IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/oup/jafrec/v32y2023i2p111-117..html

What Explains the Firm Size Distribution in Sub-Saharan Africa and Why Does It Matter?

Author

Listed:
  • Francis Teal

Abstract

In this issue of the Journal of African Economies we publish two papers concerned with the firm size distribution of manufacturing firms in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). One paper examines the changes in the firm size distribution for Ghana, Teal (this issue), the other for Ethiopia, Azmete et al. (this issue). This note is intended to introduce, and compare, the findings of these two papers and to place those findings in the wider policy debate as to what explains the performance of the manufacturing sector in SSA.

Suggested Citation

  • Francis Teal, 2023. "What Explains the Firm Size Distribution in Sub-Saharan Africa and Why Does It Matter?," Journal of African Economies, Centre for the Study of African Economies, vol. 32(2), pages 111-117.
    • Handle: RePEc:oup:jafrec:v:32:y:2023:i:2:p:111-117.
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1093/jae/ejad001
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to

    for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. McMillan, Margaret & Rodrik, Dani & Verduzco-Gallo, Íñigo, 2014. "Globalization, Structural Change, and Productivity Growth, with an Update on Africa," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 63(C), pages 11-32.
    2. Kalina Manova, 2013. "Credit Constraints, Heterogeneous Firms, and International Trade," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 80(2), pages 711-744.
    3. Nezih Guner & Gustavo Ventura & Xu Yi, 2008. "Macroeconomic Implications of Size-Dependent Policies," Review of Economic Dynamics, Elsevier for the Society for Economic Dynamics, vol. 11(4), pages 721-744, October.
    4. Christopher Udry & Santosh Anagol, 2006. "The Return to Capital in Ghana," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 96(2), pages 388-393, May.
    5. Xavier Gabaix, 2009. "Power Laws in Economics and Finance," Annual Review of Economics, Annual Reviews, vol. 1(1), pages 255-294, May.
    6. Andrew Kerr & Bruce McDougall, 2020. "What is a firm census in a developing country? An answer from Ghana," SALDRU Working Papers 262, Southern Africa Labour and Development Research Unit, University of Cape Town.
    7. Gollin, Douglas, 1995. "Do Taxes on Large Firms Impede Growth? Evidence from Ghana," Bulletins 7488, University of Minnesota, Economic Development Center.
    8. Douglas Gollin, 2014. "The Lewis Model: A 60-Year Retrospective," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 28(3), pages 71-88, Summer.
    9. A. D. Roy, 1951. "Some Thoughts On The Distribution Of Earnings," Oxford Economic Papers, Oxford University Press, vol. 3(2), pages 135-146.
    10. Christopher Blattman & Stefan Dercon, 2018. "The Impacts of Industrial and Entrepreneurial Work on Income and Health: Experimental Evidence from Ethiopia," American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, American Economic Association, vol. 10(3), pages 1-38, July.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Temple, Jonathan & Ying, Huikang, 2014. "Life During Structural Transformation," CEPR Discussion Papers 10297, Centre for Economic Policy Research.
    2. Falco, Paolo & Haywood, Luke, 2016. "Entrepreneurship versus joblessness: Explaining the rise in self-employment," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 118(C), pages 245-265.
    3. Leal Ordóñez, Julio C., 2010. "Informal sector, productivity, and tax collection," MPRA Paper 26058, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised Oct 2010.
    4. Erzo G.J. Luttmer, 2010. "Models of Growth and Firm Heterogeneity," Annual Review of Economics, Annual Reviews, vol. 2(1), pages 547-576, September.
    5. Julio Cesar Leal Ordonez, 2014. "Tax collection, the informal sector, and productivity," Review of Economic Dynamics, Elsevier for the Society for Economic Dynamics, vol. 17(2), pages 262-286, April.
    6. Savona, Maria & Ciarli, Tommaso, 2019. "Structural Changes and Sustainability. A Selected Review of the Empirical Evidence," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 159(C), pages 244-260.
    7. McCullough, Ellen B., 2017. "Labor productivity and employment gaps in Sub-Saharan Africa," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 67(C), pages 133-152.
    8. Takahiro,Fukunishi, 2026. "Structural Change in African Countries: Focus on Urban Wages," IDE Discussion Papers 1009, Institute of Developing Economies, Japan External Trade Organization(JETRO).
    9. Bachas, Pierre & Fattal Jaef, Roberto N. & Jensen, Anders, 2019. "Size-dependent tax enforcement and compliance: Global evidence and aggregate implications," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 140(C), pages 203-222.
    10. Amankwah, Akuffo & Atta-Ankomah,Richmond & Moshi,Goodiel Charles & Swinkels, Rob, 2023. "The Welfare Effects of Structural Change and Internal Migration in Tanzania," Policy Research Working Paper Series 10530, The World Bank.
    11. Nezih Guner & Gustavo Ventura & Xu Yi, 2008. "Macroeconomic Implications of Size-Dependent Policies," Review of Economic Dynamics, Elsevier for the Society for Economic Dynamics, vol. 11(4), pages 721-744, October.
    12. Xu, Jianhuan, 2017. "Growing through the merger and acquisition," Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control, Elsevier, vol. 80(C), pages 54-74.
    13. Been‐Lon Chen & Fei‐Chi Liang, 2026. "Technical change, wage inequality, and optimal taxes in an assignment model," Quantitative Economics, Econometric Society, vol. 17(1), pages 200-253, January.
    14. Zachary Mahone & Filippo Rebessi, 2019. "Consumer Learning and Firm Dynamics," Department of Economics Working Papers 2019-08, McMaster University.
    15. Philipp Ager & Marc Goñi & Kjell G. Salvanes, 2026. "Gender-Biased Technological Change: Milking Machines and the Exodus of Women from Farming," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 116(1), pages 246-286, January.
    16. Da-Rocha, José-María & Restuccia, Diego & Tavares, Marina M., 2023. "Policy distortions and aggregate productivity with endogenous establishment-level productivity," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 155(C).
    17. Francesco Amodio & Pamela Medina & Monica Morlacco, 2025. "Labor Market Power, Self-Employment, and Development," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 115(9), pages 3014-3057, September.
    18. Vestby, Jonas & Buhaug, Halvard & von Uexkull, Nina, 2021. "Why do some poor countries see armed conflict while others do not? A dual sector approach," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 138(C).
    19. Eliana Carranza & William David Wiseman & Andreas Eberhard-Ruiz & Ana Lucia Cardenas Martinez, 2022. "Colombia Jobs Diagnostic [Colombia Diagnóstico de Empleo]," World Bank Publications - Reports 37403, The World Bank Group.
    20. Nazim Tamkoc, 2024. "Fading Away Informality by Development," Policy Research Working Paper Series 10956, The World Bank.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    JEL classification:

    • O14 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Industrialization; Manufacturing and Service Industries; Choice of Technology
    • O17 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Formal and Informal Sectors; Shadow Economy; Institutional Arrangements
    • O55 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economywide Country Studies - - - Africa
    • J21 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Labor Force and Employment, Size, and Structure

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:oup:jafrec:v:32:y:2023:i:2:p:111-117.. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Oxford University Press (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/csaoxuk.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.