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Unit Labour Costs, International Competitiveness, and Exports: The Case of Senegal

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  • Ahmadou Aly Mbaye
  • Stephen Golub

Abstract

Despite some favourable conditions and a number of policy reforms, Senegal's participation in the global economy remains tenuous. This paper uses a Ricardian framework to study Senegal's international competitiveness in manufacturing. Wages, productivity and unit labour costs in Senegal are compared to those of other developing countries. Senegal's labour productivity has grown much more slowly than in successful emerging economies. The 1994 devaluation of the CFA franc has dramatically improved Senegal's international competitiveness but further improvements in competitiveness depend on productivity growth given the constraint of the fixed exchange rate. We find a significant effect of relative unit labour costs on exports, particularly of manufactured goods. Sustained export-led growth, however, requires additional structural reforms. Copyright 2002, Oxford University Press.

Suggested Citation

  • Ahmadou Aly Mbaye & Stephen Golub, 2002. "Unit Labour Costs, International Competitiveness, and Exports: The Case of Senegal," Journal of African Economies, Centre for the Study of African Economies, vol. 11(2), pages 219-248, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:oup:jafrec:v:11:y:2002:i:2:p:219-248
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    Cited by:

    1. Thuo, Mary & Bravo-Ureta, Boris E. & Hathie, Ibrahima & Obeng-Asiedu, Patrick, 2011. "Adoption of chemical fertilizer by smallholder farmers in the peanut basin of Senegal," African Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics, African Association of Agricultural Economists, vol. 6(1), pages 1-17, March.
    2. Golub, Stephen & Hayat, Faraz, 2014. "Employment, unemployment, and underemployment in Africa," WIDER Working Paper Series 014, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    3. Karmen Naidoo & Léonce Ndikumana, 2023. "The role of unit labor costs in African manufacturing investment and export performance," Review of Development Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 27(3), pages 1874-1909, August.
    4. Gabre-Madhin, Eleni Z. & Haggblade, Steven, 2004. "Successes in African Agriculture: Results of an Expert Survey," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 32(5), pages 745-766, May.
    5. Stephen Golub & Faraz Hayat, 2014. "Employment, Unemployment, and Underemployment in Africa," WIDER Working Paper Series wp-2014-014, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).

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