This paper revisits impact evaluation studies on the largest public workfare in the world, NREGA. In an environment where randomization is not feasible, I show why an impact evaluation exercise on NREGA should acknowledge the existence of an older program, SGRY. Using novel district-level expenditure data on SGRY, this article shows how ignoring the older program is likely to underestimate the general equilibrium impact of the employment policy on various relevant socio-economic outcomes. In most cases, ignoring SGRY underestimates NREGA's impact by 30-40 percent.
- Disclosure Date
- 2021/11/03
- Disclosure Status
- Disclosed
- Doc Name
- A Tale of Two Programs: Assessing Treatment and Control in NREGA Studies
- Originating Unit
- DEC-Development Policy (DECDP)
- Published in
- United States of America
- Series Name
- Policy Research working paper; no. WPS 9835;
- Total Volume(s)
- 1
- Unit Owning
- Off of Sr VP Dev Econ/Chief Econ (DECVP)
- Version Type
- Final
- Volume No
- 1
