ABSTRACT Whiles unemployment remains a challenge in Sub-Saharan African countries, trade openness has been identified in the literature as unemployment inducing. Nevertheless, the assessment of the effect of trade openness on unemployment has not received much attention in Sub-Saharan Africa. This study therefore empirically investigates the effects of trade openness on aggregate unemployment and youth unemployment in SSA. The study adopts the system GMM estimator in order that consistent and efficient estimates are obtained and to control for endogeneity in the estimation model. Using data for thirty-five SSA countries for the years 1991 to 2015, this study finds that an increase in trade openness results in lower aggregate and youth unemployment in the region. However, the magnitude of the effect of trade openness on youth unemployment is higher than that of aggregate unemployment. The study further shows an inverse relationship between real GDP per capita and unemployment. On the other hand, government expenditure, urbanization, real GDP growth, inflation and credit to the private sector are found to have a positive significant effect on unemployment in SSA. However, no significant relationship is observed between FDI and unemployment and Domestic investment and unemployment. It is recommended that Governments of SSA countries should take pragmatic measures to promote trade especially through the reduction of tariff and non-tariff barriers. In addition, inflation must be controlled and investments must also be channeled to sectors that are employment generating.
SAMIRATU, W (2021). Trade Openness And Unemployment: Evidence From Sub-Saharan Africa. Afribary. Retrieved from https://afribary.com/works/trade-openness-and-unemployment-evidence-from-sub-saharan-africa
SAMIRATU, WAHAB "Trade Openness And Unemployment: Evidence From Sub-Saharan Africa" Afribary. Afribary, 11 Apr. 2021, https://afribary.com/works/trade-openness-and-unemployment-evidence-from-sub-saharan-africa. Accessed 22 Dec. 2024.
SAMIRATU, WAHAB . "Trade Openness And Unemployment: Evidence From Sub-Saharan Africa". Afribary, Afribary, 11 Apr. 2021. Web. 22 Dec. 2024. < https://afribary.com/works/trade-openness-and-unemployment-evidence-from-sub-saharan-africa >.
SAMIRATU, WAHAB . "Trade Openness And Unemployment: Evidence From Sub-Saharan Africa" Afribary (2021). Accessed December 22, 2024. https://afribary.com/works/trade-openness-and-unemployment-evidence-from-sub-saharan-africa