Suchergebnisse

We study the effects of a positive export shock on labor allocation between the informal, microenterprise sector and the formal firm sector in a low-income country. The United States-Vietnam Bilateral Trade Agreement led to large reductions in US tariffs on Vietnamese exports. We find that the share of manufacturing workers in Vietnam in the formal sector increased by 5 percentage points in response to the US tariff reductions. The reallocation was greater for workers in more internationally integrated provinces and for younger cohorts. We estimate the gap in labor productivity within manufacturing across the informal and formal sectors. This gap and the aggregate labor productivity gain from the export-induced reallocation of workers across the two sectors are reduced when we account for worker heterogeneity, measurement error, and differences in labor intensity of production. (JEL F16, J24, O14, O17, O19, P23, P33)

During the past 20 years, Viet Nam underwent an economic transformation, featuring high rates of economic growth—real GDP increased at an average annual growth rate of 7 percent from 1986 to 2008 and GDP per capita in PPP terms tripled—and a sharp drop in poverty rates. These changes catapulted Viet Nam out of the poorest quintile of countries (ahead of Cambodia and Bangladesh, but behind Laos and Kenya) in 1986, when its GDP per capita in PPP (2005 international dollars) was around only $800. At that point, the highly agrarian nature of Viet Nam's economy placed it in the top quintile of countries with the largest share of agriculture in GDP and among the top 10 percent of countries with the highest share of workers in agriculture throughout the 1990s. ; PR ; IFPRI1; CRP2 ; DSGD; PIM ; CGIAR Research Program on Policies, Institutions, and Markets (PIM)

We document several facts about workforce transitions from the informal to the formal sector in Vietnam, a fast growing, industrializing, and low-income country. First, younger workers, particularly migrants, are more likely to work in the formal sector and stay there permanently. Second, the decline in the aggregate share of informal employment occurs through changes between and within birth cohorts. Third, younger, educated, male, and urban workers are more likely to switch to the formal sector than other workers initially in the informal sector. Poorly educated, older, female, rural workers face little prospect of formalization. Fourth, formalization coincides with occupational upgrading.

In 1966 when Botswana gained independence, it was one of the poorest countries in the world. But by 1986, Botswana had achieved middle-income status, and in 2005, the World Bank classified it as an upper-middle-income country. The only other country to enjoy such rapid economic growth over such a long period is China—an average of 9 percent between 1968 and 2010. Botswana has also maintained democracy throughout its recent history, and this combination of economic and political success has earned it the reputation of an "African success story" (Acemoglu, Johnson, and Robinson 2002). Botswana's rapid economic growth has nonetheless left many individuals behind. Unemployment is a major issue, particularly among the young. Income inequality is extremely high, as is poverty. As such, it is important to understand the sources of Botswana's economic growth to better appreciate where it may come from in the future and what prospects it has for being more inclusive. ; PR ; IFPRI1; CRP2 ; DSGD; PIM ; CGIAR Research Program on Policies, Institutions, and Markets (PIM)