Development as diffusion : manufacturing productivity and Sub-Saharan Africa's missing middle
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Justin YIFU LIN and Célestin MONGA (eds), The Oxford handbook of Africa and economics : context and concepts, Oxford : Oxford University Press, 2015, Oxford handbooks, OnlineOnly
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GELB, Alan, MEYER, Christian J., RAMACHANDRAN, Vijaya, Development as diffusion : manufacturing productivity and Sub-Saharan Africa’s missing middle, in Justin YIFU LIN and Célestin MONGA (eds), The Oxford handbook of Africa and economics : context and concepts, Oxford : Oxford University Press, 2015, Oxford handbooks, OnlineOnly - https://hdl.handle.net/1814/37986
Abstract
This chapter considers economic development of sub-Saharan Africa from the perspective of slow convergence of productivity, both across sectors and across firms within sectors. Why have “productivity enclaves,” islands of high productivity in a sea of smaller low-productivity firms, not diffused more rapidly? Three sets of factors are summarized and analyzed: first, the poor business climate, which constraints the allocation of production factors between sectors and firms. Second, the complex political economy of business–government relations in Africa’s small economies. Third, the distribution of firm capabilities. The roots for these factors lie in Africa’s geography and its distinctive history, including the legacy of its colonial period on state formation and market structure.