Rural underemployment and urbanisation: Insights from a 9-year panel from Malawi
Rural labour markets in Africa are frequently characterised by underemployment, with farmers unable to fully deploy throughout the year one of their most important assets—their labour. Using a nine-year panel data set on 1,407 working-age adults from rural Malawi, we document changes in rural undere...
| Main Authors: | , |
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| Format: | Journal Article |
| Language: | Inglés |
| Published: |
Oxford University Press
2025
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://hdl.handle.net/10568/144148 |
| _version_ | 1855522890957455360 |
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| author | Van Cappellen, Hanne De Weerdt, Joachim |
| author_browse | De Weerdt, Joachim Van Cappellen, Hanne |
| author_facet | Van Cappellen, Hanne De Weerdt, Joachim |
| author_sort | Van Cappellen, Hanne |
| collection | Repository of Agricultural Research Outputs (CGSpace) |
| description | Rural labour markets in Africa are frequently characterised by underemployment, with farmers unable to fully deploy throughout the year one of their most important assets—their labour. Using a nine-year panel data set on 1,407 working-age adults from rural Malawi, we document changes in rural underemployment over this period and how they are associated with urbanisation. Nearby urban growth is linked to increased hours worked in casual labour (ganyu) and in non-agricultural sectors, at the expense of work on the household farm. Improved urban access is also associated with a small increase in wage labour and, at the intensive margin, with hours supplied in household enterprises. We draw lessons from these results for policies, investments and interventions to leverage urban growth for rural development. |
| format | Journal Article |
| id | CGSpace144148 |
| institution | CGIAR Consortium |
| language | Inglés |
| publishDate | 2025 |
| publishDateRange | 2025 |
| publishDateSort | 2025 |
| publisher | Oxford University Press |
| publisherStr | Oxford University Press |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | CGSpace1441482025-10-26T12:55:35Z Rural underemployment and urbanisation: Insights from a 9-year panel from Malawi Van Cappellen, Hanne De Weerdt, Joachim underemployment rural employment farmers labour urbanization Rural labour markets in Africa are frequently characterised by underemployment, with farmers unable to fully deploy throughout the year one of their most important assets—their labour. Using a nine-year panel data set on 1,407 working-age adults from rural Malawi, we document changes in rural underemployment over this period and how they are associated with urbanisation. Nearby urban growth is linked to increased hours worked in casual labour (ganyu) and in non-agricultural sectors, at the expense of work on the household farm. Improved urban access is also associated with a small increase in wage labour and, at the intensive margin, with hours supplied in household enterprises. We draw lessons from these results for policies, investments and interventions to leverage urban growth for rural development. 2025-03-07 2024-05-29T16:57:04Z 2024-05-29T16:57:04Z Journal Article https://hdl.handle.net/10568/144148 en https://doi.org/10.2499/p15738coll2.136900 Limited Access Oxford University Press Van Cappellen, Hanne; and De Weerdt, Joachim. Rural underemployment and urbanisation: Insights from a 9-year panel from Malawi. Journal of African Economies 34(2): 208–236. https://doi.org/10.1093/jae/ejae004 |
| spellingShingle | underemployment rural employment farmers labour urbanization Van Cappellen, Hanne De Weerdt, Joachim Rural underemployment and urbanisation: Insights from a 9-year panel from Malawi |
| title | Rural underemployment and urbanisation: Insights from a 9-year panel from Malawi |
| title_full | Rural underemployment and urbanisation: Insights from a 9-year panel from Malawi |
| title_fullStr | Rural underemployment and urbanisation: Insights from a 9-year panel from Malawi |
| title_full_unstemmed | Rural underemployment and urbanisation: Insights from a 9-year panel from Malawi |
| title_short | Rural underemployment and urbanisation: Insights from a 9-year panel from Malawi |
| title_sort | rural underemployment and urbanisation insights from a 9 year panel from malawi |
| topic | underemployment rural employment farmers labour urbanization |
| url | https://hdl.handle.net/10568/144148 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT vancappellenhanne ruralunderemploymentandurbanisationinsightsfroma9yearpanelfrommalawi AT deweerdtjoachim ruralunderemploymentandurbanisationinsightsfroma9yearpanelfrommalawi |