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Does Poor Mean Cheap? A Comparative Look at Africa's Industrial Labor Costs

Author

Listed:
  • Alan Gelb
  • Christian Meyer
  • Vijaya Ramachandran
Abstract
Africa’s industrial progress has been disappointing. With the exception of South African auto components and garments, both of which have benefited from special incentives, Africa exports almost no manufactures that are not based on the processing of raw materials. Despite considerable rhetoric on the need to develop manufacturing as well as support by donors, what limited progress has been made has often been uneven and isolated. Much of Africa’s manufacturing sector is still characterized by a significant economic dualism between a large number of small-scale enterprises in the informal sector and a handful of more efficient large-scale operations in the formal sector. Following on from previous research on “external costs,” this paper compares labor costs and productivity in selected African countries relative to comparators using data for 25 countries from the World Bank’s Enterprise Surveys. We conclude that industrial labor costs are far higher in Africa than one might expect, given levels of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) per capita. Part of this is an “enclave effect”: both labor costs and labor productivity are far higher in Africa, relative to GDP per capita, than in comparator countries. Another part reflects a steeper labor cost curve; as firms are larger and more productive their labor costs increase more in Africa than elsewhere. But there is still a sizeable residual “Africa effect” after controlling for such factors. We cannot test rigorously for the reasons behind these results but consider some plausible explanations. We also consider how Africa’s distinctive pattern, in terms of purchasing power parity exchange rates could affect the results. We conclude with some implications for policy. Certainly there is an urgent need to reduce “external costs,” through focused investments (power) as well as a general improvement in the business climate. However, with the exception of a few countries like Ethiopia, it is not clear that Africa’s low-income level automatically translates into a comparative advantage in low-wage basic manufactures. We argue that it is more likely to reside in sectors closely linked with the rich and varied natural resource endowments of the countries, whether supplying or processing industries.

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  • Alan Gelb & Christian Meyer & Vijaya Ramachandran, 2013. "Does Poor Mean Cheap? A Comparative Look at Africa's Industrial Labor Costs," Working Papers 325, Center for Global Development.
    • Handle: RePEc:cgd:wpaper:325
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    Cited by:

    1. Olivier CADOT & Jaime de MELO & Patrick PLANE & Laurent WAGNER & Martha TESFAYE WOLDEMICHAEL, 2017. "L’Afrique subsaharienne peut-elle se développer sans usines ?," Working Paper 084c8bee-b301-4412-8ca4-c, Agence française de développement.
    2. Olivier Cadot & Jaime de Melo & Patrick Plane & Laurent Wagner & Martha Tesfaye Woldemichael, 2016. "Industrialisation et transformation structurelle : l’Afrique subsaharienne peut-elle se développer sans usines ?," Revue d’économie du développement, De Boeck Université, vol. 24(2), pages 19-49.
    3. Newman, Carol & Page, John & Rand, John & Shimeles, Abebe & Soderbom, Mans & Tarp, Finn (ed.), 2016. "Manufacturing Transformation: Comparative Studies of Industrial Development in Africa and Emerging Asia," OUP Catalogue, Oxford University Press, number 9780198776987.
    4. Sylviane Guillaumont Jeanneney & Ping Hua, 2020. "When and how African real exchange rates relative to China affect its manufacturing?," Post-Print hal-03060589, HAL.
    5. World Bank Group, 2016. "Kenya Country Economic Memorandum," World Bank Publications - Reports 24008, The World Bank Group.
    6. Alan Gelb & Christian J. Meyer & Vijaya Ramachandran, 2014. "Development as Diffusion: Manufacturing Productivity and Sub-Saharan Africa's Missing Middle," WIDER Working Paper Series wp-2014-042, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    7. Iacovone,Leonardo & Ramachandran,Vijaya & Schmidt,Martin, 2013. "Stunted growth : why don't African firms create more jobs ?," Policy Research Working Paper Series 6727, The World Bank.
    8. Ciaran Driver, 2019. "Trade liberalization and South African manufacturing: Looking back with data," WIDER Working Paper Series wp-2019-30, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    9. International Monetary Fund, 2014. "Zambia: 2013 Article IV Consultation," IMF Staff Country Reports 2014/005, International Monetary Fund.
    10. Sylviane Guillaumont Jeanneney and Ping Hua, 2020. "When and How African Real Exchange Rates Relative to China Affect its Manufacturing?," Journal of Economic Development, Chung-Ang Unviersity, Department of Economics, vol. 45(4), pages 1-34, December.
    11. Golub, Stephen & Hayat, Faraz, 2014. "Employment, unemployment, and underemployment in Africa," WIDER Working Paper Series 014, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    12. Venables, Anthony J., 2017. "Breaking into tradables: Urban form and urban function in a developing city," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 98(C), pages 88-97.
    13. Ms. Louise Fox & Cleary Haines & Ms. Jorge Huerta Munoz & Mr. Alun H. Thomas, 2013. "Africa's Got Work to Do: Employment Prospects in the New Century," IMF Working Papers 2013/201, International Monetary Fund.
    14. Stephen Golub & Faraz Hayat, 2014. "Employment, Unemployment, and Underemployment in Africa," WIDER Working Paper Series wp-2014-014, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    15. Alan Gelb & Vijaya Ramachandran & Christian J. Meyer & Divyanshi Wadhwa & Kyle Navis, 2020. "Can Sub-Saharan Africa Be a Manufacturing Destination? Labor Costs, Price Levels, and the Role of Industrial Policy," Journal of Industry, Competition and Trade, Springer, vol. 20(2), pages 335-357, June.
    16. Gelb, Alan & Meyer, Christian J. & Ramachandran, Vijaya, 2014. "Development as diffusion: Manufacturing productivity and sub-Saharan Africa's missing middle," WIDER Working Paper Series 042, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    17. Alan Gelb, Christian Meyer, and Vijaya Ramachandran, 2014. "Development as Diffusion: Manufacturing Productivity and Sub-Saharan Africa’s Missing Middle - Working Paper 357," Working Papers 357, Center for Global Development.
    18. Stephen Esaku, 2022. "Which firms drive employment growth in Sub-Saharan Africa? Evidence from Kenya," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 59(1), pages 383-396, June.
    19. Ms. Louise Fox, 2015. "Are African Households Heterogeneous Agents?: Stylized Facts on Patterns of Consumption, Employment, Income and Earnings for Macroeconomic Modelers," IMF Working Papers 2015/102, International Monetary Fund.
    20. Mensah, Emmanuel & Owusu, Solomon & Foster-McGregor, Neil & Szirmai, Adam, 2018. "Structural change, productivity growth and labour market turbulence in Africa," MERIT Working Papers 2018-025, United Nations University - Maastricht Economic and Social Research Institute on Innovation and Technology (MERIT).

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Africa; manufacturing; private sector; labor cost; productivity; firm survey;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D2 - Microeconomics - - Production and Organizations
    • L6 - Industrial Organization - - Industry Studies: Manufacturing
    • O14 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Industrialization; Manufacturing and Service Industries; Choice of Technology

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