The International Labour Organisation (ILO) argues for relaxing the standard definition of unemployment in developing countries where labour markets are not as efficient as those in the developed world. We examine whether such an extension of the standard definition is appropriate in the case of...

This paper presents an empirical analysis of the incidence of visible underemployment in Trinidad and Tobago. Visible underemployment consists of workers who work less than the normal duration of working hours but are willing and available to work more. We find that compared to other groups of...

Standard neo-classical trade theory predicts that trade liberalisation should cause a fall in wage inequality in developing countries through a decrease in the relative demand for skilled labour. Recent studies of a number of developing countries, however, find evidence to the contrary. Using a...

Using comparable data sets for five African countries we estimate, and evaluate possible explanations for, the employer size wage effect across these. Our results indicate, just as has been generally found for other developing and developed nations, that apart from observable worker...

This paper investigates whether education is used as a signaling device for worker productivity in developing countries. To do such we employ a simple test of employer learning on Ghana manufacturing data. We find no evidence of educational signaling for individuals who were hired through direct...

While there have been some references in the literature to the potential role of the general decline in rainfall in sub-Saharan African nations on their poor growth performance relative to other developing countries, this avenue remains empirically unexplored. In this paper we use a new...

In monopsony models of the labour market either a minimum wage or an employment subsidy financed by a lump sum tax on profits can achieve the efficient level of employment and output. Incorporating working conditions into a monopsony model where higher wages raise firm labour supply, but less...

On April the 6th of 1998 the government of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago introduced a National Minimum Wage for the first time. Using the Trinidad and Tobago labour force survey we show that potential costs, if there had been full compliance, could have been substantial. An examination of...

This paper presents an empirical analysis of the relationship between foreign aid inflows and the real exchange rate in 12 countries of the CFA Franc zone. Using dynamic panel analysis we find that foreign aid inflows do not generate Dutch disease effects in these countries. In terms of policy...