Abstract:-

In this paper, we aim to evaluate the role of various endowments on the multidimensional poverty scores of rural Indian households. We first analyze household endowments, including household size, the highest levels of male and female education, and other characteristics such as caste and religion. In developing countries, poorer households often tend to have a higher number of children, since a large section of the poor often view their children as financial assets. Thus, we consider the possibility of endogeneity in household size—using the sex of the first child and the presence of twins as instruments. Following the established Geographic Poverty Trap theory, we also examine how local infrastructure affects poverty reduction, where, by utilizing remote sensing data, we incorporate various public and private endowments that reflect different infrastructures, such as the distance to schools, agricultural markets, district headquarters, banks, cold storage facilities, and community health centers. Furthermore, we consider the Enhanced Vegetation Index and Global Human Footfall Index to capture agricultural activities and other private markets within society. The final set of variables we include is informed by the increasing percentages of climate-related phenomena and their impact on poverty. We observe that events like floods or droughts can have a far greater effect on poverty than one of the most significant factors that influences it: caste.

(With Murli Manohar Murari and Mahamitra Das)