Caste, Land and Labor Market Imperfections, and Land Productivity in Rural Nepal

Aryal, Jeetendra P.; Holden, Stein T.

Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/242702

Title:

Caste, Land and Labor Market Imperfections, and Land Productivity in Rural Nepal

Authors:

Aryal, Jeetendra P.
Holden, Stein T.

Year of Publication:

2011

Series/Report no.:

Centre for Land Tenure Studies Working Paper No. 06/11

Publisher:

Norwegian University of Life Sciences (NMBU), Centre for Land Tenure Studies (CLTS), Ås

Abstract:

This paper provides new evidence on the caste-related land productivity differential and its explanations in rural Nepal using household plot panel data. Low-caste households are found to have significantly higher land productivity on their owner-operated plots as compared to high-caste households. A comparison between the rented in land of low-caste and the owneroperated land of high-caste households showed that the former has significantly higher land productivity. No significant Marshallian inefficiency was found in the case of low-caste tenant households. Land productivity differences are explained by transaction costs in the labor market and caste discrimination rather than the disincentive effect of sharecropping

Subjects:

land productivity
high-caste landlords
low-caste tenants
transaction costs
sharecropping
market imperfections
Nepal

JEL:

Q12
Q15

ISBN:

978-82-7490-205-3

Document Type:

Working Paper

Appears in Collections:

CLTS Working Papers, Centre for Land Tenure Studies (CLTS), Norwegian University of Life Sciences (NMBU)

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