Blattman et al. (2019) study two interventions for underemployed youth across five Ethiopian sites: a $300 grant to spur self-employment, and a job offer to an industrial firm. Despite significant impacts on occupational choice, income, and health in the first year, after five years they see nearly complete convergence across all groups and outcomes. Short-run increases in productivity and earnings from the grant dissipate as recipients exit their micro-enterprises. Adverse effects of factory work on health found after one year also appear to be temporary. These results suggest that one-time and one-dimensional interventions may struggle to overcome barriers to wage- or self-employment.
Bargaining over purchase prices with microenterprise owners in Ghana, Hardy et al. (2020) show that poorer sellers agree to significantly lower prices than wealthier peers.
The introduction of labor-saving technologies in agriculture can release workers who find occupation in the manufacturing sector. The traditional view is that this structural transformation process leads to economic growth.
Alfonsi, Bandiera, Bassi, Burgess, Rasul, Sulaiman and Vitali (2020) design a labor market experiment to compare demand- and supply-side policies to tackle youth unemployment, a key issue in low-income countries.