Baseline Work Heterogeneity
RCTReview
Uniform economic policy interventions produce uneven labor market outcomes because targeted individuals vary widely in prior work experience and household social constraints.
Picture this
Baseline work heterogeneity is like unlocking a door for a person trapped inside versus a person who was already moving back and forth. The individual locked inside experiences a dramatic shift in freedom once the social and economic bolt is lifted.
What the evidence says
Labor force participation increases across public and private sectors were largest among women who had not previously worked for MGNREGS and whose husbands held conservative gender views.
- Who was studied
- N = 5,851 women in 197 gram panchayats in northern Madhya Pradesh, India.
- How
- Subgroup evaluation within a Randomized Controlled Trial (RCT) comparing labor market trajectories across baseline work status and male normative views over a three-year period (2014–2017).
What to do
Prioritize unengaged, socially constrained non-workers rather than active laborers when enrolling participants in targeted financial control programs.
From the source
"Consistent with the notion that women were prevented from working outside the home for pay by their husbands, women who had not previously worked for MGNREGS and whose husbands had more conservative views on women's work saw a greater increase in public and private labor force participation than women who had previously worked for MGNREGS."
Impact_of_Financial_Control_on_Womens_Labor_Supply_and_Gender_Norms.pdf