Template-type: ReDIF-Paper 1.0
Author-Name: Owusu, Solomon
Author-Email: owusu@merit.unu.edu
Author-Workplace-Name: UNU-MERIT, Maastricht University, and German Development
	 Institute, and University of Oxford
Author-Name: Ndubuisi, Gideon
Author-Email: ndubuisi@merit.unu.edu
Author-Workplace-Name: UNU-MERIT, Maastricht University, and German Development
	 Institute
Author-Name: Mensah, Emmanuel. B.
Author-Email: mensah@merit.unu.edu
Author-Workplace-Name: UNU-MERIT, Maastricht University, and GGDC, University
	 of Groningen
Title: Import penetration and manufacturing employment: Evidence from Africa
Abstract: Exposure to import competition can either help or hurt domestic
	 employment creation. There is, however, a dearth of cross-country
	 empirical evidence assessing labor market effects of import penetration
	 in Africa. This paper fills this gap. Using manufacturing industry and
	 establishment-level data across 20 African countries and estimating a
	 conditional and unconditional labor demand model, we find an unambiguous
	 employment creation effect of intermediate good import penetration,
	 whilst final good import penetration has a negative, or at best, an
	 insignificant effect on employment. Splitting intermediate good import
	 penetration into their origins, we find that intermediate good import
	 penetration from developed (developing) countries is employment
	 increasing (reducing). Further analyses reveal that the positive
	 employment effects of intermediate import penetration from developed
	 countries disproportionately benefit the skilled workforce. We also find
	 that industries with higher absorptive capacity stand to gain more from
	 intermediate good import penetration from developed countries, with the
	 negative effects of intermediate good import penetration from developing
	 countries also diminished for these industries. We discuss the
	 implications of our findings.
Classification-JEL: F11, F14, L25, L60, O14, O15
Keywords: Import Penetration, Employment, Absorptive Capacity, Manufacturing,
	 Africa 
Series: UNU-MERIT Working Papers
Creation-Date: 20220217
Number: 2022-007
File-URL: https://unu-merit.nl/publications/wppdf/2022/wp2022-007.pdf
File-Format: application/pdf
File-Size: 275 Kb
Handle: RePEc:unm:unumer:2022007