Performance ranking triggers multiple social incentives for workers. On one hand, it offers status rewards to induce the workers to increase their effort. On the other, it introduces risks of social retribution from coworkers for outperforming them.
In cities with conservative norms or high crime, female workers may face greater restrictions on their physical mobility. This limits women’s labor market opportunities and the pool of workers that firms can attract.
This paper aims to extend our knowledge of wage dispersion to developing countries. For this purpose, we built the first matched employer-employee database in a sub-Saharan African country (Senegal).
We analyze matched employee-employer data from Ethiopia’s largest special economic zone during a period of downsizing pressure from the COVID-19 world import demand shock.
Manufacturing has made an important contribution to raising living standards in many parts of the world. Concerns about premature deindustrialization have made some observers skeptical about the potential for manufacturing to play this role in Africa.
Enabling worker voice could improve worker retention and effort by providing workers the chance to improve their situation or an outlet to express discontent. We provide a test of this hypothesis via a randomised controlled trial in Indian garment factories.
