Labor productivity growth and industrialization in Africa
Manufacturing has made an important contribution to raising living standards in many parts of the world. Concerns about premature deindustrialization have made some observers skeptical about the potential for manufacturing to play this role in Africa. But employment in African manufacturing has grow...
| Main Authors: | , |
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| Format: | Journal Article |
| Language: | Inglés |
| Published: |
American Economic Association
2022
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://hdl.handle.net/10568/141153 |
| _version_ | 1855536748578209792 |
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| author | McMillan, Margaret S. Zeufack, Albert |
| author_browse | McMillan, Margaret S. Zeufack, Albert |
| author_facet | McMillan, Margaret S. Zeufack, Albert |
| author_sort | McMillan, Margaret S. |
| collection | Repository of Agricultural Research Outputs (CGSpace) |
| description | Manufacturing has made an important contribution to raising living standards in many parts of the world. Concerns about premature deindustrialization have made some observers skeptical about the potential for manufacturing to play this role in Africa. But employment in African manufacturing has grown rapidly over the past 20 years. These employment gains have been accompanied by: (i) large increases in the number of small manufacturing firms; (ii) limited employment gains in large firms; and (iii) robust labor productivity growth in Africa’s large firms. Limited employment growth in Africa’s large manufacturing firms is partly a result of the capital intensity of the manufacturing subsectors in which African countries are most engaged—the processing of resources—and partly a result of rising capital intensity in manufacturing. The potential for manufacturing to raise living standards in Africa depends on indirect job creation by large firms through backward and forward linkages and increasing labor productivity in small firms. |
| format | Journal Article |
| id | CGSpace141153 |
| institution | CGIAR Consortium |
| language | Inglés |
| publishDate | 2022 |
| publishDateRange | 2022 |
| publishDateSort | 2022 |
| publisher | American Economic Association |
| publisherStr | American Economic Association |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | CGSpace1411532025-10-26T13:02:19Z Labor productivity growth and industrialization in Africa McMillan, Margaret S. Zeufack, Albert small enterprises standard of living resources employment labour productivity manufacturing deindustrialization linkages Manufacturing has made an important contribution to raising living standards in many parts of the world. Concerns about premature deindustrialization have made some observers skeptical about the potential for manufacturing to play this role in Africa. But employment in African manufacturing has grown rapidly over the past 20 years. These employment gains have been accompanied by: (i) large increases in the number of small manufacturing firms; (ii) limited employment gains in large firms; and (iii) robust labor productivity growth in Africa’s large firms. Limited employment growth in Africa’s large manufacturing firms is partly a result of the capital intensity of the manufacturing subsectors in which African countries are most engaged—the processing of resources—and partly a result of rising capital intensity in manufacturing. The potential for manufacturing to raise living standards in Africa depends on indirect job creation by large firms through backward and forward linkages and increasing labor productivity in small firms. 2022-02-01 2024-04-12T13:37:22Z 2024-04-12T13:37:22Z Journal Article https://hdl.handle.net/10568/141153 en Limited Access American Economic Association McMillan, Margaret S.; and Zeufack, Albert. 2022. Labor productivity growth and industrialization in Africa. Journal of Economic Perspectives 36(1): 3-32. https://doi.org/10.1257/jep.36.1.3 |
| spellingShingle | small enterprises standard of living resources employment labour productivity manufacturing deindustrialization linkages McMillan, Margaret S. Zeufack, Albert Labor productivity growth and industrialization in Africa |
| title | Labor productivity growth and industrialization in Africa |
| title_full | Labor productivity growth and industrialization in Africa |
| title_fullStr | Labor productivity growth and industrialization in Africa |
| title_full_unstemmed | Labor productivity growth and industrialization in Africa |
| title_short | Labor productivity growth and industrialization in Africa |
| title_sort | labor productivity growth and industrialization in africa |
| topic | small enterprises standard of living resources employment labour productivity manufacturing deindustrialization linkages |
| url | https://hdl.handle.net/10568/141153 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT mcmillanmargarets laborproductivitygrowthandindustrializationinafrica AT zeufackalbert laborproductivitygrowthandindustrializationinafrica |