Discussion paper

DP16964 Curse or Blessing? Multinational Corporations and Labor Supply in Africa

Do multinational enterprises create local job opportunities in developing countries? We address this largely unanswered question by combining geolocalised individual-level data with information on domestic and foreign multinationals' affiliates in Sub-Saharan Africa over more than a decade. Having a multinational's affiliate within walking distance correlates with an increase in employment of +4.3% with respect to the sample mean. Multinationals' activity is correlated with higher off-farm and lower on-farm employment (+13% and -7%, respectively), a result driven by affiliates of foreign companies. Female employment and "good jobs" increase around affiliates, but only when they are part of foreign groups.

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Citation

Mendola, M, G Prarolo and T Sonno (2022), ‘DP16964 Curse or Blessing? Multinational Corporations and Labor Supply in Africa‘, CEPR Discussion Paper No. 16964. CEPR Press, Paris & London. https://cepr.org/publications/dp16964