Determinants of occupational choice of workers in the handloom industry in Assam

Abstract

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to focus on the determinants of occupational choice of workers in the handloom industry in Assam and to examine the variables that influence the occupational choice of the workers. Design/methodology/approach – Primary data were collected from nine handloom concentrated districts in Assam. Multinomial and binary logistic regression models are used to analyse the data of three mutually exclusive occupations of workers namely owners, weavers, and reelers. Findings – The results from the tested empirical model show that annual income, education, access to modern technology, and family size are the significant variables that help in transforming the reelers to owners. Similarly, annual income, education, and access to formal credit are the important variables that help in transforming the reelers to weavers. Access to modern technology appears as the most important factor in the occupational shift from weavers to handloom owners. Research limitations/implications – Present study has some limitations. It considers only a few variables related to economic and socio-demographic issues. There is further scope of research incorporating more variables such as personal savings, healthcare facilities, availability of hank yarn, marketing facilities, etc. Limitation of data in the worker category helper is another finding constraint. Practical implications – Such studies in the handloom sector in Assam are limited and thus the present study greatly extends the understanding of the occupational choice of the workers in Assam's handloom industry. Originality/value – Previous studies on handloom industry concentrated predominantly on the economic condition of the workers using mostly multiple regression technique. The present study deviates from normal research by using multinomial and binomial logistic regressions, which analyse the likelihood of occupational shift of the workers. The findings can be generalized to other handicraft-based small industry.

Micro-entrepreneurship Development in the Handloom Industry

“…The theoretical framework for the present study is based on the expected utility framework of occupational choice (Bortamuly, Goswami and Hazarika 2013). In the occupational choice decision, there is always an opportunity cost for not choosing the best alternative occupation available to an individual.…”

Sambalpuri Handloom Weavers’ Livelihood: An Analysis of Western Odisha Clusters, India

“…It is used to obtain odds ratio in the presence of more than one explanatory variable (McFadden, 1973). Logit model is used in the study of livelihood when the dependent variable is dichotomous (Bortamuly et al, 2013; Liu et al, 2020; Parvin et al, 2020).…”

“…In the present analysis, the Logit model has been applied following McFadden (1973) and Bortamuly et al (2013). The choice of the weaver to sell the product in the market or cooperative has been taken as the reference category that is Y i = 0.…”

Handlooms Micro-enterprises for Empowerment of Women in Meghalaya

“…Even the private initiatives of NGOs, or fashion boutiques, tend to ignore their contribution and role. The most radical to rightist political mobilization structures in handloom sector are devoid of any issues and participation of women (10,12).…”