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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

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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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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
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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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This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports: References listed on IDEAS
Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.:
  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. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  2. Arne Bigsten & Paul Collier & Stefan Dercon & Marcel Fafchamps & Bernard Gauthier & Jan Willem Gunning & Abena Oduro & Remco Oostendorp & Cathy Patillo & Måns S–derbom & Francis Teal & Albert , 2003. "Credit Constraints in Manufacturing Enterprises in Africa," Journal of African Economies, Oxford University Press, vol. 12(1), pages 104-125, March.
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  3. 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.
  4. 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.
  5. 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. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  6. Fafchamps, Marcel, 2000. "Ethnicity and credit in African manufacturing," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 61(1), pages 205-235, February. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  7. 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. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  8. Alan Harding & Måns Söderbom & Francis Teal, 2004. "Survival and Success among African Manufacturing Firms," Development and Comp Systems 0409046, EconWPA. [Downloadable!]
  9. Fafchamps, Marcel & Gunning, Jan Willem & Oostendorp, Remco, 2000. "Inventories and Risk in African Manufacturing," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 110(466), pages 861-93, October. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  10. 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. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  11. 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. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  12. Teal, Francis, 1996. "The Size and sources of economic rents in a developing country manufacturing labour market," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 106(437), pages 963-76, July. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  13. 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. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  14. Fisman, Raymond, 2001. "Trade Credit and Productive Efficiency in Developing Countries," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 29(2), pages 311-321, February. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  15. Marcel Fafchamps & Måns Söderbom, 2004. "Wages and Labor Management in African Manufacturing," Development and Comp Systems 0409043, EconWPA. [Downloadable!]
  16. 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, 03. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  17. Abigail M. Barr, 2002. "The Functional Diversity and Spillover Effects of Social Capital," Journal of African Economies, Oxford University Press, vol. 11(1), pages 90-113, March.
  18. Soderbom, Mans & Teal, Francis, 2004. "Size and efficiency in African manufacturing firms: evidence from firm-level panel data," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 73(1), pages 369-394, February. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  19. 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. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  20. 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. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  21. 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. [Downloadable!]
  22. Jovanovic, Boyan, 1982. "Selection and the Evolution of Industry," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 50(3), pages 649-70, May. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  23. Paul Collier & Jan Willem Gunning, 1999. "Explaining African Economic Performance," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 37(1), pages 64-111, March. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  24. 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. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  25. Bernard Gauthier & Isidro Soloaga & James Tybout, 2002. "A Firm's-Eye View of Commercial Policy and Fiscal Reforms in Cameroon," World Bank Economic Review, Oxford University Press, vol. 16(3), pages 449-472, December.
  26. Arne Bigsten & Paul Collier & Stefan Dercon & Marcel Fafchamps & Bernard Gauthier & Jan Willem Gunning & Abena Oduro & Remco Oostendorp & Catherine Pattillo & Måns Söderbom & Francis Teal & Alb, 2004. "Do African Manufacturing Firms Learn from Exporting?," The Journal of Development Studies, Taylor and Francis Journals, vol. 40(3), pages 115-141, February. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  27. 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.
  28. Raymond Fisman, 2003. "Ethnic Ties and the Provision of Credit: Relationship-Level Evidence from African Firms," Advances in Economic Analysis & Policy, Berkeley Electronic Press, vol. 3(1), pages 1211-1211. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  29. Catherine Pattillo, 1998. "Investment, Uncertainty, and Irreversibility in Ghana," IMF Staff Papers, Palgrave Macmillan Journals, vol. 45(3), pages 5. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  30. Arne Bigsten, 1999. "Adjustment Costs, Irreversibility, and Investment Patterns in African Manufacturing," IMF Working Papers 99/99, International Monetary Fund.
  31. Sofronis K. Clerides & Saul Lach & James R. Tybout, 1998. "Is Learning By Exporting Important? Micro-Dynamic Evidence From Colombia, Mexico, And Morocco," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, MIT Press, vol. 113(3), pages 903-947, August. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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Cited by:
(explanations, Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.)

  1. Bennett, John, 2008. "Formality, Informality, and Social Welfare," IZA Discussion Papers 3550, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA). [Downloadable!]
  2. Esther K. Ishengoma & Robert Kappel, 2008. "Business Constraints and Growth Potential of Micro and Small Manufacturing Enterprises in Uganda," GIGA Working Paper Series 78, GIGA German Institute of Global and Area Studies. [Downloadable!]
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