Access to water, time allocation and income in rural India
Date
2012-05
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Publisher
National Council of Applied Economic Research (NCAER), New Delhi, IN
Abstract
In this paper we show that investments to improve the supply and management of water reduce
the time spent in fetching water by both men and women, which in turn will lead to a
reallocation of the time saved to productive activities, and result in increased incomes. Using the
national ARIS/REDS panel data of the NCAER we show that political reservations in the local
government for vulnerable groups like scheduled castes and tribes, and women lead to greater
local government investments in water supply and improved management. Political reservations
are shown to increase the time spent by women in all productive activities, especially in selfemployment
in farm and non-farm activities. Increases in self-employment are shown to have the
greatest impact among the productive activities on household incomes. We show that
reservations also increase the wages that women receive in the rural non-farm labor market,
which suggests that they reduce discrimination against women in labor markets.
Description
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Working Paper
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Keywords
DRINKING WATER, POLITICAL RESERVATIONS FOR WOMEN, TIME IN UNPRODUCTIVE ACTIVITY, IV ESTIMATION, WATER AND SANITATION, RURAL DEVELOPMENT, POLITICAL RESERVATION, RURAL AREAS, WATER MANAGEMENT, LOCAL GOVERNMENT, SOCIAL EQUITY, ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT, GOVERNANCE, POVERTY ALLEVIATION, EMPOWERMENT, LABOUR MARKET, GENDER DISCRIMINATION, INDIA