Gender Analysis of the Corruption and Youth Unemployment Nexus in African Countries: A Dynamic Panel Threshold Approach

This paper aims to assess the nonlinear effects of corruption on male and female youth unemployment in a sample of 33 African countries over the period 2002–2021. Using the dynamic panel threshold model developed by Kremer et al. (2013), the results show the existence of a nonlinear relationship between control of corruption and youth unemployment for both men and women. Control of corruption has positive (negative) effects on the youth unemployment rate when corruption thresholds are below (above) -1.03 for young men's unemployment rate and -0.48 for young women's unemployment rate. The negative thresholds indicate that anti-corruption measures are insufficient to reduce the unemployment rate, particularly among young women. Moreover, in countries with low corruption rates, an increase in the control of corruption score by one point reduces the youth unemployment rate by 0.48 percentage points for young men and by 1.61 percentage points for young women. In order to better combat youth unemployment, the governments of African countries should strive to improve the quality of their institutions and achieve better governance capable of reducing corruption.