Working out of poverty: job creation and the quality of growth in Africa/
Louise Fox, Melissa Sekkel Gaal.
- Washington: World Bank, 2008.
- xi, 81 p. : ill. ; 23 cm.
- Directions in development (Washington, D.C.)., Poverty. .
WORKING OUT OF POVERTY: JOB CREATION AND THE QUALITY OF GROWTH IN AFRICA
INTRODUCTION 1 1. Context: the economic environment for job creation 4 DEMOGRAPHICS 5 WAGE AND SALARY EMPLOYMENT 5 ECONOMIC GROWTH AND STRUCTURE OF GDP 7 STRUCTURAL SHIFTS WITHIN WAGE AND SALARY EMPLOYMENT 10 2. Constraints: the missing private sector demand 12 INVESTMENT CLIMATE 13 WAGE FLEXIBILITY 15 LABOR FLEXIBILITY 17 3. Conditions: the state of the African labor force 21 EDUCATION 21 Impact on growth 25 The returns to education 25 Other approaches to addressing the skills deficit 28 HEALTH 31 CHILD LABOR 33 4. Consequences: the growth of the informal sector 36 5. Conclusion: the prospects for better outcomes 43 References 45 List of Tables Table 1: Percent of the population living on less than $1 a day, by region 1 Table 2: Growth of the labor force, wage and salary employment, and GDP per capita in selected African countries 6 Table 3: Indicators of labor flexibility, by region 17 Table 4: Implied returns to education in selected African countries 26 Table 5: Estimated life expectancy at birth in Sub-Saharan Africa and other regions, by gender, 2000-05 and 2010-15 31 Table 6: Informal sector share of labor force by area 38 Table 7: Labor force by sector and rural/urban, ages 10 and above 38 Table 8: Estimated average annual growth in earnings by sector of employment 41 List of Figures Figure 1: Major Obstacles Facing African Firms 14 Figure 2: Women without education, national % and rural-urban gap in % points. 23 Figure 3: Percentage of children completing primary education, by gender and household income 24 List of Boxes Box 1: Translating common labor concepts to conditions in Africa 3 Box 2: Most African countries did not realize high growth rates 1995-2006 8 Box 3: Definitions and classification of the informal sector 37 Library of Congress Subject Headings for this publication: