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Transforming rural economies through tertiary education: Evidence from India

Author

Listed:
  • Amparo Castelló-Climent
  • Abhiroop Mukhopadhyay
  • Ravinder

Abstract

This paper analyses the role of tertiary education on rural development. Using census data on villages in India for 2011, we find that skilled workers have had an important impact on rural prosperity. A 1 percentage point rise in the share of the village population with tertiary education raises per capita consumption by around 7.2 per cent. Our results are robust to alternative measures of income and are not confounded by better institutions. Among the mechanisms at work, we find that households with tertiary-educated members register higher agricultural gross income per unit of land.

Suggested Citation

  • Amparo Castelló-Climent & Abhiroop Mukhopadhyay & Ravinder, 2023. "Transforming rural economies through tertiary education: Evidence from India," WIDER Working Paper Series wp-2023-89, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    • Handle: RePEc:unu:wpaper:wp-2023-89
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
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    3. Joan Hamory & Marieke Kleemans & Nicholas Y Li & Edward Miguel, 2021. "Reevaluating Agricultural Productivity Gaps with Longitudinal Microdata," Journal of the European Economic Association, European Economic Association, vol. 19(3), pages 1522-1555.
    4. J. Vernon Henderson & Adam Storeygard & David N. Weil, 2012. "Measuring Economic Growth from Outer Space," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 102(2), pages 994-1028, April.
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