African Jobless Growth Morphology:Vulnerabilities and Policy Responses

Godwin Nwaobi ()

MPRA Paper from University Library of Munich, Germany

Abstract: As by product of economic growth, jobs are indeed transformational. In other words, efficiency increases as workers get better at what they do (as more productive jobs appear and less productive one disappear). In fact societies flourish as jobs bring together people from different ethnic and social backgrounds while providing alternatives to conflict. Unfortunately, in many African countries, unemployment rates are low and growth is seldom jobless. Regrettably, most of the poor work long hours and cannot make ends meet while the violation of basic human rights is not uncommon. Again, youth unemployment and unmet job expectations are alarming. Consequently, this paper provides a framework that cuts across sectors and shows that the best policy responses vary across African countries (depending on their levels of development, endowments, demography and institutions). Thus, at all stages of development, forcing economic production to spread evenly across areas is both elusive and expensive. Policy makers should therefore identify and execute strategies that balance development outcomes across areas by means of domestic integration instruments. However, in places where integration is hardest, the policy response should be comprehensively total: institutions that unite, infrastructure that connects, interventions that target, incentives that motivate as well as information and communication technologies that enables or drives.

Keywords: jobs; employment; unemployment; Africa; social protection; productivity; institutions; incentives; infrastructures; labor policies; information technology; economic growth; development; vulnerabilities; youth unemployment; domestic integration; self employment; social cohesion; private sector; government; knowledge; living standard; skills; education; industries (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: D02 D13 D31 D63 D83 E02 E24 E26 F00 F43 H10 H30 H40 H50 I2 I30 J0 J20 J30 J40 J5 J60 J7 J70 J8 K31 L20 L30 L50 M5 O1 R0 R1 Z18 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2013-08-29
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-afr
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