Household Enterprises in Sub-Saharan Africa: Why They Matter for Growth, Jobs, and Livelihoods
55 Pages Posted: 20 Apr 2016
Date Written: August 1, 2012
Abstract
Despite 40 percent of households relying on household enterprises (non-farm enterprises operated by a single individual or with the help of family members) as an income source, household enterprises are usually ignored in low-income Sub-Saharan-African development strategies. Yet analysis of eight countries shows that although the fast growing economies generated new private non-farm wage jobs at high rates, household enterprises generated most new jobs outside agriculture. Owing to the small size of the non-farm wage job sector, this trend is expected to continue for the foreseeable future. This analysis of enterprises and their owners shows that although it is a heterogeneous sector within countries, there are many similarities across countries, indicating that cross-country learning is possible. For labor force participants who want to use their skills and energy to create a non-farm income source for themselves and their families, household enterprises offer a good opportunity even if they remain small. The paper finds that given household human capital and location, household enterprise earnings have the same marginal effect on consumption as private wage and salary employment. The authors argue that household enterprises should be seen as part of an integrated job and development strategy.
Keywords: Labor Markets, Banks & Banking Reform, Population Policies, Labor Policies, Rural Poverty Reduction
Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation
Do you have a job opening that you would like to promote on SSRN?
Paper statistics
Recommended Papers
-
The Economic Lives of the Poor
By Abhijit V. Banerjee and Esther Duflo
-
The Economic Lives of the Poor
By Abhijit V. Banerjee and Esther Duflo
-
Returns to Capital in Microenterprises: Evidence from a Field Experiment
By Suresh De Mel, David J. Mckenzie, ...
-
Returns to Capital in Microenterprises: Evidence from a Field Experiment
By Suresh De Mel, David J. Mckenzie, ...
-
Entitled to Work: Urban Property Rights and Labor Supply in Peru
By Erica Field
-
Savings Constraints and Microenterprise Development: Evidence from a Field Experiment in Kenya
By Pascaline Dupas and Jonathan Robinson
-
Measuring Microenterprise Profits: Don't Ask How the Sausage is Made
By Suresh De Mel, David J. Mckenzie, ...
-
The Return to Capital in Ghana
By Christopher Udry and Santosh Anagol
-
The Shape of Temptation: Implications for the Economic Lives of the Poor
-
The Shape of Temptation: Implications for the Economic Lives of the Poor