Can restoration of the commons reduce rural vulnerability? A quasi-experimental comparison of COVID-19 livelihood-based coping strategies among rural households in three Indian states

India has been hard hit by the COVID-19 pandemic. In the context of a larger quasi-experimental impact assessment, we assess the pandemic’s effects on household coping behavior in 80 villages spread across four districts and three states (n = 772). Half of these villages were targeted by a largescal...

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Autores principales: Hughes, Karl Alan, Priyadarshini, Pratiti, Sharma, Himani, Lissah, Sanoop, Chorran, Tenzin, Meinzen-Dick, Ruth S., Dogra, Atul, Cook, Nathan, Andersson, Krister
Formato: Journal Article
Lenguaje:Inglés
Publicado: International Association of the Commons 2022
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://hdl.handle.net/10568/141199
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author Hughes, Karl Alan
Priyadarshini, Pratiti
Sharma, Himani
Lissah, Sanoop
Chorran, Tenzin
Meinzen-Dick, Ruth S.
Dogra, Atul
Cook, Nathan
Andersson, Krister
author_browse Andersson, Krister
Chorran, Tenzin
Cook, Nathan
Dogra, Atul
Hughes, Karl Alan
Lissah, Sanoop
Meinzen-Dick, Ruth S.
Priyadarshini, Pratiti
Sharma, Himani
author_facet Hughes, Karl Alan
Priyadarshini, Pratiti
Sharma, Himani
Lissah, Sanoop
Chorran, Tenzin
Meinzen-Dick, Ruth S.
Dogra, Atul
Cook, Nathan
Andersson, Krister
author_sort Hughes, Karl Alan
collection Repository of Agricultural Research Outputs (CGSpace)
description India has been hard hit by the COVID-19 pandemic. In the context of a larger quasi-experimental impact assessment, we assess the pandemic’s effects on household coping behavior in 80 villages spread across four districts and three states (n = 772). Half of these villages were targeted by a largescale common land restoration program spearheaded by an NGO, the Foundation for Ecological Security (FES). The other half are yet to be targeted but are statistically similar vis-à-vis FES’s village targeting criteria. Analyzing the results of a phone survey administered eight to ten months into the pandemic and its associated lockdowns, we find that the livelihood activities of households in both sets of villages were adversely impacted by COVID-19. Consequently, most households had to resort to various negative coping behaviors, e.g., distressed asset sales and reduced farm input expenditure. From the same mobile survey data, we construct a Livelihoods Coping Strategies Index (LCSI) and find that households in villages targeted by FES’s common land restoration initiative score 11.3% lower on this index on average, equating to a 4.5 percentage point difference. While modest, this statistically significant effect estimate (p < 0.05) is consistent across the four districts and robust to alterative model and outcome specifications. We find no empirical support that our observed effect was due to improved access to common pool resources or government social programs. Instead, we speculate that this effect may be driven by institutional factors, rather than economic, a proposition we will test in future work.
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spelling CGSpace1411992025-12-08T10:29:22Z Can restoration of the commons reduce rural vulnerability? A quasi-experimental comparison of COVID-19 livelihood-based coping strategies among rural households in three Indian states Hughes, Karl Alan Priyadarshini, Pratiti Sharma, Himani Lissah, Sanoop Chorran, Tenzin Meinzen-Dick, Ruth S. Dogra, Atul Cook, Nathan Andersson, Krister expenditure surveys covid-19 resources commons livelihoods coping strategy index farm inputs assets land restoration non-governmental organizations livelihoods experimental design common lands resilience impact assessment India has been hard hit by the COVID-19 pandemic. In the context of a larger quasi-experimental impact assessment, we assess the pandemic’s effects on household coping behavior in 80 villages spread across four districts and three states (n = 772). Half of these villages were targeted by a largescale common land restoration program spearheaded by an NGO, the Foundation for Ecological Security (FES). The other half are yet to be targeted but are statistically similar vis-à-vis FES’s village targeting criteria. Analyzing the results of a phone survey administered eight to ten months into the pandemic and its associated lockdowns, we find that the livelihood activities of households in both sets of villages were adversely impacted by COVID-19. Consequently, most households had to resort to various negative coping behaviors, e.g., distressed asset sales and reduced farm input expenditure. From the same mobile survey data, we construct a Livelihoods Coping Strategies Index (LCSI) and find that households in villages targeted by FES’s common land restoration initiative score 11.3% lower on this index on average, equating to a 4.5 percentage point difference. While modest, this statistically significant effect estimate (p < 0.05) is consistent across the four districts and robust to alterative model and outcome specifications. We find no empirical support that our observed effect was due to improved access to common pool resources or government social programs. Instead, we speculate that this effect may be driven by institutional factors, rather than economic, a proposition we will test in future work. 2022-07-06 2024-04-12T13:37:27Z 2024-04-12T13:37:27Z Journal Article https://hdl.handle.net/10568/141199 en Open Access International Association of the Commons Hughes, Karl Alan; Priyadarshini, Pratiti; Sharma, Himani; Lissah, Sanoop; Chorran, Tenzin; Meinzen-Dick, Ruth Suseela; Dogra, Atul; Cook, Nathan; and Andersson, Krister. 2022. Can restoration of the commons reduce rural vulnerability? A quasi-experimental comparison of COVID-19 livelihood-based coping strategies among rural households in three Indian states. International Journal of the Commons 16(1): 189–208. http://doi.org/10.5334/ijc.1155
spellingShingle expenditure
surveys
covid-19
resources
commons
livelihoods coping strategy index
farm inputs
assets
land restoration
non-governmental organizations
livelihoods
experimental design
common lands
resilience
impact assessment
Hughes, Karl Alan
Priyadarshini, Pratiti
Sharma, Himani
Lissah, Sanoop
Chorran, Tenzin
Meinzen-Dick, Ruth S.
Dogra, Atul
Cook, Nathan
Andersson, Krister
Can restoration of the commons reduce rural vulnerability? A quasi-experimental comparison of COVID-19 livelihood-based coping strategies among rural households in three Indian states
title Can restoration of the commons reduce rural vulnerability? A quasi-experimental comparison of COVID-19 livelihood-based coping strategies among rural households in three Indian states
title_full Can restoration of the commons reduce rural vulnerability? A quasi-experimental comparison of COVID-19 livelihood-based coping strategies among rural households in three Indian states
title_fullStr Can restoration of the commons reduce rural vulnerability? A quasi-experimental comparison of COVID-19 livelihood-based coping strategies among rural households in three Indian states
title_full_unstemmed Can restoration of the commons reduce rural vulnerability? A quasi-experimental comparison of COVID-19 livelihood-based coping strategies among rural households in three Indian states
title_short Can restoration of the commons reduce rural vulnerability? A quasi-experimental comparison of COVID-19 livelihood-based coping strategies among rural households in three Indian states
title_sort can restoration of the commons reduce rural vulnerability a quasi experimental comparison of covid 19 livelihood based coping strategies among rural households in three indian states
topic expenditure
surveys
covid-19
resources
commons
livelihoods coping strategy index
farm inputs
assets
land restoration
non-governmental organizations
livelihoods
experimental design
common lands
resilience
impact assessment
url https://hdl.handle.net/10568/141199
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