Priorities for Boosting Employment in Sub-Saharan Africa: Evidence for Mozambique

TY - JOUR

T1 - Priorities for Boosting Employment in Sub-Saharan Africa

T2 - Evidence for Mozambique

AU - Jones, Edward Samuel

AU - Tarp, Finn

PY - 2015/10/1

Y1 - 2015/10/1

N2 - Should policy-makers, including foreign donors, focus employment strategies in sub-Saharan Africa on strengthening access to formal wage employment or on raising productivity in the informal sector? We examine the evidence in Mozambique and show that crude distinctions between formality and informality are not illuminating. The observed welfare advantage of formal sector workers essentially derives from differences in endowments and local conditions. Non-agricultural informal work can yield higher returns than formal work. The implication is that the informal sector must not be marginalized; and raising productivity in agriculture must be accorded a central place in boosting employment.

AB - Should policy-makers, including foreign donors, focus employment strategies in sub-Saharan Africa on strengthening access to formal wage employment or on raising productivity in the informal sector? We examine the evidence in Mozambique and show that crude distinctions between formality and informality are not illuminating. The observed welfare advantage of formal sector workers essentially derives from differences in endowments and local conditions. Non-agricultural informal work can yield higher returns than formal work. The implication is that the informal sector must not be marginalized; and raising productivity in agriculture must be accorded a central place in boosting employment.

U2 - 10.1111/1467-8268.12139

DO - 10.1111/1467-8268.12139

M3 - Journal article

SN - 1017-6772

VL - 27

SP - 56

EP - 70

JO - African Development Review

JF - African Development Review

IS - S1

ER -