TY - JOUR
T1 - Child labor and schooling decisions among self-help group members in rural India
AU - Baland, Jean Marie
AU - Demont, Timothée
AU - Somanathan, Rohini
N1 - Funding Information:
This research was supported by the European Research Council (grant AdG-230290-SSD), the Seventh Framework Program of the European Commission (contract 214705 PITN-GA-2008-214705), and the Agence Nationale de la Recherche of the French government (grants ANR-10-LABX-14-01 and ANR-11-IDEX-0001-02).
Funding Information:
This research was supported by the European Research Council (grant AdG-230290-SSD), the Seventh Framework Program of the European Commission (contract 214705 PITN-GA-2008-214705), and the Agence Nationale de la Recherche of the French government (grants ANR-10-LABX-14-01 and ANR-11-IDEX-0001-02). We gratefully acknowledge early data-collection support and stimulating discussions with Michel Tenikue and thank for their helpful comments Paul Reding, Xavier Giné, Catherine Guirkinger, Romain Houssa, and numerous seminar participants at the London School of Economics, the Institute for International Economic Studies (Stockholm), the Centre of Research in the Economics of Development (Namur), and the 2016 UNU-WIDER Conference on Human Capital and Growth. We also want to thank PRADAN (Delhi) for its dynamic partnership in this project and, in particular, Sanjay Prasad and Amit Kumar from the Data Research Unit for outstanding assistance in data collection and cleaning. Contact the corresponding author, Timothée Demont, at [email protected].
Publisher Copyright:
© 2020 by The University of Chicago. All rights reserved.
PY - 2020/10/1
Y1 - 2020/10/1
N2 - This paper investigates the impact of informal microfinance groups (self-help groups, or SHGs) on children’s education and work in rural India. In 2002, 24 eligible villages were randomly selected for opening SHGs, and 12 others were randomly selected as a control group. Households were surveyed three times over a 5-year period, allowing for the study of medium-term outcomes. We find a robust and strong increase in secondary school enrollment rates over time, with intention-to-treat estimates of about 40%. This effect stems from a quicker grade progression, leading to lower dropout rates between primary and secondary school. Contrary to usual presumptions, we find no decrease in overall child labor (but a reorientation toward part-time domestic work) and no direct role of credit. By contrast, we show that social interactions within SHGs are very important.
AB - This paper investigates the impact of informal microfinance groups (self-help groups, or SHGs) on children’s education and work in rural India. In 2002, 24 eligible villages were randomly selected for opening SHGs, and 12 others were randomly selected as a control group. Households were surveyed three times over a 5-year period, allowing for the study of medium-term outcomes. We find a robust and strong increase in secondary school enrollment rates over time, with intention-to-treat estimates of about 40%. This effect stems from a quicker grade progression, leading to lower dropout rates between primary and secondary school. Contrary to usual presumptions, we find no decrease in overall child labor (but a reorientation toward part-time domestic work) and no direct role of credit. By contrast, we show that social interactions within SHGs are very important.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85090948488&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1086/703046
DO - 10.1086/703046
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85090948488
SN - 0013-0079
VL - 69
SP - 73
EP - 105
JO - Economic Development and Cultural Change
JF - Economic Development and Cultural Change
IS - 1
ER -
