Will an increase in landholding size reduce child labour in the presence of unemployment? A theoretical analysis

Abstract

This paper builds an overlapping generations household economy model in a rural set up and examines the relationship between landholding and child labour in the presence of unemployment in the manufacturing sector. We find that irrespective of whether the parents work as agricultural labourers or work on their own land, an increase in landholding size leads to a decline in the child worker’s schooling in the short run and a decline in the growth rate of human capital formation in the long run, but may lead to an increase in steady state human capital in the long run.

Keywords

• child labour
• human capital
• land holding
• schooling
• unemployment