Child labor and household wealth: Theory and empirical evidence of an inverted-U

Kaushik Basu (), Sanghamitra Das () and Bhaskar Dutta ()
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Kaushik Basu: Indian Statistical Institute, New Delhi
Sanghamitra Das: Indian Statistical Institute, New Delhi

Indian Statistical Institute, Planning Unit, New Delhi Discussion Papers from Indian Statistical Institute, New Delhi, India

Abstract: Some studies on child labor have shown that greater land wealth leads to higher child labor, thereby casting doubt on the hypothesis that child labor is caused by poverty. This paper argues that the missing ingredient is an explicit modeling of the labor market. We develop a simple model which suggests an inverted-U relationship between land holdings and child labor. A unique data set from India that has child labor hours information confirms this hypothesis. It is shown that the turning point beyond which more land leads to a decline in child labor occurs at 3.6 acres of land per household, which is well below the observed maximum value of and-holding.

Keywords: child labor; land-holding; education; labor markets (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: D13 J20 O12 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2007-02
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Related works:
Working Paper: Child Labor and Household Wealth: Theory and Empirical Evidence of an Inverted-U (2009)
Working Paper: Child Labor and Household Wealth: Theory and Empirical Evidence of an Inverted-U (2007)
Working Paper: Child Labor and Household Wealth: Theory and Empirical Evidence of an Inverted-U (2007)
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