Empirics of Child Labour: A Study of an Indian State

Abstract

The problem of child labour is a multifaceted hydra. It is simply not possible to comprehend the problem using some simple theoretical constructs or causal empirics. Various aspects of this phenomenon are considered here. Specifically we concentrated on the so-called inverted U-hypothesis that posits a rise in child labour as family asset rises while falling eventually. For this, we have considered different types of regressions. Our study reveals the inverted U hypothesis to be valid in those cases where the probability of a child being send to labour market (given the other conditions) is very low. In such cases a rise in family assets, enhance the utilization of child labour.