Local institutional structure and clientelistic access to employment: the case of MGNREGS in three states of India

Abstract

This work is a contribution, first, toward measuring rural institu- tions taking multidimensional networks of socio-economic interactions in villages as the primitive and then toward exploring impacts of such institutions on household-access to a public employment programme: MGNREGS in India. Our focus is on the institution of clientelism- patronage-the presence and intensity of that. Using primary data we identify the presence of patron-client relationships, show that clients have better access to MGNREGS employment than non-clients and a household in elite-villages has higher access to MGNREGS employment. Complementary to our empirical exercises, we construct and analyze a theoretical model supporting our empirical findings.