Related Papers
The Effect of Communication Technologies on Firm Productivity in a Difficult Business Environment: Evidence from Kenya
2011 •
Nidhiya Menon
Kenyan firms rely on communication technologies such as email, websites, and the internet to overcome obstacles associated with excessive regulations, poor infrastructure, rampant insecurity, an uneducated workforce, widespread corruption, and inadequate finance. This study shows that such reliance has significant positive impacts on productivity mainly for firms with one or more female owners. Using a sample of enterprises in relatively low-skilled industries with few barriers to entry, the exogenous component of technology use is isolated by using information on the regional presence of mission, private, and government schools from colonial Kenya, as well as a geographical indicator which measures rainfall shocks. These instruments pass a series of robustness checks on relevance, and they satisfy the exclusion restriction. Results indicate that for firms with female owners, a 10% increase in technology use results in a 1.69 percentage point increase in value-added per worker. For ...
Computers and Cell Phones on Productivity in a Difficult Business Climate: Evidence from Firms with Female Owners in Kenya
2011 •
Nidhiya Menon
Any opinions expressed here are those of the author(s) and not those of IZA. Research published in this series may include views on policy, but the institute itself takes no institutional policy positions. The Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA) in Bonn is a local and virtual international research center and a place of communication between science, politics and business. IZA is an independent nonprofit organization supported by Deutsche Post Foundation. The center is associated with the University of Bonn and offers a stimulating research environment through its international network, workshops and conferences, data service, project support, research visits and doctoral program. IZA engages in (i) original and internationally competitive research in all fields of labor economics, (ii) development of policy concepts, and (iii) dissemination of research results and concepts to the interested public. IZA Discussion Papers often represent preliminary work and are circulated to enco...
Got Technology? The Impact of Computers and Cell Phones on Productivity in a Difficult Business Climate: Evidence from Firms with Female Owners in Kenya
2011 •
Nidhiya Menon
Journal of African development
Technology Use and Firms with Female Principal Owners in Kenya
2013 •
Nidhiya Menon
Femke van Noorloos, august van westen
Industrial change in Africa: Micro evidence on Zimbabwean firms under structural adjustment
1999 •
Jan Willem Gunning
This book contains an in-depth analysis of the manufacturing sector in Zimbabwe, based on a unique panel data set collected in 1993-5. Zimbabwe is one of the most advanced African economies Zimbabwe has a manufacturing sector which is uncharacteristically large and diversified relative to those in other Sub-Saharan countries, with the exception of South Africa. At the beginning of the Regional Program for Enterprise Development (RPED) Zimbabwe survey in 1993 the manufacturing sector produced 24 percent of gross domestic product, provided 15 percent of total formal employment, and was a major earner of foreign exchange. It is also a sector which has suffered from low growth, low investment intensity, and weak employment growth since independence, and which is in need of new incentives to strengthen its productive and technological capabilities in order to improve the employment and welfare conditions in Zimbabwe. This book is a study of the manufacturing sector at the firm-level, usi...
Myanmar's Future Jobs : Embracing Modernity - Main Report
2018 •
Wendy Cunningham
Myanmar’s challenge is to improve job quality to boost worker well-being and national competitiveness. More than 90 percent of Myanmar’s jobs are currently low-productivity, low-paid, and in the agriculture sector, household enterprises, or small firms. Recent economic reform has increased the contribution of the manufacturing and services sectors to GDP growth—at the expense of agriculture—although the share of workers employed in each sector has remained stagnant. Translating recent economic gains into better and more inclusive jobs will require a deliberate effort to adjust institutions, policies, and programs. First, much of the jobs impact will come from upgrading traditional sectors and increasing their productivity by professionalizing and growing agro-vaue chains. Second, offer strategic support to the private sector, especially new small firms, by enhancing access to inputs (credit, land, and reliable power) and better information and legislation to facilitating linking to markets. Third, strengthen links to the global economy as exporters provide higher quality jobs and are together responsible for close to one third of private sector job creation. Fourth, tailor Myanmar’s human capital development strategy to labor market demand. Finally, Myanmar’s mobile workforce can be more successful with clearer migration channels.
Ifc Jobs Study Assessing Private Sector Contributions to Job Creation and Poverty Reduction
2013 •
Mahima Khanna
THE LAHORE JOURNAL OF ECONOMICS
The Political Economy of Industrial Policy: A Comparative Study of the Textiles Industry in Pakistan
2014 •
Matthew McCartney
The textiles industry in Pakistan has failed to fulfill its “historical mission,” whether judged in terms of promoting rapid and sustained economic growth, reducing poverty, or providing employment to young women and so promoting wider social transformation. This paper makes a case for a particular and targeted form of industrial policy that would help the textiles sector learn and upgrade. It argues that those factors commonly seen as constraints to industrial policy—the “China effect,” the global rules of globalization, global value chains, and the problems of energy and education in Pakistan—do need careful consideration, but they are not insurmountable obstacles to industrial upgrading. The key market failure is the risk and uncertainty associated with acquiring and learning to use new technology. The paper explores a number of policy options, reviewing the lessons that cannot be learned from the Republic of Korea and India and one that can from Bangladesh. The latter shows that...
International Journal of Environmental, Sustainability, and Social Science
Challenges of Women Entrepreneurship and Empowerment in South Africa: Evidence from Rural Areas
mary-ann nhleko
This study aims to identify impediments to expanding women-owned businesses in rural areas of South Africa. The study used a quantitative research method to collect data. The study concentrated on 250 female business owners in the rural communities of Hluhluwe, Ulundi, and Eshowe in northern KZN. The study found that the main obstacles to expanding women-owned businesses in rural areas were financial constraints, a lack of education, and inadequate infrastructure. However, these difficulties experienced by women business owners in rural South Africa can be conquered. Overcoming these obstacles could empower women entrepreneurs and stimulate economic growth in rural areas, thus reducing poverty and enhancing the living standards of rural communities. Based on these findings, the study recommends various interventions, such as alternative financing models, targeted education and training programs, and infrastructure development, to support the growth of women-owned enterprises in rura...
