African Labor Markets in Flux

This research proposal covers three specific empirical projects that seek to understand different aspects of modern African labor markets. Understanding more about how these labor markets work is directly tied to reducing poverty since for most people on the continent, labor is their only asset. My first project examines whether improved access to schooling in the last twenty years has shifted the occupational choices of young Africans. The second project investigates how local hiring by international organizations affects the demand for skilled labor in African countries. The third project analyzes how Chinese infrastructure investments in Africa affect the demand for unskilled labor on the continent. Each project will leverage existing national survey data or Census data from multiple countries, combined with relevant administrative data and appropriate econometric methods, to analyze how markets for skilled and unskilled labor in African settings have changed over time.