Essays in globalization Technology and the Labor Market (original) (raw)
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The Impact of Globalization and Technology Transfer on Manufacturing Employment and Skills in Ethiopia * 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 labouraugmenting 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".
Imported technology and manufacturing employment in Ethiopia
Eurasian Business Review, 2016
There is a dearth of research on the impact of technological change over employment in least developed countries (LDCs) embarking on globalization and consequent international technological transfer. Using a panel of 1940 Ethiopian firms over the period 1996-2004 and deploying GMM-SYS estimates, this paper aims to establish the role played by trade, FDI and technology in affecting employment and skills. The results obtained lend support to a labour-augmenting effect. Moreover, the implemented two-equation dynamic framework provides evidence of a skill-bias specific to those enterprises with higher share of foreign ownership and located in the vicinity of the capital city. Keywords Employment Á Skills Á Globalization Á FDI Á Trade Á Technological change Á Ethiopia JEL Classifications J21 Á O33 Á J24 Ilina would like to thank the University of Nottingham for the academic and institutional support she received during her visit in summer 2013, which made possible undertaking some of the empirical analysis in this paper. The usual disclaimer applies.