Do Slum Upgrading Programmes Improve Employment? Evidence from Djibouti

Sandrine Mesplé-Somps, Laure Pasquier-Doumer () and Charlotte Guénard ()
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Laure Pasquier-Doumer: DIAL, LEDa, IRD, Université Paris-Dauphine, Université PSL

The European Journal of Development Research, 2021, vol. 33, issue 6, No 7, 1555-1573

Abstract: Abstract Slum upgrading programmes are high on the international community’s agenda. Yet their impact evaluations remain few and far between, especially when the programmes include different components such as roads, water supply, electricity, and community facilities. In addition, employment is rarely considered as an outcome in the evaluation of slum upgrading programmes, although it is often one of the main priorities of slum upgrading policies. This article analyses the effects on employment of such a programme in a Djibouti slum. It uses a difference-in-difference approach to evaluate the average impact and heterogeneous effects of the programme. We find that the project is unlikely to have improved access to employment in general and to formal wage jobs in particular, as was expected at the start of the project. It has also failed to increase earned income. Nonetheless, we show that self-employed activities have developed, more particularly in places adjacent to the project roads.

Keywords: Slums; Urban project; Impact analysis; Employment; Djibouti (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: J68 R23 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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DOI: 10.1057/s41287-020-00305-9

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