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From formal- to informal-sector employment: examining the Chinese presence in Zambia

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  • Aleksandra W. Gadzala

Abstract

This paper analyses China's recent engagement with Zambia, examining especially Chinese hiring practices, methods of business organisation and the labour conditions maintained by Chinese-operated construction and mining firms. Moving beyond existing analyses which remain focused solely on Chinese trade, aid and investment, this study begins to explore the micro-level of Chinese ventures, arguing that the continued employment of co-nationals as well as the generally substandard labour conditions maintained by Chinese firms lead to the offloading of Zambian workers into the country's burgeoning informal economy. There, newly emerged Chinese businesses stand to threaten local entrepreneurs who lack the resources necessary to parry Chinese competition. The result is a rapidly growing national unemployment rate and an increasing number of Zambians left struggling to sustain their livelihoods. This paper further argues that the characteristics defining China's engagement with Zambia are not particular to the Zambian context alone, but are rather abiding characteristics of overseas Chinese businesses in general. The paper ultimately calls for a policy framework regulating Chinese business activities in Zambia, lest the negative consequences of the Sino-Zambian partnership prevail.

Suggested Citation

  • Aleksandra W. Gadzala, 2010. "From formal- to informal-sector employment: examining the Chinese presence in Zambia," Review of African Political Economy, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 37(123), pages 41-59, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:taf:revape:v:37:y:2010:i:123:p:41-59
    DOI: 10.1080/03056241003637904
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Haan, Hans Christiaan., 2002. "Training for work in the informal sector : new evidence from Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda," ILO Working Papers 993580143402676, International Labour Organization.
    2. Harry G. Broadman, 2007. "Africa's Silk Road : China and India's New Economic Frontier," World Bank Publications - Books, The World Bank Group, number 7186, December.
    3. repec:ilo:ilowps:358014 is not listed on IDEAS
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    Cited by:

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    2. Wegenast, Tim & Krauser, Mario & Strüver, Georg & Giesen, Juliane, 2019. "At Africa’s expense? Disaggregating the employment effects of Chinese mining operations in sub-Saharan Africa," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 118(C), pages 39-51.
    3. Fei, Ding, 2020. "Variegated work regimes of Chinese investment in Ethiopia," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 135(C).
    4. Romain Dittgen, 2015. "Of Other Spaces? Hybrid Forms of Chinese Engagement in Sub-Saharan Africa," Journal of Current Chinese Affairs - China aktuell, Institute of Asian Studies, GIGA German Institute of Global and Area Studies, Hamburg, vol. 44(1), pages 43-73.
    5. Oya, Carlos & Schaefer, Florian, 2023. "Do Chinese firms in Africa pay lower wages? A comparative analysis of manufacturing and construction firms in Angola and Ethiopia," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 168(C).
    6. Kohnert, Dirk, 2010. "Are the Chinese in Africa more innovative than the Africans ? Comparing Chinese and Nigerian entrepreneurial migrants‘ Cultures of Innovation," OSF Preprints tr6b8, Center for Open Science.
    7. Hagan Sibiri, 2021. "The Emerging Phenomenon of Anti-Chinese Populism in Africa: Evidence from Zambia, Zimbabwe and Ghana," Insight on Africa, , vol. 13(1), pages 7-27, January.
    8. Xing, Yijun & Liu, Yipeng & Tarba, Shlomo Yedidia & Cooper, Cary L., 2016. "Intercultural influences on managing African employees of Chinese firms in Africa: Chinese managers’ HRM practices," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 25(1), pages 28-41.
    9. Yang, Yujeong, 2022. "Bring Your Own Workers: Chinese OFDI, Chinese overseas workers, and collective labor rights in Africa," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 152(C).
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    11. Euston Kasongo Chiputa, 2021. "From Diplomacy to Contestation: Paradigm Shifts in the Zambia-China Relations, 1964-2011," International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science, International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science (IJRISS), vol. 5(12), pages 736-748, December.
    12. Wilhelm, Cindy, 2023. "‘In Guinea, there are two types of mining companies’: An analysis of the diverse local content approaches of the bauxite mining companies in Guinea," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 83(C).
    13. Pauline Dibben & Colin C. Williams, 2012. "Varieties of Capitalism and Employment Relations: Informally Dominated Market Economies," Industrial Relations: A Journal of Economy and Society, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 51, pages 563-582, April.
    14. Stuart John Barton, 2016. "Policy Signals and Market Responses," Palgrave Studies in the History of Finance, Palgrave Macmillan, number 978-1-137-39098-1, December.
    15. Kohnert, Dirk, 2010. "Drivers of change or cut-throat competitors? Challenging Cultures of Innovation of Chinese and Nigerian migrant entrepreneurs in West Africa," MPRA Paper 23132, University Library of Munich, Germany.

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