Template-Type: ReDIF-Paper 1.0

Author-Name: Magnus Hatlebakk 



Title: The effects of agrarian contracts of a governmental intervention into bonded labor in the western terai of Nepal



Abstract: We study an effective intervention into a specific form of bonded labor. The intervention led to a shift in agrarian contracts, from bonded labor to sharecropping. By comparing the pre- and post-liberation contracts we evaluate theoretical models of agrarian contracts. We suggest three mechanisms that jointly explain why landlords offered bonded labor contracts pre-liberation. One mechanism we apply to define bonded labor in contrast to tied labor. The mechanism, where the outside option as casual labor is endogenously determined by the choice of long-term contract, implies a trade-off for the landlord between efficiency and redistribution of surplus.



Length: 40 pages

Creation-Date: 2006 



File-URL: https://www.cmi.no/publications/file/2129-the-effects-on-agrarian-contracts.pdf

File-Format: Application/pdf

Number: WP 2006: 6



Keywords: Tied labor

Agrarian institutions

Nepal

Classification-JEL: J43, O12



Handle: RePEc:chm:wpaper:wp2006-6