literature review on unemployment in ghana

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Unemployment in Ghana: a cross sectional analysis from demand and supply perspectives

• Department of Economics

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Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to analyse the causes of unemployment in Ghana from both labour demand and supply perspectives based on most recent cross sectional data set from one nationally representative household survey and a baseline survey for Millennium Development Support. Design/methodology/approach – A logit regression estimation technique is applied to two different household survey data sets of 2008 and 2013 to capture the effect of labour demand and supply on unemployment. Findings – Using education and age as capability variables to represent supply factors, unemployment is found to increase with education, and declines with age, confirming higher unemployment rate among the youth, than the old. The paper also observes strong influence of demand factors on unemployment based on relatively higher incidence of unemployment fulltime jobseekers relative to part-time jobseekers and seekers of formal or wage-employment and self-employment or SMEs compared with those seeking any job. Other factors such as the individual’s reservation wage, marital status, sex and poverty status as well as their rural-urban location are also found to cause unemployment in Ghana. Practical implications – Unemployment as a result of the inability of individuals to obtain a job of their choice in the midst of strong economic growth in Ghana suggests weak employment content of growth. In contrast, an increasing phenomenon of unemployment with education also reflects a problem of skill mismatch between skills churn out by education and training institutions and skills requirement by firms in the labour market. Originality/value – The originality of the paper and its contribution to existing literature largely emanate from the inclusion of demand factors in a cross sectional analysis of causes of unemployment.

• Unemployment

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• 10.1108/AJEMS-11-2014-0089

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• Link to publication in Scopus

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• Supply and Demand Social Sciences 100%
• Ghana Social Sciences 100%
• Professional Occupations Social Sciences 50%
• Household Survey Social Sciences 50%
• Demand and Supply of Labor Economics, Econometrics and Finance 50%
• Marital Status Social Sciences 25%
• Economic Growth Social Sciences 25%
• Unemployment Rate Social Sciences 25%

T1 - Unemployment in Ghana

T2 - a cross sectional analysis from demand and supply perspectives

AU - Baah-Boateng, William

N1 - Publisher Copyright: © 2015, Emerald Group Publishing Limited.

PY - 2015/12/7

Y1 - 2015/12/7

N2 - Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to analyse the causes of unemployment in Ghana from both labour demand and supply perspectives based on most recent cross sectional data set from one nationally representative household survey and a baseline survey for Millennium Development Support. Design/methodology/approach – A logit regression estimation technique is applied to two different household survey data sets of 2008 and 2013 to capture the effect of labour demand and supply on unemployment. Findings – Using education and age as capability variables to represent supply factors, unemployment is found to increase with education, and declines with age, confirming higher unemployment rate among the youth, than the old. The paper also observes strong influence of demand factors on unemployment based on relatively higher incidence of unemployment fulltime jobseekers relative to part-time jobseekers and seekers of formal or wage-employment and self-employment or SMEs compared with those seeking any job. Other factors such as the individual’s reservation wage, marital status, sex and poverty status as well as their rural-urban location are also found to cause unemployment in Ghana. Practical implications – Unemployment as a result of the inability of individuals to obtain a job of their choice in the midst of strong economic growth in Ghana suggests weak employment content of growth. In contrast, an increasing phenomenon of unemployment with education also reflects a problem of skill mismatch between skills churn out by education and training institutions and skills requirement by firms in the labour market. Originality/value – The originality of the paper and its contribution to existing literature largely emanate from the inclusion of demand factors in a cross sectional analysis of causes of unemployment.

AB - Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to analyse the causes of unemployment in Ghana from both labour demand and supply perspectives based on most recent cross sectional data set from one nationally representative household survey and a baseline survey for Millennium Development Support. Design/methodology/approach – A logit regression estimation technique is applied to two different household survey data sets of 2008 and 2013 to capture the effect of labour demand and supply on unemployment. Findings – Using education and age as capability variables to represent supply factors, unemployment is found to increase with education, and declines with age, confirming higher unemployment rate among the youth, than the old. The paper also observes strong influence of demand factors on unemployment based on relatively higher incidence of unemployment fulltime jobseekers relative to part-time jobseekers and seekers of formal or wage-employment and self-employment or SMEs compared with those seeking any job. Other factors such as the individual’s reservation wage, marital status, sex and poverty status as well as their rural-urban location are also found to cause unemployment in Ghana. Practical implications – Unemployment as a result of the inability of individuals to obtain a job of their choice in the midst of strong economic growth in Ghana suggests weak employment content of growth. In contrast, an increasing phenomenon of unemployment with education also reflects a problem of skill mismatch between skills churn out by education and training institutions and skills requirement by firms in the labour market. Originality/value – The originality of the paper and its contribution to existing literature largely emanate from the inclusion of demand factors in a cross sectional analysis of causes of unemployment.

KW - Demand

KW - Employment

KW - Supply

KW - Unemployment

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84947431998&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1108/AJEMS-11-2014-0089

DO - 10.1108/AJEMS-11-2014-0089

M3 - Article

AN - SCOPUS:84947431998

SN - 2040-0705

JO - African Journal of Economic and Management Studies

JF - African Journal of Economic and Management Studies

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Determinants of Unemployment in Ghana

Unemployment is often cited as a measure of the low employment content of Ghana's strong growth performance over the past three decades. The paper presents evidence to suggest that employment growth in Ghana continues to trail economic growth due to high growth of low employment generating sectors against sluggish growth of high labour absorption sectors. A cross‐sectional estimation of a probit regression model also indicates a strong effect of demand factors on unemployment, indicating a weak employment generating impact of economic growth. Empirical analysis also confirms higher vulnerability of youth and urban dwellers to unemployment with education and gender explaining unemployment in some instances. Reservation wage is also observed to have an increasing effect of unemployment. The paper recommends policies that promote investment in agriculture and manufacturing which is associated with higher employment elasticity of output. High incidence of unemployment among the youth and secondary school leavers in the most recent period requires targeted intervention including support for entrepreneurial training and start‐up capital to attract young school leavers to become 'creators' rather than 'seekers' of jobs. A downward review of expectations on the part of jobseekers in terms of their reservation wage could help reduce unemployment in Ghana.

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SCIREA Journal of Economics

Andy Dumevi

Purpose-Ghana has consistently been ranked among the ten fastest-growing African economies since 2017, but in 2020, falling oil prices and the COVID-19 pandemic plunged the country into economic recession. The objective of this study is to measure the heterogeneous effects of the COVID 19 crisis, through the prism of unemployment, populations, and the Ghanaian economy. This involves identifying which profiles of job seekers, and which territory profiles have been particularly vulnerable to the crisis. Design/methodology/approach-The methodology followed in this study consists in carrying out linear regressions on data from the World Bank database to see which variables affect the unemployment rate. Findings-The additional financial costs generated by unemployment and the fear of unemployment also contribute to increasing the state's public debt. Research limitations/implications-. Any scientific work has its limits. Our research only focused on the effects of unemployment in Ghana; we could have looked at the case of other countries in the sub-region, namely ECOWAS. Practical implications-. In Ghana, as in the rest of the world, youth unemployment seems to be a truly structural phenomenon, as the elasticity of youth employment concerning GDP growth is limited. Social implications-. It is noted that a young person in a situation of unemployment and underemployment, constitutes a loss for himself and the society because he does not participate in the economic life of his environment or even his country.

West Africa Review

Michael Poku-Boansi

Youth unemployment in Africa today is of critical concern. Youths (ages 15-24) in the region constituted 36.9 percent of the total working age population over the period 1995-2005. Unemployed youths are forced to find alternatives to generate income, including survival-type activities in the informal sector and criminal activity in extreme cases. Urban youth unemployment is exacerbated by rural-urban migration. The article examines how the unemployment situation in Ghana is affecting the youth. Specifically, it looks at the magnitude of the unemployment problem facing the youth in the country and the impact of youth unemployment on the economy. A case study approach within the context of descriptive analysis was adopted. The methods of analysis include reviews of existing data sources and descriptive analysis of findings contained in the censuses of 1960 through to 2000 as well as validation exercise using information provided by the Ghana Living Standards Survey. The study recommen...

Sudharshan Canagarajah

The slowdown and possible reversal in the rural-to-urban flow of labor in Ghana is symptomatic of a basic shortcoming in the country's economic recovery: the inadequate growth of the productive sector in the non-agricultural economy. The rate of growth of GDP has been adequate but much of the growth has been fueled and led by the services sector, which (at more than 46 percent) has surpassed agricultural as the main contributor to GDP. In some way growth in the services sector has been positive, but arguably it is a once-for-all adjustment to recovery that cannot be sustained at this growth rate without commensurate growth in both agricultural and non-agricultural production. Evidently, stabilization and liberalization measures have not been sufficient to put the industrial sector on a path of sustained growth. There is too little skilled labor in Ghana, and demand for industrial goods has been weak, in part because the cost of credit is high and savings are too low for ineffic...

Irene Appeaning Addo

This is an exploratory study examining the effect of the 1987 education reforms on youth unemployment in Ghana. The reform ushered in the Junior High School (J.H.S) and Senior High School (S.H.S) concepts. The number of years spent by pupils at primary and middle schools reduced from ten to nine years for primary and Junior High School, and that of students in Secondary Schools reduced from seven to three years. Some two years diploma courses at Polytechnic institutions increased to three years for Higher National Diploma and Undergraduate Degree Programmes at Universities increased from three to four years. The reforms led to increasing enrolment of pupils and students due to progressive policies instituted, including School Feeding Programme and Capitation. The reform also led to early completion of school which is not matched with expanded job opportunities. The technical and entrepreneurial skills purported to be acquired by students through the reforms were not realised because the equipment and tools provided for practical work was done one-off and never continued. Thus, the early completion of school, lack of jobs coupled with lack of technical, vocational and entre-preneurial skills of graduates from the schools have led to massive youth unemployment in Ghana. The total number of unemployed university graduates in Ghana is about 700,000. The study recommends that the education system should focus more on technical, vocational and technological programmes to make many school products innovative, and also graduates secure employable skills to develop entrepreneurship.

Lord A Adusei

Policy Research Working Papers

International Journal of Management, Economics and Social Sciences

IJMESS JOURNAL

This paper sets out to comparatively analyze various programs developed by the governments of Nigeria and Ghana towards alleviating unemployment. The inadequacies which have bedeviled these government assisted programs and their consequent failures warrant a review and reconsideration. The research employed qualitative case method with interviews as tools for data collection. Findings revealed a plethora of evidential facts with respect to perception of entrepreneurship in these countries which hinged on challenges such as inadequate funding, lack of requisite trainings, dearth of entrepreneurship education as well as the enabling environments. Most obvious among these challenges are the complete lack of governmental supports for the programs they propagated leading to the failure of various employment alleviation programs. This paper recommends the enactment of clear-cut policies by the governments under the leadership of a specialized ministry (ministry for entrepreneurship). Furthermore, a review and inclusion of entrepreneurship in the academic curriculum at all levels of the educational system will endear students to entrepreneurship studies. Finally, a holistic support of the organized private sectors in achieving a quantifiable target of full-fledged entrepreneurs within a decade will assist in unemployment reduction.

Kobby Odoro

Employment is a state of having a paid work, and unemployment, according to the CFI, is a term referring to individuals who are employable and actively seeking a job but are unable to find a job. Included in this group are those people in the workforce who are working but do not have an appropriate job.eg Frictional and structural unemployment in our case. This article looks at the state of having a paid work for the youth in Africa, Ghana in context, as the call for entrepreneurial as a source to employment creation, in curbing the unemployment situation in the country. According to Fortune reports, powering the people team, Human capital is the prime source for

Balenz School Of Thought

Amiri Bilalama

This study aimed at examining the macroeconomic determinants of youth unemployment in East Africa. Specifically, this study aimed to examine the contribution of Gross domestic product, youth population growth, inflation, external debt, foreign direct investment on youth unemployment. Time series data obtained from the World bank of 1985-2017 were used to analyse the relationship between youth unemployment and number of effect pointed out. The data obtained facilitated the estimation of the quantitative relationship among the variables. Gross domestic product, youth population growth, inflation, external debt, foreign direct investment and youth unemployment were the variables used in the study. The model was estimated by ordinary least square (OLS) so as to obtain their influences on youth unemployment. Multiple linear regression function model and Classical unemployment theory were used in the study. Empirical findings indicated that inflation, youth population growth and foreign direct investment had positive coefficient and were significant in reducing youth unemployment. While the results showed that external debt and GDP had negative coefficient but were significant implied that this variables had no influence on reducing youth unemployment. The government and policy makers are advised to strengthen policies which are geared to encourage foreign investor to spend more in the country and the government should reduce difficult condition for them hence cause the increase the reduction of youth unemployment.

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