DC Accepted Papers Paper:
Famine, Institutions, and Indentured Migration in Colonial India
*Names in bold indicate Presenter
I use a unique dataset on annual district-level outflows of indentured migrants from colonial India to several British colonies in the period 1860-1912. I use a differences-in-differences approach to show that famines increased indentures. However, this effect varied according to the land-revenue collection system established by the British. Where landlords collected revenue, emigration responded less to famine. I use the year the district was annexed by Britain to construct an instrument for the land revenue system. Qualitative evidence suggests that landlords were unlikely to grant remissions to their tenants; this increased tenant debt, preventing them from migrating. Greater emigration during famine years is not witnessed in Princely states, where local rulers adopted liberal measures during famine years in order to help the population.
