Structural Transformation and Productivity Growth in Africa : Uganda in the 2000s

Ahmed, Sabin ; Mengistae, Taye ; Yoshino, Yutaka ; Zeufack, Albert G.

World Bank, Washington, DC

关键词: JOBS;    EMPLOYMENT;    GROWTH RATE;    MONETARY POLICY;    MOTIVATION;   

DOI  :  10.1596/1813-9450-7504
RP-ID  :  WPS7504

学科分类：社会科学、人文和艺术（综合）

来源: World Bank Open Knowledge Repository

【 摘 要 】

Uganda’s economy underwent significantstructural change in the 2000s whereby the share ofnon-tradable services in aggregate employment rose by about7 percentage points at the expense of the production oftradable goods. The process also involved a12-percentage-point shift in employment away from small andmedium enterprises and larger firms in manufacturing andcommercial agriculture mainly to microenterprises in retailtrade. In addition, the sectoral reallocation of labor onthese two dimensions coincided with significant growth inaggregate labor productivity. However, in and of itself, thesame reallocation could only have held back, rather thanaid, the observed productivity gains. This was because laborwas more productive throughout the period in the tradablegoods sector than in the non-tradable sector. Moreover, theeffect on aggregate labor productivity of the reallocationof employment between the two sectors could only have beenreinforced by the impacts on the same of the rise in theemployment share of microenterprises. The effect was alsostrengthened by a parallel employment shift across the agedistribution of enterprises that raised sharply theemployment share of established firms at the expense ofyounger ones and startups. Not only was labor consistentlyless productive in microenterprises than in small and mediumenterprises and larger enterprises across all industriesthroughout the period, it was also typically less productivein more established firms than in younger ones.