Body Mass Index, Participation, Duration of Work and Earnings under NREGS: Evidence from Rajasthan

Despite its evident importance relatively little is known about links between Body Mass
Index (BMI) and participation in workfare programs, particularly in India. Using a unique
data set for the Indian state of Rajasthan for 2009-10, this paper attempts to fill this void and
examines the association between BMI and participation in, duration of employment in and
earnings from employment in NREGs. Thus we go beyond the scope of the extant literature
and model these links for both male and female workers with varied social and economic
backgrounds. Further, we permit non-linearities in some impacts and allow for mutual
endogenity, say, between BMI and earnings. To the best of our knowledge this is the first
paper to examine this range of issues.