India’s National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGS) is one of the largest public works programs globally. Understanding the impacts of NREGS and the pathway through which its impacts are realized thus has important policy implications. A three-round 4,000-household panel from...

Are ostensibly demand-driven public programs less susceptible to political clientelism even when private goods are allocated? This is examined using expenditure data at the local level from India’s National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme.