HLEG thematic workshop on Measurement of Well Being and Development in Africa, 12-14 November 2015, Durban, South Africa, More information at: www.oecd.org/statistics/measuring-economic-social-progress

1. “Unemployment, joblessness or
informality: Tracking jobs under
SDG”
William Baah-Boateng
University of Ghana &
African Centre for Economic Transformation (ACET)

2. Introduction
• Employment as a major vehicle for promoting Africa’s
development seems to be recent phenomenon.
o In the 1980s – macroeconomic stability and structural
adjustment
o 1990s to the New Millennium – Poverty reduction/alleviation
Hence PRSPs
o Now – Inclusive growth through productive employment;
• But conceptual and measurement issues of labour
market indicators
• E.g. A shift of focus from youth unemployment to youth
employment challenges

3. Unemployment and Informality
tradeoff
Rwanda
Benin
Niger
Uganda
B.Faso
M'gascar
S.Leone
Liberia
CameroonC.Ivoire
Tanzania
Ethiopia
Ghana
Malawi
Mauritius
Mali
Morocco
Egypt
Kenya
Senegal
Algeria
Zimbabwe
Zambia
Namibia
Botswana
Tunisia
Swaziland
S.Africa
Lesotho
Réunion
0
20406080
100
0 10 20 30
Unemployment rate
Source: Baah-Boateng W (2015) International Journal of Manpower, 36(5)

4. Unemployment and Informality
tradeoff
• Observation is due to structure of the labor
market and application of the concept of
unemployment
Source: Baah-Boateng W (2015) International Journal of Manpower, 36(5)

5. Definition and Measurement
Concerns
• Informality – informal sector employment or informal
employment
o ILO in 1999 transitioned from the former to the latter but
difficult to capture informality in the formal sector
o Hence informal sector statistics in Africa still produces
informal sector employment
• Unemployment – ILO conceptual definition too narrow in
African context
o Non-existence of unemployment insurance makes it
difficult to capture registered unemployment rate
o Seeking work criteria creates discouraged worker effect

6. Definition and Measurement
Concerns
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
Figure 2: Narrow and Broader definition of unemployment
Jobless, available &
seeking
Jobless & Available
Source: Computed from Country’s Household Survey Dataset

7. Definition and Measurement
Concerns
• Should Africa be concerned about joblessness rather
than unemployment?
• The SDG8 target of reducing proportion of youth in
NEET seems to point to joblessness
o That is increasing employment for the youth without
regard to the quality of employment
• The measurement of current employment that focuses
on at least 1 hour economic engagement within a week
seems weak
• What about more focus on usual employment that
accounts for 12 months duration?

8. Data Challenges and Options
• Avoiding the use of surveys to track labor market
performance is a challenge considering the high
informality of the labor market structure in Africa
• Regular (at least every 3 years???) labor force
survey with questions relevant to Africa must be a
priority
• Administrative surveys to track changes in formal
sector employment is essential to complement the
surveys.
• Usual and permanent employment crosstab with
institutional sector could be a better option