Sudha Narayanan|Upasak Das|Yanyan Liu|Chris Barrett
The “Discouraged Worker Effect” in Public Works Programs: Evidence from the MGNREGA in India
Indira Gandhi Institute of Development Research|Philadelphia University|University of Pennsylvania|International Food Policy Research Institute|Cornell University|Cornell University
study investigates consequences poor implementation public workfare programs focusing mahatma gandhi national rural employment guarantee act mgnrega india using nationally representative data test empirically discouraged worker effect arising either two mechanisms administrative rationing jobs among seek work delays wage payments find strong evidence household district levels administrative rationing discourages subsequent demand work delayed wage payments seem matter significantly rainfall shocks find rationing strongly associated indicators implementation ability staff capacity politics appears play limited role findings suggest assessments relevance public programs lifecycle need factor implementation quality