Markets
    • R11 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - General Regional Economics - - - Regional Economic Activity: Growth, Development, Environmental Issues, and Changes

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