Employment and Income Distribution Experiences of Minerals Exporters and of Countries Achieving Growth Acceleration: Executive Summary
Many but not all minerals-dependent countries have performed badly in spite of the apparent advantage such an endowment gives them. Various institutional weaknesses have been identified in cross-country analyses as contributors to this outcome. Indonesia and Chile have been able to avoid such negative impacts on growth. Indonesia, which invested much oil revenue in smallholder…
read more >>Exchange Rate and Employment: The Experience of Fast-Growing Economies
This paper forms part of an Human Sciences Research Council project on exchange rates and employment, which seeks to understand the impact of exchange rate fluctuations on employment in South Africa. Ngandu examines the exchange rate policies of countries that achieved rapid, labour-absorbing growth. While exchange rates are only one instrument in an employment and…
read more >>Growth, Employment and Distribution Impacts of Minerals Dependency: Four Case Studies
Cross-country evidence on the direct and indirect impacts of minerals dependency on growth suggests that the typical effect may be negative. The impact on employment and income distribution is even more likely to be adverse, since many minerals generate few jobs directly and may destroy more indirectly. Thus, countries heavily endowed with exportable natural resources…
read more >>Taking Off Into Sustained, Equitable Growth:Lessons From Successes And Failures
Berry offers an extensive set of case studies of economies that achieved sustained high growth. Chapter 1 discusses issues surrounding growth acceleration and current challenge for underperforming developing countries and the empirical record: evidence from countries that have accelerated to high sustained growth. Chapter 2 discusses the experience of Singapore and development strategy/policy prior to…
read more >>Thoughts on Employment Typologies
Mineral (and other natural resource) exports promote development and employment, as long as the rents are used wisely and undesirable macroeconomic effects are avoided. However, many countries have failed to achieve this. Mineral rents are often wasted, either through corruption and theft or through inefficiencies and rent-seeking by private and public agents. Too often the…
read more >>