Doctoral Dissertation Research: Evaluation of India's National Rural Employment Guarantee Act in a General Equilibrium Framework

博士论文研究：一般均衡框架下印度国家农村就业保障法的评价

• 批准号: 0963619
• 负责人: Anne Case
• 金额: $ 2.2万
• 依托单位: Princeton University
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2010
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2010-03-15 至 2011-02-28
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=0963619&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Doctoral; Dissertation; Research; Evaluation; India

This research will use data from an NSF funded survey to estimate the labor market impacts of a large public works program in India. The National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA) is a massive public works program funded by the Indian central government. From April 2008 to March 2009, 45 million households participated in the program, working over two billion person days. The surge in employment opportunities created by the NREGA has the potential to create labor shortages that could drive up market wages and lead to a fall in private sector employment and output. On the other hand, many researchers have suggested in developing countries with imperfect markets, hiring additional workers might not raise wages and may even decrease them without affecting output. The implementation of the NREGA provides a rare opportunity to test these theories.Using an equilibrium model of labor markets, this research will estimate the impact of the NREGA on labor market outcomes such as wages and employment both within and outside the village. Funding will be used to conduct a survey in the north west of India collecting information on NREGA participation, earnings, and migration. Intellectual Merit: The intellectual merit lies first in the project's method for identifying the impact of the NREGA. Since the NREGA was introduced in three distinct phases, during the period from 2006 to 2009, some districts implemented the NREGA while others did not. A simple comparison of early phase districts with late phase districts, however, would lead to biased estimates of the program's effect since the government chose to implement the program in low wage districts first. The study will exploit the phase-in of the program combined with changes in the minimum wage, weather shocks, and village level controls to identify the impact of the NREGA. Apart from identifying the impact of this particular program, the model based approach will allow tests of existing models of rural labor markets. Specifically, it will provide convincing evidence of how an increased demand for labor from the government affects private sector employment and wages--a central question of the literature on rural markets in developing countries.Broader Impacts: This research project will develop a framework for estimating the effect of one of the largest public works programs in the world. The estimates will permit policy simulations to assess the impact of proposed extensions to the NREGA. More broadly, the results will inform policy making in many developing countries where an understanding of rural labor markets is required. The study will also foster collaboration between researchers at the NCAER in India and Princeton and build a foundation for future joint work. Finally, the proposed activity will extend an existing frequently-used panel data set on rural India and make the anonymized data available for public use.

这项研究将使用NSF资助的调查数据来估计印度大型公共工程项目对劳动力市场的影响。 《国家农村就业保障法》（NREGA）是印度中央政府资助的一项大规模公共工程计划。 从2008年4月到2009年3月，有4 500万个家庭参加了该方案，工作量超过20亿人日。 NREGA创造的就业机会激增，有可能造成劳动力短缺，从而推高市场工资，导致私营部门就业和产出下降。 另一方面，许多研究人员认为，在市场不完善的发展中国家，雇用更多的工人可能不会提高工资，甚至可能在不影响产出的情况下降低工资。 NREGA的实施提供了一个难得的机会来检验这些理论。本研究将使用劳动力市场的均衡模型，估计NREGA对劳动力市场的结果，如工资和就业的影响，在村内外。 资金将用于在印度西北部进行一项调查，收集有关NREGA参与、收入和移民的信息。智力价值：智力价值首先在于该项目确定NREGA影响的方法。 由于《全国农村就业和性别平等法》分三个不同阶段实施，在2006年至2009年期间，一些地区实施了《全国农村就业和性别平等法》，而另一些地区则没有实施。 然而，简单地比较早期地区和晚期地区，会导致对该方案效果的有偏见的估计，因为政府选择首先在低工资地区实施该方案。 该研究将利用该计划的分阶段实施，结合最低工资、天气冲击和村级控制的变化，以确定《国家农村就业保障法》的影响。 除了确定这一特定方案的影响外，基于模型的方法将允许对农村劳动力市场的现有模型进行测试。 具体而言，它将提供令人信服的证据，说明政府对劳动力需求的增加如何影响私营部门的就业和工资--这是发展中国家农村市场文献的核心问题。更广泛的影响：本研究项目将开发一个框架，用于估计世界上最大的公共工程项目之一的效果。 这些估计将允许政策模拟，以评估拟议延长NREGA的影响。 更广泛地说，研究结果将为许多需要了解农村劳动力市场的发展中国家的政策制定提供信息。 该研究还将促进印度NCAER和普林斯顿大学研究人员之间的合作，并为未来的联合工作奠定基础。 最后，拟议的活动将扩大印度农村现有的常用面板数据集，并提供匿名数据供公众使用。