Seminar by Bishwanath Goldar (Institute of Economic Growth)

The concept of disguised unemployment, particularly in the context of employment in agriculture in developing countries, is frequently used by scholars in their writings in academic economic journals. In this paper, we examine the validity of this concept in its application to Indian agriculture. We conduct theoretical analyses of the conditions when disguised unemployment could arise at an agricultural farm and present empirical evidence to verify whether disguised unemployment prevails widely among workers of farming households in India. The results of our theoretical and empirical analysis bring us to the conclusion that disguised unemployment does not widely prevail in India’s agricultural farms. The findings of our study has relevance to the current discussion on the recent surge in employment growth in India, marked by large increases in unpaid female workers in agriculture.