Nagarajan, Hari K.Deininger, KlausSingh, Sudhir K.2016-06-132016-06-132016-05https://hdl.handle.net/10986/24502This paper uses a large national household panel from 1999/2000 and 2007/08 to analyze the short-term effects of India's Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme on wages, labor supply, agricultural labor use, and productivity. The scheme prompted a 10-point wage increase and higher labor supply to nonagricultural casual work and agricultural self-employment. Program-induced drops in hired labor demand were more than outweighed by more intensive use of family labor, machinery, fertilizer, and diversification to crops with higher risk-return profiles, especially by small farmers. Although the aggregate productivity effects were modest, total employment generated by the program (but not employment in irrigation-related activities) significantly increased productivity, suggesting alleviation of liquidity constraints and implicit insurance provision rather than quality of works undertaken as a main channel for program-induced productivity effects.en-USCC BY 3.0 IGOJOBSEMPLOYMENTPRODUCTIVITY EFFECTSWAGE GAPPRODUCTIONLOCAL INFRASTRUCTUREINCOMERURAL LABOR MARKETSINFORMATIONLABOR FORCELIQUIDITYELASTICITYPUBLIC EMPLOYMENTPOLITICAL ECONOMYWELFAREJOBAGE CATEGORIESEFFECTSWAGE INCREASESPRIVATE EMPLOYMENTVARIABLESRURAL LABORINPUTSLABOR FORCE PARTICIPATIONPAYMENTSPROGRAM AVAILABILITYRURAL POORPRODUCTIVITY INCREASEAGRICULTURAL OUTPUTVALUE OF OUTPUTWAGE GROWTHRENTSTRENDSSOCIOECONOMIC IMPACTSJOB SEEKERSSMOOTHING CONSUMPTIONSMALL FARMERSDEVELOPMENTLABOR MARKETRIGHT TO WORKPER CAPITA INCOMEEMPLOYMENT LEVELSDEVELOPMENT ECONOMICSWORKEROUTPUTSNON-FARM EMPLOYMENTPRODUCTIVITYEXPECTED RETURNTRANSFERSMARKETSORGANIZATIONSHOUSEHOLD SURVEYSLABOR SHORTAGESLABORFARMERSPRIMARY SCHOOLTOTAL EMPLOYMENTLABOUR MARKETSPUBLIC WORKS PROGRAMWAGE INCREASEEFFICIENCYECONOMIC RESEARCHWAGE LEVELSFEMALE LABOREQUITYCONSUMPTIONPRODUCTIVITY GROWTHHUMAN CAPITALEMPLOYMENT GUARANTEE SCHEMEWORKERSWAGESPRODUCTIVITY EFFECTLABOR DEMANDVALUEAVERAGE WAGEWAGE RATESCASUAL WORKERSWAGE DATAFAMILY LABORCREDITDEMANDOCCUPATIONSAFETY NETFEMALE EMPOWERMENTAGRICULTUREPRODUCTIVE ASSETSDRY SEASONLABOR MARKET OUTCOMESHOUSEHOLD CHARACTERISTICSASSETSPUBLIC WORKSRURAL EMPLOYMENTDIVERSIFICATIONECONOMICSPRODUCTION FUNCTIONCOBB-DOUGLAS PRODUCTION FUNCTIONMANAGEMENTSALARIED EMPLOYMENTEQUILIBRIUM WAGESEMPLOYMENT GUARANTEEINSURANCECONSUMPTION SMOOTHINGGOODSTHEORYSECURITYGROWTH RATEINVESTMENTIRRIGATIONRISKPROGRAM COSTPOVERTYFEMALE LABOR FORCEPOOR FARMERSCRISESSUPPLYLABOR SUPPLYWAGE EFFECTSPROFITAGRICULTURAL PRODUCTIVITYCHILD LABORUNSKILLED WORKERSTOTAL OUTPUTLABOURLABOR MARKETSOUTCOMESSAFETYRURAL DEVELOPMENTUNSKILLED LABORSELF-EMPLOYMENTAGRICULTURAL SELF-EMPLOYMENTPRICESNON-FARM SECTORDEVELOPMENT POLICYFUTURE RESEARCHWorking PaperWorld Bank10.1596/1813-9450-7665