Strategically greasing the wheels: The political economy of India’s rural employment guarantee scheme

Aditya Dasgupta

31 March 2015

2

min read

Notes from the Field

IGC Research on India

Explainers

Inefficient and capacity-constrained bureaucracies often pose a significant hurdle to the effective implementation of anti-poverty programmes in developing countries. In a deeply bureaucratic context, elected politicians play a key role in shaping the implementation of government programmes. In the context of India’s MNREGA, this project investigates whether elected politicians and political parties manipulate the programme for electoral advantage, and if so, how this affects programme performance.

Aditya Dasgupta

University of California, Merced

University of Chicago

Subscribe Now

Thank you! Your submission has been received!

Oops! Something went wrong while submitting the form.

Related

Building State capacity for accelerating development through effective governance

Building State capacity for accelerating development through effective governance

14th Finance Commission: A trust-based approach towards local governments

Accountability and responsibility

Decentralisation and spatial (mis)allocation of irrigation water

The influence of local politicians in the private education market

How immigration policy uncertainty affects labour markets

Fiscal transfers and natural calamities: Does political alignment matter?

Is it better to be governed by an elected leader or appointed bureaucrat?

Why political competition matters when inequality is high

Expected or unexpected? Strategic communication around audits to maximise deterrence

The ‘Odisha model’ for disaster resilience

From numbers to impact: Learning from effective data management in Rajasthan

What does Mission Antyodaya data say about rural deprivation?

Reshaping social protection in India

What explains policy change? Understanding the historical political economy of India

Political determinants of newspaper markets in India

The growing wave of decentralisation: Comparative evidence from developing countries

The growing wave of decentralisation: Comparative evidence from developing countries

How Prayagraj is leveraging wastewater surveillance to prevent another pandemic

Mainstreaming millets right: Dangers of promoting ultra-processed products

Impact of fiscal decentralisation and ethnic heterogeneity on choice of local polity

Decentralised targeting of transfer programmes: A reassessment

Forest Rights Act: An account of contradictory conservation laws

Forest Rights Act: Political participation of indigenous communities

Making the case for a common land registry

Facilitating risk-sharing through self-help groups in Bihar

Impact of Bihar’s alcohol ban on intimate partner violence

Is electrification in India fiscally sustainable?

Institutionalising social audits: Lessons from Meghalaya

Unpacking how MSMEs are defined in India’s manufacturing and services sector

The costs of extreme competition for government jobs

How women in politics impact maternal mortality

Has Budget 2023-24 been successful in balancing gender priorities?

Does being local matter? Administrative decentralisation and human development

Analysing e-governance service delivery outcomes: Insights from eTaal

Improving admissions to technical colleges in India

Challenges of executing EWS reservation efficiently

Design choices for implementing affirmative action

Introduction to e-Symposium: The architecture of affirmative action

Panchsutras for carrying out a successful Governance Transformation

The panchayat asset register: An instrument to conserve India’s commons

The Governance Matrix: Understanding a system’s readiness for change

Time in office and gender gap in dishonesty: Evidence from local politics

Party preferences and strategic voting in India

Electricity Act amendment: The need for a cautious approach

The WhatsApp effect: Evidence on political engagement, preferences and polarisation

Demographic and development outcomes of administrative proliferation

Do value-added taxes benefit firms? Evidence from the adoption of state-specific value-added taxes

Private returns to bureaucratic appointments: Evidence from financial disclosures in India

Fixing incentives for power plants to reduce outages

Does going cashless make you tax-rich? Evidence from India’s demonetisation

How colonial is Indian law?

Budget and politics in pandemic times

Improving public service delivery by fixing payment systems

India’s new National Water Policy: A paradigm shift

India’s new National Water Policy: A paradigm shift

She wins: Electing women in ethnically divided societies

Escaping the subsidy-quality trap in India’s retail electricity market

2021 West Bengal Assembly election: Did the Covid-19 surge matter?

Rising industrial accidents: Fallout of boosting ‘Ease of Doing Business’?

The digital dream: Upskilling India for the future

When criminality begets crime: The role of elected politicians

Regionalist party representation and tribal insecurity

Combating corruption and illicit outflows: A welfare-oriented approach

Land disputes in ‘Santhal Parganas’: Issues and solutions

Ethnic identities, public spending, and political regimes

Diversity and public goods: Why the geographical unit of analysis matters

Does the right to vote affect political behaviour? Historical evidence from India

Digging for dirt: Rent-seeking among elected politicians in India’s mineral belt

DUET: Decentralise employment generation to urban local bodies

Synchronised elections, voter behaviour, and governance outcomes

Citizen-State relations: Countryside and city

Does political reservation work, and for whom?

Covid-19: Is it time to decentralise power?

The politics of post-retirement appointments: Corruption in the Supreme Court?

Court congestion, caste identity, and business performance

Kerala’s management of Covid-19: Key learnings

How district courts influence firm growth

Electoral cycles and incomplete public works projects: An analysis of the MPLAD scheme

There are none so blind as they who will not see

Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana: Issues and gaps in service delivery and access

Do politicians receive special treatment in courts?

Consent to nothing: Aadhaar-based payment systems in welfare

How democratic are the states of India?

Political alignment and economic outcomes: Evidence from legislative assembly elections in India

Ujjwala 2.0: What should be done next?

Using mobiles to improve governance

India’s emerging crisis of representation

Power to the people: The impact of political report cards in India

Criminal politicians and informed voting in India

Curbing leakage in public programmes: Evidence from Direct Benefit Transfer policy for LPG subsidies

Do roads bring votes in rural India?

Are transparency and accountability enough? Open corruption and why it exists

Should civil servants be allowed to serve in their home areas?

Strengthen MNREGS to support the rural economy

Rethinking cadre allocation procedures in civil services

(Un)ease of doing business: How congested courts hinder firm productivity

Out of power? Political capture of the Indian electricity sector

निर्वाचित नेता या नियुक्त नौकरशाह, किसके द्वारा शासित होना बेहतर है?

सिंचाई जल के विकेन्द्रीकरण का गलत स्थानिक आवंटन पर प्रभाव

आप्रवासन नीति सम्बन्धी अनिश्चितता श्रम बाज़ारों को प्रभावित करती है

संख्याओं से प्रभाव तक : राजस्थान के प्रभावी डेटा प्रबंधन से सीख

भारत के बाल श्रम प्रतिबंध के अनपेक्षित परिणाम