Never been industrialized: A tale of African structural change

Fabrizio Carmignani () and Thomas Mandeville

Structural Change and Economic Dynamics, 2014, vol. 31, issue C, 124-137

Abstract: Africa is a case of structural change without industrialization and without diversification. Agriculture's decline was matched by an increase in services and non-manufacturing industry, with manufacturing remaining low and stagnant throughout the post-colonial period. To what extent do these patterns of structural change account for the weak growth dynamics observed in the continent? We provide evidence that what is damaging for growth in Africa is not the expansion in services, but rather the reallocation of economic activity from agriculture to non-manufacturing industry. Because non-manufacturing industry is mainly mining, our results point to a form of resource curse.

Keywords: Structural change; Growth dynamics; Service sector (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O11 O14 O25 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2014
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (10)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:streco:v:31:y:2014:i:c:p:124-137

DOI: 10.1016/j.strueco.2014.09.002

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