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What have we learned from a decade of manufacturing enterprise surveys in Africa ?

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Author Info

  • Bigsten, Arne
  • Soderbom, Mans

Abstract

In the early 1990s the World Bank launched the Regional Program on Enterprise Development in several African countries, a key component of which was the collection of manufacturing firm-level data. In this paper the authors review the research based on the data sets generated by these and subsequent firm surveys in Africa, with a special view to what they think are the most important policy implications. The authors survey the research on the African business environment, focusing on market size, risk, access to credit, labor, and infrastructure. They cover the research on how firms choose to organize themselves and how firms do business. They review the research on firm performance, including firm growth, investment and technology acquisition, and exports. They conclude with an extended discussion of the policy lessons.

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Bibliographic Info

Paper provided by The World Bank in its series Policy Research Working Paper Series with number 3798.

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Date of creation: 01 Dec 2005
Date of revision:
Handle: RePEc:wbk:wbrwps:3798

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Keywords: Economic Theory&Research; Private Participation in Infrastructure; Labor Markets; Microfinance; Small Scale Enterprise;

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References

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  1. James R. Tybout, 2000. "Manufacturing Firms in Developing Countries: How Well Do They Do, and Why?," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 38(1), pages 11-44, March.
  2. Arne Bigsten & Paul Collier & Stefan Dercon & Marcel Fafchamps & Bernard Gauthier & Jan Willem Gunning & Abena Oduro & Remco Oostendorp & Cathy Patillo & M�ns S–derbom & Francis Teal & Albert Zeuf, 2003. "Credit Constraints in Manufacturing Enterprises in Africa," Journal of African Economies, Centre for the Study of African Economies (CSAE), vol. 12(1), pages 104-125, March.
  3. Van Biesebroeck, Johannes, 2005. "Firm Size Matters: Growth and Productivity Growth in African Manufacturing," Economic Development and Cultural Change, University of Chicago Press, vol. 53(3), pages 545-83, April.
  4. Marcel Fafchamps & Jan Willem Gunning & Remco Oostendorp, 1999. "Inventories and risk in African manufacturing," CSAE Working Paper Series 1999-19, Centre for the Study of African Economies, University of Oxford.
  5. Paul Collier & Marcel Fafchamps & Francis Teal & Stefan Dercon, 2002. "Do African Manufacturing Firms Learn from Exporting?," Economics Series Working Papers WPS/2002-09, University of Oxford, Department of Economics.
  6. Benn Eifert & Alan Gelb & Vijaya Ramachandran, 2005. "Business Environment and Comparative Advantage in Africa: Evidence from the Investment Climate Data," Working Papers 56, Center for Global Development.
  7. Sofronis Clerides & Saul Lach & James Tybout, 1996. "Is "Learning-by-Exporting" Important? Micro-Dynamic Evidence from Colombia, Mexico and Morocco," NBER Working Papers 5715, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
  8. Velenchik, Ann D., 1997. "Government intervention, efficiency wages, and the employer size wage effect in Zimbabwe," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 53(2), pages 305-338, August.
  9. Steven J. Davis & John C. Haltiwanger & Scott Schuh, 1998. "Job Creation and Destruction," MIT Press Books, The MIT Press, edition 1, volume 1, number 0262540932.
  10. Paul Collier & Jan Willem Gunning, 1997. "Explaining African economic performance," CSAE Working Paper Series 1997-02.2, Centre for the Study of African Economies, University of Oxford.
  11. Dollar, David & Hallward-Driemeier, Mary & Mengistae, Taye, 2005. "Investment Climate and Firm Performance in Developing Economies," Economic Development and Cultural Change, University of Chicago Press, vol. 54(1), pages 1-31, October.
  12. Sleuwaegen, Leo & Goedhuys, Micheline, 2002. "Growth of firms in developing countries, evidence from Cote d'Ivoire," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 68(1), pages 117-135, June.
  13. Fafchamps, Marcel, 2000. "Ethnicity and credit in African manufacturing," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 61(1), pages 205-235, February.
  14. Alan Harding & Måns Söderbom & Francis Teal, 2004. "Survival and Success among African Manufacturing Firms," Development and Comp Systems 0409046, EconWPA.
  15. Fisman, Raymond, 2001. "Trade Credit and Productive Efficiency in Developing Countries," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 29(2), pages 311-321, February.
  16. Marcel Fafchamps & Måns Söderbom, 2004. "Wages and Labor Management in African Manufacturing," Development and Comp Systems 0409043, EconWPA.
  17. Vijaya Ramachandran & Manju Kedia Shah, 1999. "Minority entrepreneurs and firm performance in sub-Saharan Africa," The Journal of Development Studies, Taylor and Francis Journals, vol. 36(2), pages 71-87.
  18. Soderbom, Mans & Teal, Francis & Harding, Alan, 2006. "The Determinants of Survival among African Manufacturing Firms," Economic Development and Cultural Change, University of Chicago Press, vol. 54(3), pages 533-55, April.
  19. Måns Söderbom & Francis Teal, 2004. "Size and Efficiency in African Manufacturing Firms:Evidence from Firm-Level Panel Data," Development and Comp Systems 0409010, EconWPA.
  20. Bigsten, Arne, et al, 1999. " Investment in Africa's Manufacturing Sector: A Four Country Panel Data Analysis," Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics, Department of Economics, University of Oxford, vol. 61(4), pages 489-512, November.
  21. W.A. Naudéa & R. Oostendorp & P.A.E. Serumaga-Zake, 2002. "South African Manufacturing In An African Context," South African Journal of Economics, Economic Society of South Africa, vol. 70(8), pages 1247-1272, December.
  22. Roberts, Mark J & Tybout, James R, 1997. "The Decision to Export in Colombia: An Empirical Model of Entry with Sunk Costs," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 87(4), pages 545-64, September.
  23. Raymond Fisman & Mayank Raturi, 2004. "Does Competition Encourage Credit Provision? Evidence from African Trade Credit Relationships," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 86(1), pages 345-352, February.
  24. Abigail M. Barr, 2002. "The Functional Diversity and Spillover Effects of Social Capital," Journal of African Economies, Centre for the Study of African Economies (CSAE), vol. 11(1), pages 90-113, March.
  25. Soderbom, Mans & Teal, Francis & Wambugu, Anthony, 2005. "Unobserved heterogeneity and the relation between earnings and firm size: evidence from two developing countries," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 87(2), pages 153-159, May.
  26. Arne Bigsten & Peter Kimuyu & Karl Lundvall, 2004. "What to Do with the Informal Sector?," Development Policy Review, Overseas Development Institute, vol. 22(6), pages 701-715, November.
  27. Jovanovic, Boyan, 1982. "Selection and the Evolution of Industry," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 50(3), pages 649-70, May.
  28. Bernard Gauthier & Isidro Soloaga & James Tybout, 2002. "A Firm's-Eye View of Commercial Policy and Fiscal Reforms in Cameroon," World Bank Economic Review, World Bank Group, vol. 16(3), pages 449-472, December.
  29. Arne Bigsten, 1999. "Adjustment Costs, Irreversibility, and Investment Patterns in African Manufacturing," IMF Working Papers 99/99, International Monetary Fund.
  30. Van Biesebroeck, Johannes, 2005. "Exporting raises productivity in sub-Saharan African manufacturing firms," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 67(2), pages 373-391, December.
  31. Marcel Fafchamps & Måns Söderbom, 2004. "Wages and Labor Management in African Manufacturing," Economics Series Working Papers WPS/2004-02, University of Oxford, Department of Economics.
  32. Francis Teal, 1995. "The size and sources of economic rents in a developing country manufacturing labour market," CSAE Working Paper Series 1995-06, Centre for the Study of African Economies, University of Oxford.
  33. Raymond J. Fisman, 2003. "Ethnic Ties and the Provision of Credit: Relationship-Level Evidence from African Firms," The B.E. Journal of Economic Analysis & Policy, De Gruyter, vol. 0(1), pages 4.
  34. Catherine Pattillo, 1998. "Investment, Uncertainty, and Irreversibility in Ghana," IMF Staff Papers, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 45(3), pages 522-553, September.
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