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Allocation of Labour in Urban West Africa: Implication for Development Policies

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Author Info
Dimova, Ralitza () (Brunel University)
Nordman, Christophe Jalil () (DIAL, Paris)
Roubaud, François () (DIAL, Paris)

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Abstract

With the use of comparable data from seven West African capitals, we attempt to assess the rationale behind development policies targeting high rates of school enrolment through the prism of allocation of labour and returns to skills across the formal and informal sectors. We find that people with high levels of education allocate to the small formal sector and receive high compensation for their education and experience. Less educated workers allocate to the informal sector. While self-employment reveals some characteristics of a sector of dynamic entrepreneurship, the characteristics of the informal salaried sector are closer to those of a sector of hidden unemployment, or a stepping stone for better jobs in the future.

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Publisher Info
Paper provided by Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA) in its series IZA Discussion Papers with number 3558.

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Length: 37 pages
Date of creation: Jun 2008
Date of revision:
Handle: RePEc:iza:izadps:dp3558

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Related research
Keywords: returns to skills; allocation of labour; self-selection; informal sector; Sub-Saharan West Africa;

Find related papers by JEL classification:
J24 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Human Capital; Skills; Occupational Choice; Labor Productivity
J31 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Wages, Compensation, and Labor Costs - - - Wage Level and Structure; Wage Differentials
O12 - Economic Development, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Microeconomic Analyses of Economic Development

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References listed on IDEAS
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    Other versions:
  14. Måns Söderbom & Francis Teal & Anthony Wambugu & Godius Kahyarara, 2006. "The Dynamics of Returns to Education in Kenyan and Tanzanian Manufacturing," Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics, Department of Economics, University of Oxford, vol. 68(3), pages 261-288, 06. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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    Other versions:
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