Abhijit Banerjee, Department of Economics, MIT Lakshmi Iyery, Department of Economics, MIT
September 2001
Abstract This paper examines the impact of British-imposed land revenue systems on post-Independence outcomes in India. We compare areas in which proprietary rights in land were historically given to landlords with areas in which these rights were given to the cultivators. Our results show that the landlord areas have lower agricultural yields during the period 1956-1985, largely because they were slower to take up high-yielding varieties of crops in the mid-1960's, together with the complementary inputs of fertilizer and irrigation. We also find significant differences in literacy and educational infrastructure between the two types of areas, indicating a lower level of investment in human capital as well. We suggest some channels through which historical institutions might have persistent effects, and find empirical support for some of them.
Contact:lakshmi at mit.edu
<www.bu.edu/econ/ied/neudc/papers/Iyer-Final2.pdf> -- Yoshie
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