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Globalization and Technology Transfer in Ethiopia: Their Impact on Domestic Employment and Skills

Author

Listed:
  • Getinet Haile

    (University of Nottingham, UK)

  • Ilina Srour

    (Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Milano and Piacenza)

  • Marco Vivarelli

    (DISCE, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Milano and Piacenza)

Abstract

There is a dearth of research on the impact of technological change on employment in the context of least developed countries (LDCs) embarking on globalization, which enhances the prospect of direct technological imports or embodied technological transfer. Using a sample of 1,940 enterprises from Ethiopia over the period 1996–2004 and deploying System Generalized Method of Moments (GMM-SYS), this paper attempts to establish the nature of manufacturing employment in Ethiopia and the role played by trade and FDI in determining employment. The empirical results obtained lend support to globalization having a labour–augmenting effect, increasing total manufacturing employment. The two-equation dynamic framework implemented to analyse enterprise-level employment trends by skill level provides some evidence of skill-bias specific to enterprises with higher share of foreign ownership and those that that are located in the vicinity of the capital city. Exporters are not found to benefit from "learning by exporting"

Suggested Citation

  • Getinet Haile & Ilina Srour & Marco Vivarelli, 2014. "Globalization and Technology Transfer in Ethiopia: Their Impact on Domestic Employment and Skills," DISCE - Quaderni del Dipartimento di Scienze Economiche e Sociali dises1498, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Dipartimenti e Istituti di Scienze Economiche (DISCE).
    • Handle: RePEc:ctc:serie2:dises1498
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Employment; skills; globalization; FDI; trade; technological change; Ethiopia;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • O33 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Innovation; Research and Development; Technological Change; Intellectual Property Rights - - - Technological Change: Choices and Consequences; Diffusion Processes
    • F16 - International Economics - - Trade - - - Trade and Labor Market Interactions
    • L60 - Industrial Organization - - Industry Studies: Manufacturing - - - General
    • O55 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economywide Country Studies - - - Africa
    • C33 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Multiple or Simultaneous Equation Models; Multiple Variables - - - Models with Panel Data; Spatio-temporal Models

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