Contextualizing child labor reforms: Education policy, legal bans, and female child labor in rural South India
研究指出印度2012年童工修正法案与2009年教育改革共同作用，显著减少了农村女童劳动，强调法律改革需结合政策背景才能有效。
The prevailing consensus in the economics literature suggests that child labor laws are generally ineffective. However, this view often overlooks the broader policy context that shapes such reforms. India's 2012 Child Labor Amendment Act emerged after a period of significant reform aimed at improving girls' education, particularly through the 2009 education reforms. This paper sustains that these reforms potentially altered societal perceptions regarding the marginal value of girls' education, while the Child Labor Act highlighted the hazards of child labor in agriculture. Together, these measures may have created a more favorable environment for reducing rural female child labor. Using panel data from Young Lives and a triple difference-in-difference methodology, this study documents a significant reduction in female child labor in rural India. The findings highlight the importance of contextualizing legal reforms and emphasize the need for nuanced assessments to better understand their heterogeneous outcomes.