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Here Comes the Rain Again: Productivity Shocks, Educational Investments, and Child Work

Nordman, Christophe Jalil; Sharma, Smriti; Sunder, N. (2022), Here Comes the Rain Again: Productivity Shocks, Educational Investments, and Child Work, Economic Development and Cultural Change. 10.1086/713937

Type
Article accepté pour publication ou publié
Date
2022
Journal name
Economic Development and Cultural Change
Publisher
University of Chicago Press
Publication identifier
Metadata
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Author(s)
Nordman, Christophe Jalil cc
Développement, Institutions et Modialisation [LEDA-DIAL]
Sharma, Smriti
Sunder, N.
Abstract (EN)
This study uses household-level panel data from a nationally representative survey to estimate the effect of agricultural productivity shocks—as proxied by exogenous annual rainfall deviations—on education expenditures and children’s work status in rural India. We find that a transitory increase in rainfall significantly reduces education expenditures and increases the likelihood of child labor across multiple work activities. Additionally, households owning land and those with better credit access increase the use of child labor as rainfall increases because labor (and land) markets are incomplete. The effects of productivity shocks are reinforced for marginalized castes and for less educated households, thereby exacerbating inequalities in education.
Subjects / Keywords
Rainfall shocks; education expenditures; child work; market imperfections; India
JEL
D13 - Household Production and Intrahousehold Allocation
I21 - Analysis of Education
J16 - Economics of Gender; Non-labor Discrimination
O12 - Microeconomic Analyses of Economic Development