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Climate variability, rainfall shocks, and farmers’ income diversification in India

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  • Chuang, Yating

Abstract

Rainfall in India has become much more variable as a result of global climate change. Responses to rain shocks vary depending on the level of climate variation a community experiences historically. Using data spanning three decades in 230 villages in India, I find that farmers tend to diversify their income with non-farm wage jobs in response to rainfall shocks. This diversification strategy is employed less in places with more variable historical weather as people are more adapted. As climate change causes more variable weather in the coming years, my results suggest that places with historically less variable weather may become more vulnerable in this changing climate.

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  • Chuang, Yating, 2019. "Climate variability, rainfall shocks, and farmers’ income diversification in India," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 174(C), pages 55-61.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:ecolet:v:174:y:2019:i:c:p:55-61
    DOI: 10.1016/j.econlet.2018.10.015
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    12. Gallé, Johannes & Katzenberger, Anja, 2023. "Indian agriculture under climate change: The competing effect of temperature and rainfall anomalies," Ruhr Economic Papers 1002, RWI - Leibniz-Institut für Wirtschaftsforschung, Ruhr-University Bochum, TU Dortmund University, University of Duisburg-Essen.
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    16. Sarthak Gaurav & Rahul Kumar Singh & Thiagu Ranganathan, 2024. "Labour Supply of Cultivator and Labour Households: Insights From a Longitudinal Survey in Vidarbha, Maharashtra," The Indian Journal of Labour Economics, Springer;The Indian Society of Labour Economics (ISLE), vol. 67(4), pages 1117-1140, December.
    17. Eder, Andreas & Salhofer, Klaus & Quddoos, Abdul, 2024. "The impact of cereal crop diversification on farm labor productivity under changing climatic conditions," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 223(C).
    18. Hardeep Singh Amale & Pratap Singh Birthal & Digvijay Singh Negi, 2023. "Delayed monsoon, irrigation and crop yields," Agricultural Economics, International Association of Agricultural Economists, vol. 54(1), pages 77-94, January.
    19. Aparajita Dasgupta & Anahita Karandikar, 2021. "Gender-Gap in Learning Outcomes under Rainfall Shocks: The Role of Gender Norms," Working Papers 70, Ashoka University, Department of Economics.
    20. Islam, Masanori Matsuura Yir-Huieh Luh Abu Hayat Md. Saiful, 2021. "Climate Variability, Livelihood Diversification, and Household Food Security in Bangladesh," 2021 ASAE 10th International Conference (Virtual), January 11-13, Beijing, China 329402, Asian Society of Agricultural Economists (ASAE).
    21. Rite, Arvind; Abnave, Vikas, 2024. "Rainfall Variability, Risk, and Resilience: A Comparative Study of Insured vs. Non-Insured Farmers in Maharashtra, India," Research on World Agricultural Economy, Nan Yang Academy of Sciences Pte Ltd (NASS), vol. 5(4), September.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Risk; Climate change adaptation; Labor supply; India;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • O - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth
    • J2 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor
    • D8 - Microeconomics - - Information, Knowledge, and Uncertainty

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