The impact of quality foundational skills on youth employment in Africa: Does institutional quality matter?

Despite impressive progress in the economic performance of many African countries in recent years, youth unemployment remains one of the continent’s main socioeconomic and political problems. This study employs panel data covering 49 African countries for the period 2000–2017 to provide the first at...

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Autores principales: Olagunju, Kehinde Oluseyi, Ogunniyi, Adebayo, Oguntegbe, Kunle F., Oyetunde-Usman, Zainab A., Adenuga, Adewale Henry, Andam, Kwaw S.
Formato: Artículo preliminar
Lenguaje:Inglés
Publicado: International Food Policy Research Institute 2020
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://hdl.handle.net/10568/143546
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author Olagunju, Kehinde Oluseyi
Ogunniyi, Adebayo
Oguntegbe, Kunle F.
Oyetunde-Usman, Zainab A.
Adenuga, Adewale Henry
Andam, Kwaw S.
author_browse Adenuga, Adewale Henry
Andam, Kwaw S.
Ogunniyi, Adebayo
Oguntegbe, Kunle F.
Olagunju, Kehinde Oluseyi
Oyetunde-Usman, Zainab A.
author_facet Olagunju, Kehinde Oluseyi
Ogunniyi, Adebayo
Oguntegbe, Kunle F.
Oyetunde-Usman, Zainab A.
Adenuga, Adewale Henry
Andam, Kwaw S.
author_sort Olagunju, Kehinde Oluseyi
collection Repository of Agricultural Research Outputs (CGSpace)
description Despite impressive progress in the economic performance of many African countries in recent years, youth unemployment remains one of the continent’s main socioeconomic and political problems. This study employs panel data covering 49 African countries for the period 2000–2017 to provide the first attempt to explicitly examine the dynamic relationship between quality foundational skills, measured by basic education quality (teacher-pupil ratio), and youth unemployment, while considering the conditional role of institutional capacity, measured by control of corruption, regulatory quality, and financial development. The empirical estimation in this paper is based on a two-step system generalized method of moments (SGMM), in order to control for unobserved heterogeneity and potential endogeneity of all the explanatory variables. The following are the main findings: First, youth unemployment is persistent in Africa. Second, quality of basic education exerts a negative impact on youth unemployment. Third, greater control of corruption, improved regulatory quality, and better structured financial sectors strengthen the effect of quality basic education in reducing youth unemployment. These findings provide a clear policy pathway for reducting youth unemployment. In particular, we recommend that better quality basic education, a well-structured financial structure, and institutional quality should constitute a fundamental component of the policy mix to reduce youth unemployment in Africa.
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spelling CGSpace1435462025-12-02T21:02:41Z The impact of quality foundational skills on youth employment in Africa: Does institutional quality matter? Olagunju, Kehinde Oluseyi Ogunniyi, Adebayo Oguntegbe, Kunle F. Oyetunde-Usman, Zainab A. Adenuga, Adewale Henry Andam, Kwaw S. youth employment education gender employment youth institutions basic education Despite impressive progress in the economic performance of many African countries in recent years, youth unemployment remains one of the continent’s main socioeconomic and political problems. This study employs panel data covering 49 African countries for the period 2000–2017 to provide the first attempt to explicitly examine the dynamic relationship between quality foundational skills, measured by basic education quality (teacher-pupil ratio), and youth unemployment, while considering the conditional role of institutional capacity, measured by control of corruption, regulatory quality, and financial development. The empirical estimation in this paper is based on a two-step system generalized method of moments (SGMM), in order to control for unobserved heterogeneity and potential endogeneity of all the explanatory variables. The following are the main findings: First, youth unemployment is persistent in Africa. Second, quality of basic education exerts a negative impact on youth unemployment. Third, greater control of corruption, improved regulatory quality, and better structured financial sectors strengthen the effect of quality basic education in reducing youth unemployment. These findings provide a clear policy pathway for reducting youth unemployment. In particular, we recommend that better quality basic education, a well-structured financial structure, and institutional quality should constitute a fundamental component of the policy mix to reduce youth unemployment in Africa. 2020-09-01 2024-05-22T12:14:59Z 2024-05-22T12:14:59Z Working Paper https://hdl.handle.net/10568/143546 en https://hdl.handle.net/10568/145709 https://www.ifad.org/en/w/publications/research-series-issue-44-gender-rural-youth-and-structural-transformation-evidence-to-inform-innovative-youth-programming https://hdl.handle.net/10568/150965 https://hdl.handle.net/10568/148655 https://doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780198848059.001.0001 Open Access application/pdf International Food Policy Research Institute Olagunju, Kehinde O.; Ogunniyi, Adebayo; Oguntegbe, Kunle F.; Oyetunde-Usman, Zainab A.; Adenuga, Adewale H.; and Andam, Kwaw S. 2020. The impact of quality foundational skills on youth employment in Africa: Does institutional quality matter? IFPRI Discussion Paper 1963. Washington, DC: International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI). https://doi.org/10.2499/p15738coll2.133999.
spellingShingle youth employment
education
gender
employment
youth
institutions
basic education
Olagunju, Kehinde Oluseyi
Ogunniyi, Adebayo
Oguntegbe, Kunle F.
Oyetunde-Usman, Zainab A.
Adenuga, Adewale Henry
Andam, Kwaw S.
The impact of quality foundational skills on youth employment in Africa: Does institutional quality matter?
title The impact of quality foundational skills on youth employment in Africa: Does institutional quality matter?
title_full The impact of quality foundational skills on youth employment in Africa: Does institutional quality matter?
title_fullStr The impact of quality foundational skills on youth employment in Africa: Does institutional quality matter?
title_full_unstemmed The impact of quality foundational skills on youth employment in Africa: Does institutional quality matter?
title_short The impact of quality foundational skills on youth employment in Africa: Does institutional quality matter?
title_sort impact of quality foundational skills on youth employment in africa does institutional quality matter
topic youth employment
education
gender
employment
youth
institutions
basic education
url https://hdl.handle.net/10568/143546
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