Ethnicity and Wage Determination in Ghana

Ethnicity and Wage Determination in Ghana
Author: Abigail Barr
Publisher:
Total Pages: 42
Release: 2016
Genre:
ISBN:

In Ghana's manufacturing sector, workers tend to be employed by members of their own ethnic group, and different ethnic groups run very different types of enterprises. Employers favor their relatives in pay and in job allocation, possibly because they are more productive. There is no evidence of pay discrimination between ethnic groups. Barr and Oduro look at earnings differentials between members of different ethnic groups and between employers' relatives, unrelated members of the same ethnic group, and other workers in Ghana's manufacturing sector. They find that a significant proportion of the earnings differentials identified between ethnic groups can be explained with reference to a fairly standard set of observations about workers' characteristics. Labor market segregation along ethnic lines - combined with considerable variation in employers' characteristics (especially educational attainment and family background, possibly because of discrimination in other markets) - accounts for most of the remaining differentials.Northerners earn considerably less than other groups mainly because they are less educated. The Other Akan earn much more than the relatively low-earning Asante, Fante, and Ewe. There is no evidence of discrimination between ethnic groups, although there is evidence of discrimination in favor of inexperienced workers from the same ethnic group, who can be assessed and matched with jobs more easily than similar workers from other ethnic groups.Finally, workers who are related to their employers earn a considerable premium, possibly because they contribute more to productivity than their fellow workers (perhaps through an effect on esprit de corps). The authors' results draw attention to some startling differences in educational and labor market attainment between groups. A strong case can be made for including such issues in the policy debate.This paper - a product of Macroeconomics and Growth, Development Research Group - is part of a larger effort in the group to understand the role of ethnicity in labor market outcomes and entrepreneurial success in Africa. The study was funded by the Bank's Research Support Budget under the research project quot;The Economics of Ethnicity and Entrepreneurship in Africa.quot.

Communities in Action

Communities in Action
Author: National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine
Publisher: National Academies Press
Total Pages: 583
Release: 2017-04-27
Genre: Medical
ISBN: 0309452961

In the United States, some populations suffer from far greater disparities in health than others. Those disparities are caused not only by fundamental differences in health status across segments of the population, but also because of inequities in factors that impact health status, so-called determinants of health. Only part of an individual's health status depends on his or her behavior and choice; community-wide problems like poverty, unemployment, poor education, inadequate housing, poor public transportation, interpersonal violence, and decaying neighborhoods also contribute to health inequities, as well as the historic and ongoing interplay of structures, policies, and norms that shape lives. When these factors are not optimal in a community, it does not mean they are intractable: such inequities can be mitigated by social policies that can shape health in powerful ways. Communities in Action: Pathways to Health Equity seeks to delineate the causes of and the solutions to health inequities in the United States. This report focuses on what communities can do to promote health equity, what actions are needed by the many and varied stakeholders that are part of communities or support them, as well as the root causes and structural barriers that need to be overcome.

Measuring Education Inequality

Measuring Education Inequality
Author: Vinod Thomas
Publisher: World Bank Publications
Total Pages: 42
Release: 2001
Genre: Coeficiente de Gini
ISBN:

Equal access to education is a basic human right. But in many countries gaps in education between various groups are staggering. An education Gini index -- a new indicator for the distribution of human capital and welfare -- facilitates comparison of education inequality across countries and over time.

Urban Labor Markets in Sub-Saharan Africa

Urban Labor Markets in Sub-Saharan Africa
Author: Philippe De Vreyer
Publisher: World Bank Publications
Total Pages: 463
Release: 2013-06-07
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 0821397826

Although labor is usually the unique asset upon which poor people can make a living, little is known about the functioning of labor markets in Sub-Saharan Africa. The purpose of this volume is to contribute to the building of knowledge in this area. In this book, the authors use a unique set of identical and simultaneous labor force surveys conducted in seven capitals of Western Africa, as well as in some other African countries (Cameroon, Madagascar, Democratic Republic of Congo) in the 2000s. They present innovative and original results on how people are faring in these labour markets, using up-to-date econometric and statistical methods. Because so little is known about labor markets in the region, each chapter starts with detailed descriptive statistics that aim to shed light onto specific aspects of African urban labor markets. Comparisons between the ten cities are systematically carried out. Descriptive sections are followed by in-depth analyses on various issues. The book is divided into four parts that examine 13 topics. Part I presents the main stylised facts, which are investigated further in a more analytical way throughout the volume. Part II focuses on job quality and labor market conditions, such as unemployment and underemployment, vulnerability, and job satisfaction. Part III explores the many dimensions of labor market inequalities through various lenses, such as returns on education, segmentation, life-cycle inequality (with a particular focus on old age), inter-generational mobility, time related inequality, and gender and ethnic earnings discrimination. Part IV addresses some key coping mechanisms and private responses, with a focus on migration and child labor. The book concludes with recommendations for future research.

Welcome to Alien Inn

Welcome to Alien Inn
Author: Betsy Haynes
Publisher: World Bank Publications
Total Pages: 46
Release: 1995-12-01
Genre:
ISBN: 0606084967

Stranded at an inn during a blizzard, Matt enjoys the snow and the time off from school until he learns that the innkeeper and all the other guests are really aliens who have come to Earth to study human life.

Monetary Policy Under Flexible Exchange Rates

Monetary Policy Under Flexible Exchange Rates
Author: Pierre-Richard Agénor
Publisher: World Bank Publications
Total Pages: 100
Release: 2000
Genre: Economic stabilization
ISBN:

In the past few years, a number of central banks have adopted inflation targeting for monetary policy. The author provides an introduction to inflation targeting, with an emphasis on analytical issues, and the recent experience of middle- and high-income developing countries (which have relatively low inflation to begin with, and reasonably well-functioning financial markets). After presenting a formal analytical framework, the author discusses the basic requirements for inflation targeting, and how such a regime differs from money, and exchange rate targeting regimes. After discussing the operational framework for inflation targeting (including the price index to monitor the time horizon, the forecasting procedures, and the role of asset prices), he examines recent experiences with inflation targets, providing new evidence on the convexity of the Phillips curve for six developing countries. His conclusions: Inflation targeting is a flexible policy framework that allows a country's central bank to exercise some degree of discretion, without putting in jeopardy its main objective of maintaining stable prices. In middle- and high-income developing economies that can refrain from implicit exchange rate targeting, it can improve the design, and performance of monetary policy, compared with other policy approaches that central banks may follow. Not all countries may be able to satisfy the technical requirements (such as adequate price data, adequate understanding of the links between instruments, and targets of monetary policy, and adequate forecasting capabilities), but such requirements should not be overstated. Forecasting capability can never be perfect, and sensible projections always involve qualitative judgment. More important, and often more difficult, is the task of designing, or improving an institutional framework that would allow the central bank to pursue the goal of low, stable inflation, while maintaining the ability to stabilize fluctuations in output.

The Effect of International Monetary Fund and World Bank Programs on Poverty

The Effect of International Monetary Fund and World Bank Programs on Poverty
Author: William Easterly
Publisher: World Bank Publications
Total Pages: 36
Release: 2001
Genre: Banco Mundial
ISBN: 0202080110

There is some evidence that IMF and World Bank adjustment lending smooths consumption for the poor, reducing the rise in poverty for any given contraction of the economy but also reducing the fall in poverty for any given expansion. Adjustment lending plays a similar role as inequality, reducing poverty's sensitivity to the economy's aggregate growth rate.