Globalization and Child Labour

Abstract
Expanded access to foreign capital could be a tool to unlock economic growth in low-income countries and consequently many low and middle-income countries have sought to increase foreign capital flows. Yet there is little information on the consequences of increased foreign capital for child labor. This project uses the staggered liberalization of access to foreign capital at the industry-level in India to estimate the effects of foreign capital liberalization. This strategy exploits cross-district variation in children’s exposure to foreign capital liberalization due to the pre-reform industry-mix of the district to measure the effects of liberalization on human capital investment and child labor.

Key factors
Demand of labour, Economic structure and supply chains

Key outcomes
child work, school attendance, school dropout