9

**Table 1.** Descriptive Statistics

||**Full s**|**ample**|**S**|**C**|**S**|**T**|**O**|**BC**|**High**|**castes**|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|Age (Years)|50.84|(13.15)|50.41|(13.31)|47.50|(12.65)|50.47|(12.73)|52.42|(13.63)|
|Household size|6.09|(3.28)|5.78|(2.93)|5.83|(3.45)|6.26|(3.22)|6.02|(3.42)|
|Female head|0.05|(0.23)|0.06|(0.24)|0.06|(0.23)|0.05|(0.22)|0.06|(0.23)|
|Head education level|5.15|(4.94)|4.07|(4.49)|2.89|(3.86)|5.02|(4.93)|6.32|(5.03)|
|**Farm characteristics**|||||||||||
|Cultivated area (in acres)|6.92|(10.20)|3.75|(4.62)|6.03|(6.54)|6.69|(9.22)|8.64|(13.09)|
|Days worked on field|129|(139)|97|(102)|92|(74)|132|(147)|147|(148)|
|Mechanized assets|0.32|(0.47)|0.12|(0.32)|0.15|(0.35)|0.31|(0.46)|0.46|(0.50)|
|Nonmechanized assets|0.96|(0.21)|0.95|(0.22)|0.97|(0.16)|0.96|(0.20)|0.95|(0.22)|
|Proportion of land owned|0.93|(0.24)|0.88|(0.30)|0.98|(0.13)|0.92|(0.25)|0.94|(0.22)|
|Proportion of irrigated land|0.64|(0.46)|0.58|(0.49)|0.44|(0.47)|0.68|(0.45)|0.66|(0.46)|
|High-yielding variety|0.63|(0.48)|0.55|(0.50)|0.64|(0.48)|0.57|(0.49)|0.73|(0.45)|
|**Characteristics of neighbors**<br>**All neighbors**|||||||||||
|Mean age|48.12|(3.49)|46.98|(2.88)|45.44|(2.72)|47.57|(2.70)|50.05|(3.93)|
|Mean household size|5.50|(1.01)|5.25|(0.84)|5.23|(0.85)|5.59|(1.03)|5.54|(1.05)|
|Female head|0.09|(0.06)|0.10|(0.06)|0.09|(0.06)|0.08|(0.05)|0.09|(0.06)|
|Mean education level|4.59|(2.04)|3.50|(1.55)|2.73|(1.99)|4.32|(1.71)|5.87|(1.89)|
|**Neighbors in agriculture**|||||||||||
|Mean age|49.59|(3.88)|50.41|(4.38)|46.97|(4.07)|49.18|(3.15)|50.61|(4.16)|
|Mean household size|5.79|(1.13)|5.61|(1.14)|5.55|(0.95)|5.95|(1.14)|5.69|(1.13)|
|Female head|0.06|(0.06)|0.07|(0.08)|0.07|(0.08)|0.06|(0.05)|0.06|(0.07)|
|Mean education level|4.77|(2.23)|3.70|(2.05)|2.77|(2.10)|4.58|(2.02)|5.97|(1.94)|
|Observations|4405||511||381||2085||1428||

_Source_ : Author’s analysis based on the 2006 round of the Additional Rural Incomes Survey and Rural Economic & Demographic Survey (ARIS-REDS) from the National Council of Applied Economic Research. _Note_ : The table reports the mean for each variable. Standard deviations are in parentheses. The first column reports the mean for the full sample. Columns 2 to 4 divide the sample into castes groups. SC stands for “Scheduled Castes,” ST for “Scheduled Tribes,” OBC for “Other Backward Classes.” at neighbors with farming as their main activity, neighbors are really similar to the sample of farmers. The only difference is on the education level, which is lower for the sample of farmers. This may be due to the fact that the definition of farmers is different in the _sample_ and in the _listing_ . In the sample a farmer is anybody that has some agricultural output, whereas in the listing farmers additionally include those that declare agriculture as their primary occupation.

# **4. Results**

## Empirical Specification

The baseline equation to be estimated for agricultural productivity is derived from equations (3) and (4): _θ_ is a constant. _yi_ is the agricultural production of household _i_ . Neighbors’ education _E_ is calculated over individuals from the same caste _c_ in the same village (excluding household _i_ ) and _Eo_ , the mean education level of members from other castes in the same village is also included. The agricultural production depends on factors of production: _ki_ is a dummy variable, which equals one if the household owns any agricultural equipment, _ni_ is the number of days worked on the land, _li_ is the amount of land cultivated.