We use a combination of pipeline comparison, propensity score matching, and double differences to evaluate economic and social impacts of a large community driven development program in India. While we find positive empowerment and nutritional effects for households in program areas, allowing...

Although opinions on impacts of land market transfers are sharply divided, few studies explore the welfare- and productivity impact of land markets on a larger scale. We use a large Indian panel spanning almost 20 years, together with a climatic shock (rainfall) indicator, to assess the...

Concerns about the slow down in agricultural growth and the macroeconomic impact of rising fiscal deficits have refocused attention to public expenditures in the agricultural sector. Rising levels of agricultural subsidies have been blamed for crowding out much needed productivity-enhancing...

The literature has long identified lack of rural diversification and low intensity of input use as two key constraints to sustainable and pro-poor growth in Uganda. We use data from a large nationally representative survey to demonstrate that broader access to agricultural extension could...

We use a survey of small rural enterprises from Tanzania to demonstrate quantitatively the economic importance of this sector and to identify participants' characteristics and obstacles to the sector's expansion and productivity. In stark contrast to most of the findings for the formal sector...

Recognition of the potentially deleterious implications of high inequality of opportunity due to a biased asset distribution has led to increased interest in land reforms. However, little attention has been devoted to the potential longer-term impacts of the measures used to implement such...

While recent studies point towards the importance of institutions, in particular secure property rights, as key determinants of economic growth, options to foster institutional change to make property rights more secure are not well understood. Data from 800 villages all over China on the...

Land reforms in India were aimed at securing access to land for poor rural households. We use data from West Bengal to highlight the impact of the state’s 1978 land reform program on human capital accumulation within the beneficiary households. The results from the study indicate that reform...