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Differential Returns to Labor in Indian Agriculture

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 May 2017

David G. Abler
David G. Abler*
Affiliation:
Department of Agricultural Economics and Rural Sociology, The Pennsylvania State University
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Abstract

This article explores the speed of adjustment in Indian agricultural labor markets to changing economic circumstances. Agricultural wages in sixteen states during 1970–86 are analyzed. Results indicate that agricultural wages adjust quickly toward their long-run values, completing about one-fifth to one-fourth of the adjustment per year. Results also suggest strong linkages between the agricultural and nonagricultural labor markets. Interstate agricultural productivity differences have risen substantially in the last twenty-five years, and many feel this has led to a disintegration of the agricultural labor market. The findings suggest an indirect integration may be occurring through migration to nonagriculture.

Type
Articles
Information
Northeastern Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics , Volume 20 , Issue 1 , April 1991 , pp. 24 - 32
Copyright
Copyright © 1991 Northeastern Agricultural and Resource Economics Association 

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