Caste, land and labour market imperfections, and land productivity in rural Nepal
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Date
2011Metadata
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- CLTS Working papers (HH) [122]
Abstract
This paper provides new evidence on the caste-related land productivity differential and its explanations in rural Nepal using household plot panel data. Low-caste households are found to have significantly higher land productivity on their owner-operated plots as compared to high-caste households. A comparison between the rented in land of low-caste and the owneroperated land of high-caste households showed that the former has significantly higher land productivity. No significant Marshallian inefficiency was found in the case of low-caste tenant households. Land productivity differences are explained by transaction costs in the labor market and caste discrimination rather than the disincentive effect of sharecropping.