Natal A., Nordman Christophe. (2025). She works hard for the money : debt burden and labour supply in India.
Paris : DIAL, 46 p. multigr. (Document de Travail - DIAL ; DT/2025-01).
Titre du document
She works hard for the money : debt burden and labour supply in India
Année de publication
2025
Type de document
Littérature grise
Auteurs
Natal A., Nordman Christophe
Source
Paris : DIAL, 2025,
46 p. multigr. (Document de Travail - DIAL ; DT/2025-01).
For over 40 years, labour supply has been at the heart of empirical microeconomics, but few studies have examined the impact of household debt burdens on labour supply, and almost none on countries of the Global South. This research fills this gap by examining how debt burden - measured by the debt service ratio - affects labour supply, in particular hours worked, among more than 3200 individuals in rural Tamil Nadu, India, between 2016-17 and 2020-21. Using a Heckman correction with lagged debt ratios and fixed effects to account for unobserved factors and limit reverse causality, the study highlights a striking result: women increase their labour supply to repay household debt, regardless of which household member incurred it. Our results challenge the commonly held view in the South that women's work is synonymous with empowerment, suggesting that it may be the result of economic pressures
rather than a move towards autonomy.
Plan de classement
Economie générale / Macroéconomie [094]
;
Société, développement social [106]
