Workfare and Human Capital Investment: Evidence from India

Manisha Shah () and Bryce Steinberg

Journal of Human Resources, 2021, vol. 56, issue 2, 380-405

Abstract: We examine the impact of an increase in the demand for low-skill labor caused by a large public works program (NREGS) on schooling outcomes. Exploiting the staged rollout of the program for causal identification, we show exposure to workfare decreases enrollment by 1–3.5 percentage points and increases labor by four percentage points among adolescents, with girls primarily substituting into unpaid domestic work. We also find evidence that children exposed to the program in utero to age four benefit later in life. We conclude that the opportunity cost of schooling is an important determinant of educational investment.

Date: 2021
Note: DOI: 10.3368/jhr.56.2.1117-9201R2
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Related works:
Working Paper: Workfare and Human Capital Investment: Evidence from India (2015)
Working Paper: Workfare and Human Capital Investment: Evidence from India (2015)
Working Paper: Workfare and Human Capital Investment: Evidence from India (2015)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:uwp:jhriss:v:56:y:2021:i:2:p:380-405

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