Labor Markets in East Africa: Policy Brief No. 7

This study develops new tests for the completeness of rural labor markets, based on asymmetric responses in farm labor to changes in household composition

• From: Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office
• Published: 25 May 2016

• Country: Ethiopia, Malawi, Tanzania, Uganda
• Document Type: Briefing
• Theme: Economic Growth
• Authors: Dillon, B, Brummund, P, Mwabu, G

Abstract

We develop new tests for the completeness of rural labor markets, based on asymmetric responses in farm labor to changes in household composition. We implement our test using nationally representative panel data from Ethiopia, Malawi, Tanzania, and Uganda. The overall pattern is one of excess labor in rural areas, with substantial heterogeneity by cultivation phase, gender, and agro-ecology. In Ethiopia, poor households face a de facto labor shortage, driven more by lack of finance than by a physical shortage of workers. There is evidence of partial gender segmentation. In all four countries, women are more difficult to replace than men.

This research is part of the Gender, Growth and Labour Markets in Low-Income Countries programme

Citation

Dillon, B., Brummund, P. & Mwabu, G. (2016). Labor Markets in East Africa. GLMLIC Policy Brief No. 7. Available at: https://g2lm-lic.iza.org/publications/pb/pb7/

Link

Labor Markets in East Africa

Published 25 May 2016