Why Guarantee Employment? Evidence from a Large Indian Public-Works Program

Arbeitspapier

Most countries around the world implement some form of a safety net program for poor households. A widespread concern is that such programs crowd out private-sector jobs. But they could also improve workers' welfare by allowing them to take on more risk, for example through self-employment. This paper analyzes the employment impacts of the world's largest public-works program using a novel regression-discontinuity design. The analysis exploits detailed institutional information to describe the allocation formula of the program and to construct a benefit calculator that predicts early and late treatment of districts. The results show that there is little evidence of a crowding out of private-sector jobs. Instead, the scheme functions as a safety net after a bad rainfall shock. Male workers also take on more risk by moving into family employment. This self-revealed preference for a different type of job suggests other potential benefits of safety net programs which so far have received little attention in the literature.

Angaben zum Objekt

• Sprache: Englisch

Verweise und Beziehungen

• Erschienen in: Series: GLO Discussion Paper ; No. 504

Klassifikation und Themen

• Klassifikation: Wirtschaft ; National Government Expenditures and Welfare Programs ; State and Local Government: Health; Education; Welfare; Public Pensions ; Welfare, Well-Being, and Poverty: Government Programs; Provision and Effects of Welfare Programs ; Time Allocation and Labor Supply ; Wages, Compensation, and Labor Costs: Public Policy
• Thema: public-works program ; anti-poverty program ; National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme ; NREGA ; NREGS ; India ; regression discontinuity design ; safety net ; crowding out ; risk coping ; risk mitigation ; insurance

Beteiligte, Orts- und Zeitangaben

• Ereignis: Geistige Schöpfung
• (wer): Zimmermann, Laura
• Ereignis: Veröffentlichung
• (wer): Global Labor Organization (GLO)
• (wo): Essen
• (wann): 2020

Weitere Informationen

• Handle: http://hdl.handle.net/10419/215480
• Letzte Aktualisierung: 10.03.2025, 11:44 MEZ