How Much is a Government Job in India Worth?

Mangal, Kunal (2021) How Much is a Government Job in India Worth? Working Paper. Azim Premji University, Bengaluru.

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Abstract

Government jobs in India are valuable, not just because they pay relatively higher wages, but also because they provide many valuable amenities, such as lifetime tenure, access to bribes, and prestige. Does the value of these amenities compete with the nominal wage itself? I use the observed search behavior of candidates preparing for highly structured competitive exams for government jobs to infer a lower bound on the total value of a government job, including amenities. Based on a sample of 120 male candidates preparing for state-level civil service exams in Pune, Maharashtra, I estimate a total value of at least 425,000 INR per month. This estimate implies that the amenity value of a government job is at least 81% of total compensation. The high amenity value is not driven by misinformed beliefs about the nominal wage, nor by a high value placed on the process of studying itself. I conclude with a discussion of the implications of these �ndings for policy and the questions it raises for future research.

Item Type:	Monograph (Working Paper)
Authors:	Mangal, Kunal
Document Language:	Language English
Subjects:	Social sciences > Economics
Divisions:	Azim Premji University > Research Centre > Centre for Sustainable Employment
Full Text Status:	Public
URI:	http://publications.azimpremjiuniversity.edu.in/id/eprint/4314
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