Determinants of rural labour supply: retrospect and prospect Patavardhan Roopa*, Dr. Leelavathi D.S** *Junior Research Fellow, The Department of Studies in Economics and Co-Operation, Manasagangotri, Mysore **Research Supervisor, Professor and Chairperson, Department of Studies in Economics and Co-Operation, Manasagangotri, Mysore Online published on 8 April, 2014. Abstract Indian agriculture is often cited as a classic example for disguised unemployment. Labour abundance, lower level of wages and need for creation of alternate employment opportunities for a huge section of labour force have always been central issues of debates throughout the planning period. In the current period, the primary sector has undergone a tremendous change and there are instances of farm labour supply shortages. This contemporary phenomenon is mainly attributed to rural urban migration and public work inceptions. As per certain recent studies, especially MGNREGA has been able to draw the huge labour force by pushing up the farm wages. These studies have in a way supported traditional theories which recognise the wages, to be the sole determinant of labour supply and according to these theorists labour supply elasticities are largely governed by wage differentials. But when the issue was reviewed in literature, some of the old studies1 on the issues of labour supply determinants it was seen that wages are considered to be major determinants of labour supply merely for the reason that the data on wages is relatively easily accessible! This principle of parsimony is quite disturbing and there is need to overcome this shortcoming and realistically identify and bring the various other determinants of rural labour supply into mainstream. So it is the need of hour to step down from such an ivory tower and pose question as to “Does wage constitute to be the only major determinant of labour supply in modern days? ‘Education’, ‘Decent work’, ‘want of office job‘ and such other jargons of liberalised societies do have any influence on rural labour supply?“. Thus the paper throws light on the various determinants of labour supply which are often sidelined. This is a descriptive review research paper and expects to draw the various dimensions from which labour supply can be looked into. Thus this paper aims to review the literature related to determinants of rural labour supply in the modern days. This paper has been divided into four sections: the first section introduces the issues briefly; the changing employment situation in rural India since 2000 is discussed in the section two. Discussion on the apparent causes for labour shortage like migration, public works etc are discussed as a precursor to draw prospects and identify the various determinants of labour supply in the literature will follow in the third section of the paper. Section four is dedicated to summary, conclusion and directions for future research. Top Keywords Rural labour supply, MGNREGA, labour shortage. Top |