IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/unu/wpaper/wp-2014-014.html

Employment, Unemployment, and Underemployment in Africa

Author

Listed:
  • Stephen Golub
  • Faraz Hayat

Abstract

This paper documents and analyses the predominance of informal employment in Africa and shows that lack of demand for labour rather than worker characteristics is the main reason for pervasive underemployment. Integration into the global economy and exports of labour-intensive products are vital to boosting the demand for labour in Africa.

Suggested Citation

  • 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).
    • Handle: RePEc:unu:wpaper:wp-2014-014
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.wider.unu.edu/sites/default/files/wp2014-014.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Eifert, Benn & Gelb, Alan & Ramachandran, Vijaya, 2008. "The Cost of Doing Business in Africa: Evidence from Enterprise Survey Data," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 36(9), pages 1531-1546, September.
    2. 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.
    3. Fields, Gary S., 2012. "Working Hard, Working Poor: A Global Journey," OUP Catalogue, Oxford University Press, number 9780199794645.
    4. Krueger, Anne O, 1990. "Government Failures in Development," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 4(3), pages 9-23, Summer.
    5. Marco Stampini & Ron Leung & Setou M. Diarra & Lauréline Pla, 2013. "How Large Is The Private Sector In Africa? Evidence From National Accounts And Labour Markets," South African Journal of Economics, Economic Society of South Africa, vol. 81(1), pages 140-165, March.
    6. M Rama, 2000. "Wage misalignment in CFA countries: were labour market policies to blame?," Journal of African Economies, Centre for the Study of African Economies, vol. 9(4), pages 475-511.
    7. Ms. Louise Fox & Cleary Haines & Ms. Jorge Huerta Munoz & Mr. Alun H. Thomas, 2013. "Africa's Got Work to Do: Employment Prospects in the New Century," IMF Working Papers 2013/201, International Monetary Fund.
    8. Måns Söderbom & Francis Teal & Anthony Wambugu, 2002. "Does firm size really affect earnings?," CSAE Working Paper Series 2002-08, Centre for the Study of African Economies, University of Oxford.
    9. repec:wbk:wbpubs:6434 is not listed on IDEAS
    10. repec:wbk:wbpubs:27930 is not listed on IDEAS
    11. Joseph E. Stiglitz, 1974. "Alternative Theories of Wage Determination and Unemployment in LDC's: The Labor Turnover Model," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 88(2), pages 194-227.
    12. repec:wbk:wbpubs:9364 is not listed on IDEAS
    13. repec:wbk:wbpubs:11843 is not listed on IDEAS
    14. Dale T. Mortensen, 2005. "Wage Dispersion: Why Are Similar Workers Paid Differently?," MIT Press Books, The MIT Press, edition 1, volume 1, number 0262633191, December.
    15. Francis Teal & Måns Söderbom, 2002. "Does firm size really affect earnings?," Economics Series Working Papers WPS/2002-08, University of Oxford, Department of Economics.
    16. Louise Fox & Ana Maria Oviedo, 2013. "Institutions and Job Growth in African Manufacturing: Does Employment Protection Regulation Matter?," Journal of African Economies, Centre for the Study of African Economies, vol. 22(4), pages 616-650, August.
    17. Fox, Louise & Pimhidzai, Obert, 2013. "Different dreams, same bed : collecting, using, and interpreting employment statistics in Sub-Saharan Africa -- the case of Uganda," Policy Research Working Paper Series 6436, The World Bank.
    18. Fox, Louise & Sohnesen , Thomas Pave, 2012. "Household enterprises in Sub-Saharan Africa : why they matter for growth, jobs, and livelihoods," Policy Research Working Paper Series 6184, The World Bank.
    19. Poulton, Colin & Gibbon, Peter & Hanyani-Mlambo, Benjamine & Kydd, Jonathan & Maro, Wilbald & Larsen, Marianne Nylandsted & Osorio, Afonso & Tschirley, David & Zulu, Ballard, 2004. "Competition and Coordination in Liberalized African Cotton Market Systems," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 32(3), pages 519-536, March.
    20. Stiglitz, Joseph E, 1976. "The Efficiency Wage Hypothesis, Surplus Labour, and the Distribution of Income in L.D.C.s," Oxford Economic Papers, Oxford University Press, vol. 28(2), pages 185-207, July.
    21. Teal, Francis, 2011. "The price of labour and understanding the causes of poverty," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 18(S1), pages 7-15.
    22. repec:wbk:wbpubs:4391 is not listed on IDEAS
    23. repec:dau:papers:123456789/10627 is not listed on IDEAS
    24. Alan Gelb & Christian Meyer & Vijaya Ramachandran, 2013. "Does Poor Mean Cheap? A Comparative Look at Africa's Industrial Labor Costs," Working Papers 325, Center for Global Development.
    25. repec:wbk:wbpubs:2604 is not listed on IDEAS
    26. Gereffi, Gary, 1999. "International trade and industrial upgrading in the apparel commodity chain," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 48(1), pages 37-70, June.
    27. Edwards, Lawrence & Golub, Stephen S., 2004. "South Africa's International Cost Competitiveness and Exports in Manufacturing," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 32(8), pages 1323-1339, August.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Prisca Ntemngweh, 2025. "Education-Job Mismatch among University Graduates in Cameroon: Labour Market Experiences, Perceived Causes and Impacts," International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science, International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science (IJRISS), vol. 9(3s), pages 1643-1656, March.
    2. Apolte, Thomas & Gerling, Lena, 2015. "Youth bulges, insurrections, and politico-economic institutions: Theory and empirical evidence," CIW Discussion Papers 3/2015, University of Münster, Center for Interdisciplinary Economics (CIW).
    3. Dani Rodrik, 2018. "An African Growth Miracle?," Journal of African Economies, Centre for the Study of African Economies, vol. 27(1), pages 10-27.
    4. World Bank, 2015. "Federal Republic of Nigeria Slum Upgrading, Involuntary Resettlement, Land and Housing," World Bank Publications - Reports 25063, The World Bank Group.
    5. Abidemi C. Adegboye & Nosakhare L. Arodoye, 2023. "Structural Changes and Employment Growth in Sub-Saharan Africa: Does Demographic Structure Matter?," Journal of Economic Development, The Economic Research Institute, Chung-Ang University, vol. 48(2), pages 143-166.
    6. Olivier CADOT & Jaime de MELO & Patrick PLANE & Laurent WAGNER & Martha TESFAYE WOLDEMICHAEL, 2017. "L’Afrique subsaharienne peut-elle se développer sans usines ?," Working Paper 084c8bee-b301-4412-8ca4-c, Agence française de développement.
    7. F. Clementi & A. L. Dabalen & V. Molini & F. Schettino, 2020. "We forgot the middle class! Inequality underestimation in a changing Sub-Saharan Africa," The Journal of Economic Inequality, Springer;Society for the Study of Economic Inequality, vol. 18(1), pages 45-70, March.
    8. Rochelle Beukes & Tina Fransman & Simba Murozvi & Derek Yu, 2017. "Underemployment in South Africa," Development Southern Africa, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 34(1), pages 33-55, January.

    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. Golub, Stephen & Hayat, Faraz, 2014. "Employment, unemployment, and underemployment in Africa," WIDER Working Paper Series 014, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    2. Aalia Cassim & Kezia Lilenstein & Morne Oosthuizen & Francois Steenkamp, 2016. "Informality and Inclusive Growth in Sub-Saharan Africa," Working Papers 201602, University of Cape Town, Development Policy Research Unit.
    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. Ms. Louise Fox, 2015. "Are African Households Heterogeneous Agents?: Stylized Facts on Patterns of Consumption, Employment, Income and Earnings for Macroeconomic Modelers," IMF Working Papers 2015/102, International Monetary Fund.
    5. Monga, Celestin, 2013. "The mechanics of job creation : seizing the new dividends of globalization," Policy Research Working Paper Series 6661, The World Bank.
    6. Mengistu Assefa Wendimu & Peter Gibbon, 2014. "Labour markets for irrigated agriculture in central Ethiopia: Wage premiums and segmentation," IFRO Working Paper 2014/06, University of Copenhagen, Department of Food and Resource Economics.
    7. Gelb, Alan & Meyer, Christian J. & Ramachandran, Vijaya, 2014. "Development as diffusion: Manufacturing productivity and sub-Saharan Africa's missing middle," WIDER Working Paper Series 042, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    8. Nagler, Paula & Naudé, Wim, 2014. "Labor Productivity in Rural African Enterprises: Empirical Evidence from the LSMS-ISA," IZA Discussion Papers 8524, IZA Network @ LISER.
    9. Ms. Christine Dieterich & Anni Huang & Mr. Alun H. Thomas, 2016. "Women’s Opportunities and Challenges in Sub-Saharan African Job Markets," IMF Working Papers 2016/118, International Monetary Fund.
    10. Yamauchi, Futoshi & Muto, Megumi & Chowdhury, Shyamal & Dewina, Reno & Sumaryanto, Sony, 2011. "Are Schooling and Roads Complementary? Evidence from Income Dynamics in Rural Indonesia," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 39(12), pages 2232-2244.
    11. Mathan Satchi & Jonathan Temple, 2006. "Growth and labour markets in developing countries," CEDI Discussion Paper Series 06-12, Centre for Economic Development and Institutions(CEDI), Brunel University.
    12. Basu, Kaushik & Genicot, Garance & Stiglitz, Joseph E., 1999. "Household labor supply, unemployment, and minimum wage legislation," Policy Research Working Paper Series 2049, The World Bank.
    13. Giorgio Liotti & Marco Musella, 2021. "Flessibilit? e soddisfazione per il lavoro: Una riflessione generale," QUADERNI DI ECONOMIA DEL LAVORO, FrancoAngeli Editore, vol. 0(113), pages 13-27.
    14. Judith C. Chin, 1998. "Rural‐Urban Wage Differentials, Unemployment, and Efficiency Wages: An Open Economy Policy Analysis," Southern Economic Journal, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 65(2), pages 294-307, October.
    15. Gordon Betcherman & Themrise Khan, 2018. "Jobs for Africa’s expanding youth cohort: a stocktaking of employment prospects and policy interventions," IZA Journal of Migration and Development, Springer;Forschungsinstitut zur Zukunft der Arbeit GmbH (IZA), vol. 8(1), pages 1-20, December.
    16. Jonathan Temple, 2005. "Dual Economy Models: A Primer For Growth Economists," Manchester School, University of Manchester, vol. 73(4), pages 435-478, July.
    17. Lee, Chul-In, 2008. "Migration and the wage and unemployment gaps between urban and non-urban sectors: A dynamic general equilibrium reinterpretation of the Harris-Todaro equilibrium," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 15(6), pages 1416-1434, December.
    18. Khondoker Abdul Mottaleb & Kaliappa P. Kalirajan, 2014. "Determinants Of Labor-Intensive Exports By The Developing Countries: A Cross Country Analysis," The Singapore Economic Review (SER), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 59(05), pages 1-22.
    19. Beegle,Kathleen G. & Benjamin,Nancy Claire & Recanatini,Francesca & Santini,Massimiliano, 2014. "Informal economy and the World Bank," Policy Research Working Paper Series 6888, The World Bank.
    20. Stephen Golub & Aly Mbaye & Hanyu Chwe, 2015. "Labor Market Regulations in Sub-Saharan Africa, With a Focus on Senegal," Working Papers 201505, University of Cape Town, Development Policy Research Unit.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    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:unu:wpaper:wp-2014-014. 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: Siméon Rapin (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/widerfi.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.