Are returns to public investment lower in less-favored rural areas?: an empirical analysis of India

Developing countries allocate scarce government funds to investments in rural areas to achieve the twin goals of agricultural growth and poverty alleviation. Choices have to be made between different types of investments, especially infrastructure, human capital and agricultural research, and betwee...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Fan, Shenggen, Hazell, Peter B. R.
Formato: Artículo preliminar
Lenguaje:Inglés
Publicado: International Food Policy Research Institute 1999
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://hdl.handle.net/10568/161276
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author Fan, Shenggen
Hazell, Peter B. R.
author_browse Fan, Shenggen
Hazell, Peter B. R.
author_facet Fan, Shenggen
Hazell, Peter B. R.
author_sort Fan, Shenggen
collection Repository of Agricultural Research Outputs (CGSpace)
description Developing countries allocate scarce government funds to investments in rural areas to achieve the twin goals of agricultural growth and poverty alleviation. Choices have to be made between different types of investments, especially infrastructure, human capital and agricultural research, and between different types of agricultural regions, e.g., irrigated and high- and low-potential rainfed areas. This paper develops an econometric approach and provides empirical evidence on the impact of government investments in rural India using district-level data. While irrigated areas played a key role in agricultural growth during the Green Revolution era, our results show that it is now the rainfed areas, including many less-favored areas that offer the most growth for an additional unit of investment. Moreover, investments in rainfed areas have a much larger impact on poverty alleviation, making this a win-win development strategy. These results have important policy implications, and challenge conventional thinking that public investments in rural India should always be targeted to irrigated and other high-potential areas.
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spelling CGSpace1612762025-11-06T06:31:56Z Are returns to public investment lower in less-favored rural areas?: an empirical analysis of India Fan, Shenggen Hazell, Peter B. R. poverty green revolution public investment agricultural productivity agricultural research evaluation Developing countries allocate scarce government funds to investments in rural areas to achieve the twin goals of agricultural growth and poverty alleviation. Choices have to be made between different types of investments, especially infrastructure, human capital and agricultural research, and between different types of agricultural regions, e.g., irrigated and high- and low-potential rainfed areas. This paper develops an econometric approach and provides empirical evidence on the impact of government investments in rural India using district-level data. While irrigated areas played a key role in agricultural growth during the Green Revolution era, our results show that it is now the rainfed areas, including many less-favored areas that offer the most growth for an additional unit of investment. Moreover, investments in rainfed areas have a much larger impact on poverty alleviation, making this a win-win development strategy. These results have important policy implications, and challenge conventional thinking that public investments in rural India should always be targeted to irrigated and other high-potential areas. 1999 2024-11-21T09:54:36Z 2024-11-21T09:54:36Z Working Paper https://hdl.handle.net/10568/161276 en Open Access application/pdf International Food Policy Research Institute Fan, Shenggen; Hazell, P. B. R. 1999. Are returns to public investment lower in less-favored rural areas?;an empirical analysis of India. EPTD Discussion Paper 43. https://hdl.handle.net/10568/161276
spellingShingle poverty
green revolution
public investment
agricultural productivity
agricultural research
evaluation
Fan, Shenggen
Hazell, Peter B. R.
Are returns to public investment lower in less-favored rural areas?: an empirical analysis of India
title Are returns to public investment lower in less-favored rural areas?: an empirical analysis of India
title_full Are returns to public investment lower in less-favored rural areas?: an empirical analysis of India
title_fullStr Are returns to public investment lower in less-favored rural areas?: an empirical analysis of India
title_full_unstemmed Are returns to public investment lower in less-favored rural areas?: an empirical analysis of India
title_short Are returns to public investment lower in less-favored rural areas?: an empirical analysis of India
title_sort are returns to public investment lower in less favored rural areas an empirical analysis of india
topic poverty
green revolution
public investment
agricultural productivity
agricultural research
evaluation
url https://hdl.handle.net/10568/161276
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