How do Caste, Gender and Party Affiliation of Locally Elected Leaders Affect Implementation of NREGA?

Abstract

We estimate the impact of the caste, gender, and party affiliation of locally elected leaders on implementation of India's new workfare program for rural areas, the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA), in Andhra Pradesh (AP), a state in Southern India. While, for most castes, we find a modest increase in participation by members of the same caste of the leader in the program, we find no impact on a broad range of other program outcomes or any effect of reservations for women. Our results suggest that NREGA in AP may be less susceptible to capture than other government programs.