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The Evolution of Poverty and Inequality in Indian Villages

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  • Jayaraman, Rajshri
  • Lanjouw, Peter

Abstract

This paper examines the evolution of poverty and inequality in rural India by reviewing longitudinal village studies. It explores the main forces of economic change -- agricultural intensification, changing land relations, and occupational diversification -- from a wide range of disciplinary perspectives, and it considers the roles of various institutions as conduits of change. Although most village studies support the survey-based judgment that rural poverty declined in India during the 1970s and 1980s, they find that progress has been slow and irregular and that inequalities within villages have persisted. These continued inequalities may constrain both the scope for further poverty reduction from economic growth and the impact of policy interventions. Copyright 1999 by Oxford University Press.

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  • Jayaraman, Rajshri & Lanjouw, Peter, 1999. "The Evolution of Poverty and Inequality in Indian Villages," The World Bank Research Observer, World Bank, vol. 14(1), pages 1-30, February.
    • Handle: RePEc:oup:wbrobs:v:14:y:1999:i:1:p:1-30
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    4. Peter Lanjouw, 2007. "Rural Non-Farm Employment in India: Access, Income, farm, Poverty Impact," Working Papers id:913, eSocialSciences.
    5. Suraj Jacob, 2015. "Towards a Comparative Subnational Perspective on India," Studies in Indian Politics, , vol. 3(2), pages 229-246, December.
    6. Anirudh Krishna, 2005. "Poverty Knowledge and Poverty Action: Evidence from Three States in India," Working Papers id:274, eSocialSciences.
    7. Kumar, Awanish, 2017. "Village India: Change and Continuity," Review of Agrarian Studies, Foundation for Agrarian Studies, vol. 7(2), December.
    8. Shiba Shankar Pattayat & Jajati Keshari Parida & I. C. Awasthi, 2022. "Reducing Rural Poverty Through Non-farm Job Creation in India," The Indian Journal of Labour Economics, Springer;The Indian Society of Labour Economics (ISLE), vol. 65(1), pages 137-160, March.
    9. Valbuena, Diego & Tui, Sabine Homann-Kee & Erenstein, Olaf & Teufel, Nils & Duncan, Alan & Abdoulaye, Tahirou & Swain, Braja & Mekonnen, Kindu & Germaine, Ibro & Gérard, Bruno, 2015. "Identifying determinants, pressures and trade-offs of crop residue use in mixed smallholder farms in Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 134(C), pages 107-118.
    10. V.K. Ramachandran & Madhura Swaminathan & Vikas Rawal, 2001. "How have hired workers fared? A case study of women workers from an Indian village, 1977 to 1999," Centre for Development Studies, Trivendrum Working Papers 323, Centre for Development Studies, Trivendrum, India.
    11. Ameur, Fatah & Kuper, Marcel & Lejars, Caroline & Dugué, Patrick, 2017. "Prosper, survive or exit: Contrasted fortunes of farmers in the groundwater economy in the Saiss plain (Morocco)," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 191(C), pages 207-217.
    12. Estudillo, Jonna P. & Quisumbing, Agnes R. & Otsuka, Keijiro, 2001. "Income distribution in rice-growing villages during the post-Green Revolution periods: the Philippine case, 1985 and 1998," Agricultural Economics, Blackwell, vol. 25(1), pages 71-84, June.
    13. Kapur Mehta, Aasha & Shah, Amita, 2003. "Chronic Poverty in India: Incidence, Causes and Policies," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 31(3), pages 491-511, March.
    14. Thomas Reardon & J. Edward Taylor & Kostas Stamoulis & Peter Lanjouw & Arsenio Balisacan, 2000. "Effects of Non‐Farm Employment on Rural Income Inequality in Developing Countries: An Investment Perspective," Journal of Agricultural Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 51(2), pages 266-288, May.
    15. Magnus Hatlebakk, 2014. "Poverty Dynamics in Rural Orissa: Transitions in Assets and Occupations over Generations," Journal of Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 50(6), pages 877-893, June.
    16. Madhusudan Ghosh, 2017. "Infrastructure and Development in Rural India," Margin: The Journal of Applied Economic Research, National Council of Applied Economic Research, vol. 11(3), pages 256-289, August.
    17. Das Gupta, Monica & Grandvoinnet, Helene & Romani, Mattia, 2000. "State-community synergies in development : laying the basis for collective action," Policy Research Working Paper Series 2439, The World Bank.
    18. Zhou, Yuan & Zhang, Yili & Abbaspour, Karim C. & Mosler, Hans-Joachim & Yang, Hong, 2009. "Economic impacts on farm households due to water reallocation in China's Chaobai watershed," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 96(5), pages 883-891, May.
    19. Hentschel, Jesko, 1998. "Distinguishing between types of data and methods of collecting them," Policy Research Working Paper Series 1914, The World Bank.
    20. Parker, Barbara & Kozel, Valerie, 2007. "Understanding Poverty and Vulnerability in India's Uttar Pradesh and Bihar: A Q-squared Approach," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 35(2), pages 296-311, February.
    21. Satish, P., 2007. "Rural Infrastructure and Growth: An Overview," Indian Journal of Agricultural Economics, Indian Society of Agricultural Economics, vol. 62(1), pages 1-20.
    22. John Sender, 2000. "Struggles To Escape Poverty In South Africa: Results From A Purposive Rural Survey," Working Papers 107, Department of Economics, SOAS University of London, UK.
    23. Abusaleh Shariff, 2009. "Rural Income and Employment Diversity in India During 1994 and 2005," Journal of Developing Societies, , vol. 25(2), pages 165-208, April.
    24. Krishna, Anirudh, 2004. "Escaping Poverty and Becoming Poor: Who Gains, Who Loses, and Why?," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 32(1), pages 121-136, January.
    25. Alan Rew & Shahzad Khan, 2006. "The Moral Setting for Governance in Keonjhar: The Cultural Framing of Public Episodes and Development Processes in Northern Orissa, India," Oxford Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 34(1), pages 99-115.

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