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Skills and youth entrepreneurship in Africa: Analysis with evidence from Swaziland

Author

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  • Zuzana Brixiova
  • Mthuli Ncube
  • Zorobabel Bicaba

Abstract

The shortages of entrepreneurial skills have lowered search effectiveness of potential young entrepreneurs and the rate of youth start-ups. Our paper contributes to closing a gap in the entrepreneurship and development literature with a model of costly firm creation and skill differences between young and adult entrepreneurs. The model shows that for young entrepreneurs facing high costs of searching for business opportunities, support for training is more effective in stimulating productive start-ups than subsidies. The case for interventions targeted at youth rises in societies with high costs of youth unemployment. We test the role of skills and training for productive youth entrepreneurship on data from a recent survey of entrepreneurs in Swaziland.

Suggested Citation

  • Zuzana Brixiova & Mthuli Ncube & Zorobabel Bicaba, 2014. "Skills and youth entrepreneurship in Africa: Analysis with evidence from Swaziland," William Davidson Institute Working Papers Series wp1077, William Davidson Institute at the University of Michigan.
    • Handle: RePEc:wdi:papers:2014-1077
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    youth entrepreneurship; model of skills and structural transformation; policies; Africa;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J11 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Demographic Trends, Macroeconomic Effects, and Forecasts
    • J08 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - General - - - Labor Economics Policies
    • L26 - Industrial Organization - - Firm Objectives, Organization, and Behavior - - - Entrepreneurship
    • O11 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Macroeconomic Analyses of Economic Development

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