Economic transformation in Africa from the bottom up: New evidence from Tanzania

Tanzania's rapid labor productivity growth has been accompanied by a proliferation of small, largely informal firms. Using Tanzania's first nationally representative survey of micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs)—this paper explores the nature of these businesses. It finds that these f...

Descripción completa

Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Diao, Xinshen, Kweka, Josaphat, McMillan, Margaret S., Qureshi, Zara
Formato: Journal Article
Lenguaje:Inglés
Publicado: World Bank 2020
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://hdl.handle.net/10568/142936
_version_ 1855515611699871744
author Diao, Xinshen
Kweka, Josaphat
McMillan, Margaret S.
Qureshi, Zara
author_browse Diao, Xinshen
Kweka, Josaphat
McMillan, Margaret S.
Qureshi, Zara
author_facet Diao, Xinshen
Kweka, Josaphat
McMillan, Margaret S.
Qureshi, Zara
author_sort Diao, Xinshen
collection Repository of Agricultural Research Outputs (CGSpace)
description Tanzania's rapid labor productivity growth has been accompanied by a proliferation of small, largely informal firms. Using Tanzania's first nationally representative survey of micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs)—this paper explores the nature of these businesses. It finds that these firms are located in both rural and urban areas and that they operate primarily in trade services and manufacturing. Roughly half of all business owners say they would not leave their job for a full-time salaried position. Fifteen percent of these small businesses contribute significantly to economy-wide labor productivity. The most important policy implication of the evidence presented in this paper is that if the goal is to grow MSMEs with the potential to contribute to productive employment, policies must be targeted at the most promising firms.
format Journal Article
id CGSpace142936
institution CGIAR Consortium
language Inglés
publishDate 2020
publishDateRange 2020
publishDateSort 2020
publisher World Bank
publisherStr World Bank
record_format dspace
spelling CGSpace1429362025-02-24T06:48:31Z Economic transformation in Africa from the bottom up: New evidence from Tanzania Diao, Xinshen Kweka, Josaphat McMillan, Margaret S. Qureshi, Zara small enterprises structural adjustment informal sector business enterprises economic growth employment enterprises capacity development labour productivity economic trends Tanzania's rapid labor productivity growth has been accompanied by a proliferation of small, largely informal firms. Using Tanzania's first nationally representative survey of micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs)—this paper explores the nature of these businesses. It finds that these firms are located in both rural and urban areas and that they operate primarily in trade services and manufacturing. Roughly half of all business owners say they would not leave their job for a full-time salaried position. Fifteen percent of these small businesses contribute significantly to economy-wide labor productivity. The most important policy implication of the evidence presented in this paper is that if the goal is to grow MSMEs with the potential to contribute to productive employment, policies must be targeted at the most promising firms. 2020-02-01 2024-05-22T12:11:21Z 2024-05-22T12:11:21Z Journal Article https://hdl.handle.net/10568/142936 en https://hdl.handle.net/10568/147514 https://doi.org/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780198793847.013.27 Open Access World Bank Diao, Xinshen; Kweka, Josaphat; McMillan, Margaret S.; and Qureshi, Zara. 2020. Economic transformation in Africa from the bottom up: New evidence from Tanzania. World Bank Economic Review 34(Supplement 1): S58-S62. https://doi.org/10.1093/wber/lhz035
spellingShingle small enterprises
structural adjustment
informal sector
business enterprises
economic growth
employment
enterprises
capacity development
labour productivity
economic trends
Diao, Xinshen
Kweka, Josaphat
McMillan, Margaret S.
Qureshi, Zara
Economic transformation in Africa from the bottom up: New evidence from Tanzania
title Economic transformation in Africa from the bottom up: New evidence from Tanzania
title_full Economic transformation in Africa from the bottom up: New evidence from Tanzania
title_fullStr Economic transformation in Africa from the bottom up: New evidence from Tanzania
title_full_unstemmed Economic transformation in Africa from the bottom up: New evidence from Tanzania
title_short Economic transformation in Africa from the bottom up: New evidence from Tanzania
title_sort economic transformation in africa from the bottom up new evidence from tanzania
topic small enterprises
structural adjustment
informal sector
business enterprises
economic growth
employment
enterprises
capacity development
labour productivity
economic trends
url https://hdl.handle.net/10568/142936
work_keys_str_mv AT diaoxinshen economictransformationinafricafromthebottomupnewevidencefromtanzania
AT kwekajosaphat economictransformationinafricafromthebottomupnewevidencefromtanzania
AT mcmillanmargarets economictransformationinafricafromthebottomupnewevidencefromtanzania
AT qureshizara economictransformationinafricafromthebottomupnewevidencefromtanzania