Does Agricultural Growth Matter in Poverty Alleviation
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 3884589 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Raghav Gaiha (0000-0002-2027-6747, World Bank, corresponding author) |
| Year | 1995 |
| Volume | 26 |
| Issue | 2 |
| Pages | 285-304 |
| Publication date | 1995-04-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Development and Change (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0012-155X • E-ISSN: 1467-7660 |
| Publisher | Wiley (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1111/j.1467-7660.1995.tb00553.x |
| OpenAlex | W1976284761 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 13 |
| References cited | 15 |
This article uses a panel survey of households in the Indian state of Maharashtra to demonstrate that agricultural growth takes too long to trickle down to the rural poor. Unanticipated inflation, on the other hand, aggravates rural poverty, as does domination of the agricultural growth process by large landholders. This affects the poor through the oligopsonistic influence of the landholders in rural labour markets, dampening employment and wages (as compared with the outcome in a competitive market). In the context of structural adjustment, while the emphasis on allocative efficiency through withdrawal of input subsidies and remunerative prices for output is justified, acceleration in agricultural growth by itself is unlikely to make a dent in rural poverty. Measures designed to accelerate agricultural growth must therefore be supplemented by direct anti-poverty interventions. Consumer price stabilization is particularly important, and would be assisted by an overhaul of the Public Distribution System. Major reforms would include improved flexibility in the scale of the PDS, better targeting through alternative distribution networks when private trade channels are weak or non-existent, and simplification of registration procedures. The oligopsonistic role of large landholders could be curbed through market-mediated land redistribution, scrapping of all tenancy regulations when tenancy markets function efficiently, and through large-scale intervention in rural labour markets along the lines of the Employment Guarantee Scheme
Agriculture · Allocative efficiency · Development economics · Economic growth · Economics · Food security · Labour economics · Leasehold estate · Market economy · Poverty · Public distribution system · Rural poverty · Subsidy · Agricultural risk and resilience · Income, Poverty, and Inequality · Social and Economic Development in India
On the Persistence of Poverty in Rural India
Has India's Economic Growth Become More Pro-Poor In The Wake Of Economic Reforms ?
Rural Poverty Alleviation
Hunger, undernutrition and poverty in India
Policy reforms, institutions and the poor in rural India
Chronic Poverty in India
Calorie and Micronutrient Deprivation and Poverty Nutrition Traps in Rural India
Farm productivity and rural poverty in India
Food, Prices and Income in India
The impacts of undernutrition on labor productivity
Why Have Poor Democracies Not Eliminated Poverty? A Suggestion
National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme, Poverty and Prices in Rural India
Mean Consumption, Poverty and Inequality in Rural India in the 60th Round of the National Sample Survey
World Development Report 1990
The Political economy of hunger
How dependent are the rural poor on the employment guarantee scheme in India
Production, prices and poverty in rural India
Rural poverty and agricultural performance in India
Agricultural change and rural poverty
Land reform as commenced business
Poverty, Agricultural Growth and Prices in Rural India - A Critique and an Extension
Does Maharashtra's Employment Guarantee Scheme Guarantee Employment? Effects of the 1988 Wage Increase
Development strategies and the rural poor
| Unique citing works | 13 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 0,45 |
| Citation span | 1997 - 2025 (29) |
| Citation velocity | recent |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 12 |