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Internal migration and youth entrepreneurship in the Democratic Republic of the Congo

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  • Alain Kikandi Kiuma
  • Abdelkrim Araar
  • Christian Kamala Kaghoma

Abstract

This paper analyzes youth internal migration in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and its impact on entrepreneurship startup in a fresh post‐conflict context. Building on a national representative survey conducted in 2005, a recursive bivariate probit specification is used to jointly estimate the decision models of both migration and entrepreneurship. To evaluate the robustness of results, the propensity score matching method is used to test the concordance of the results after eliminating the redundant impact of unobserved factors. The two main conclusions are that youth migration increases the probability of being an entrepreneur, but in the informal sector. In addition, like secondary and post‐secondary education, the duration of stay after migrating is an important factor to being an entrepreneur in the formal sector. These conclusions are expected to enlighten policy‐makers as to the importance of promoting secondary and post‐secondary education as well as inclusive growth investments that may absorb more youth labor in formal sectors. This is the first exercise in the case of the DRC and since it focuses on youth, the paper makes a unique contribution to the literature related to the link between migration and entrepreneurship in a post‐war context.

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  • Alain Kikandi Kiuma & Abdelkrim Araar & Christian Kamala Kaghoma, 2020. "Internal migration and youth entrepreneurship in the Democratic Republic of the Congo," Review of Development Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 24(3), pages 790-814, August.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:rdevec:v:24:y:2020:i:3:p:790-814
    DOI: 10.1111/rode.12669
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    2. Dileni Gunewardena & Abdoulaye Seck, 2020. "Heterogeneity in entrepreneurship in developing countries: Risk, credit, and migration and the entrepreneurial propensity of youth and women," Review of Development Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 24(3), pages 713-725, August.
    3. Dejan Djordjevic & Dragan Cockalo & Srdjan Bogetic & Mihalj Bakator, 2021. "Predicting Entrepreneurial Intentions among the Youth in Serbia with a Classification Decision Tree Model with the QUEST Algorithm," Mathematics, MDPI, vol. 9(13), pages 1-27, June.
    4. Cedrick Kalemasi Mosengo & Christian Zamo Akono, 2024. "Effect of Informal Employment on Overeducation in Developing Countries with a focus on the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC)," Working Papers 24/004, European Xtramile Centre of African Studies (EXCAS).
    5. Chowdhury, Shyamal & Hasan, Syed & Sharma, Uttam, 2024. "The Role of Trainee Selection in the Effectiveness of Vocational Training: Evidence from a Randomized Controlled Trial in Nepal," IZA Discussion Papers 16705, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    6. Akilimali Ndatabaye Ephrem & Paul Martin Dontsop Nguezet & McEdward Murimbika & Zoumana Bamba & Victor Manyong, 2021. "Perceived Social Norms and Agripreneurial Intention among Youths in Eastern DRC," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(6), pages 1-21, March.
    7. Cedrick Kalemasi Mosengo & Christian Zamo Akono, 2024. "Effect of Informal Employment on Overeducation in Developing Countries with a focus on the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC)," Working Papers of the African Governance and Development Institute. 24/004, African Governance and Development Institute..

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