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

Type Report
Title The effects of agrarian contracts of a governmental intervention into bonded labor in the western terai of Nepal
Author(s)
Publication (Day/Month/Year) 2006
URL http://econpapers.repec.org/RePEc:chm:wpaper:wp2006-6
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.

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