000 01396nas a2200205Ia 4500
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022 _a0013-0079
100 _aZimmermann, Laura V.
_9123535
245 0 _aWhy Guarantee Employment? Evidence from a Large Indian Public-Works Program
260 _bEconomic Development and Cultural Change
260 _c2024
300 _a2031-2067
520 _aMost countries implement safety net programs for poor households. A widespread concern is that such programs crowd out private-sector jobs, but they could also affect workers' job choice. This paper analyzes the first-year employment impacts of the world's largest public-works program, India's National Rural Employment Generation Scheme (NREGS), using a novel regression-discontinuity design. It focuses on districts treated in phase 2 of the NREGS rollout, which excludes poorer districts that were already treated. The results show that there is little evidence of a crowding out of private-sector jobs. Instead, male workers move from work for pay to family employment, which is driven by smallholder farmers.
650 _a Family Employment
_9123536
650 _a Poor Households
_948914
650 _a Private-Sector Jobs
_9123537
650 _a Public-Works Program
_9123538
650 _aGuarantee Employment
_9123539
856 _uhttps://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/10.1086/726251
999 _c134530
_d134530