A Policy of Credit Disruption: The Punjab Land Alienation Act of 1900

Latika Chaudhary and Anand Swamy

No 2018-07, Department of Economics Working Papers from Department of Economics, Williams College

Abstract: If land is titled and transferable, it can be used as collateral against which money can be borrowed. The resulting increase in access to credit is usually expected to foster economic growth. We study a policy in colonial India that made land less available as collateral for debt. Using a panel dataset for Punjab districts from 1890 to 1910, we find that this reduced the availability of mortgage-backed credit, but did not hurt proxies for economic development such as acreage and cattle, at least in the short run.

Pages: 34 pages
Date: 2018-10
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-fdg, nep-gro and nep-his
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