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Finance and economics
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Employment in Sub-Saharan Africa
非洲撒哈拉以南地區就業狀況
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Why African firms create so few jobs
為何非洲公司創造的就業機會如此之少
AFRICAN businesses are reluctant employers.
非洲企業均為不愿聘請員工的雇主。
A given firm in Sub-Saharan Africa typically has 24% fewer people on its books than equivalent firms elsewhere, according to a recent paper from the Centre for Global Development, a think-tank based in Washington, DC.
全球發展中心一份近期的報告顯示，在給定的相同規模條件下，非洲撒哈拉以南地區的公司通常比其他地方的公司在賬面上要少雇傭24%的員工。
Given the links between employment and development, economists want to figure out the reasons for the shortfall.
就業與增長之間的是有所關聯的，而在考慮到這一點后經濟學家們都想要弄清楚上述差額產生的原因。
The study calculates the missing jobs by crunching information on 41,000 formal businesses globally from a World Bank survey.
此次研究使用了來自世界銀行全球41000家正規企業的調查資料，統計出了崗位流失情況。
The data capture only a sliver of what actually happens in Africa: nine in ten workers have an informal job.
而這些數據只反映出了零星非洲的真實情況：事實上，十個工人當中有九位是在干著非正式的工作。
Shunned by the formal sector, workers turn to below-the-radar employment—toiling on family farms or otherwise beyond the government's reach.
由于被正規部門所拋棄，工人們轉向了地下就業市場—在家庭農場工作或是進入到政府監管之外的領域。
But a big informal sector makes it harder for Africa to reduce poverty, even when economic growth is strong.
但一個龐大的非正規就業市場，甚至是在經濟增長強勁的條件下，也會使得非洲國家難以減少貧困人口。
Increases in income on the production side of the economy translate weakly into higher wages for workers.
國家經濟在生產方面的收入增長，難以轉化為更高的工人薪資水平。
Indeed the relationship between economic growth and poverty reduction is weaker in Africa than any other developing region.
事實上，經濟增長與貧困人口減少之間的聯系密切程度，在非洲地區的要比其他發展中地區弱得多。
Several factors explain African bosses' reluctance to take on new workers.
以下一些因素能夠去解釋為何非洲的老板們不愿意雇用新工人。
One is that firms tend to be younger than elsewhere, but even older ones have fewer employees.
首先是非洲公司都普遍比其他地區的公司年輕，但即便是老牌公司也雇用很少的員工。
More broadly, Africa's business climate discourages hiring.
更廣泛地說，那就是非洲的市場不鼓勵雇用員工。
Government officials in search of taxes and bribes tend to chase large firms, rather than small ones, says Vijaya Ramachandran of CGD, because they are considered more likely to cough up.
來自CGD組織的Vijaya Ramachandran解釋道，渴望稅收和賄賂的政府官員更傾向于對大公司下手而不是小公司，因為他們覺得大公司更有可能繳稅和賄賂。
The managers of Nigerien and Liberian firms with more than 100 employees spend 14% longer dealing with government officials than smaller peers.
尼日爾和利比里亞當中規模超過100名員工的公司負責人，要比小規模的同行花費多出14%的時間去與政府官員打交道。
A recent study from South Africa revealed that bosses there were desperate to dodge the attentions of bureaucrats and thus avoided taking on new workers.
最近一份南非的研究報告揭示，非洲這邊的老板們正迫不及待地想要避開政府的關注，因此他們選擇避免聘請新工人。
High unit labour costs are also culpable.
高昂的單位勞動力成本也是其中一個因素。
Employing people in Africa should be cheap, given that many of its countries have rock-bottom income levels.
鑒于許多非洲國家的國民收入水平都處于底部，這邊的勞動力應該是十分低廉的。
Yet in half of African countries labour costs are higher than in China because workers are less productive.
然而，由于工人生產力低下，半數非洲國家的勞動力成本比中國還要高。
They are nearly 80% higher in Africa than those in other countries at similar levels of income.
與其他收入水平相當的國家相比，非洲的勞動力成本要高出約80%。
That lowers competitiveness and makes hiring less likely.
而這不僅降低了國家的競爭力，還令雇傭就業水平大減。
Economists disagree about the possible causes of this.
對其成因，經濟學家們的觀點并不一致。
Red tape and unionisation may be responsible, though on average indicators of labour-market regulation are no different in Africa than elsewhere.
雖然平均來看勞力市場監管的各項指標顯示非洲與其他地區沒什么不同，但政府的官僚作風和工會的組織不力有著一定的責任。
Nonetheless there are horror stories.
盡管如此，這里還是有可怕的故事。
A 2012 report on South Africa, which lays the blame on greedy unions, calculates that the average employee at Eskom, a state-owned electricity utility, earns 40% more in terms of purchasing-power parity than a German professor.
一份2012年來自南非的報告譴責了貪婪的壟斷聯合團體。該份報告統計了一家國有電力公司Eskom的情況，發現以購買力平價計算，該公司平均員工的薪酬水平比德國教授的薪酬水平還要高40%。
Africa's commodity-driven export models may be another cause of low formal employment.
非洲實體商品出口模式或許是正規就業市場低迷的另一大因素。
Four-fifths of the continent's export revenues are from commodities.
五分之四的非洲出口利潤是從實體商品中獲取的。
That can lead to overvalued exchange rates if their prices rise.
如果商品價格上升，這便會導致貨幣匯率被高估。
That hurts firms' competitiveness, curbs their growth and thus discourages hiring.
而這傷害了公司的競爭力，損害了他們的業績增長，因此也導致了就業市場的低迷。
Changing labour-market dynamics could exacerbate the job problem.
動蕩的勞動力市場會加劇就業問題。
Some 250m people are expected to join the African workforce between 2010 and 2050.
有2億5千萬人將在2010年至2050年間加入非洲的勞動力市場。
In the short term many will go into farming, which employs 65% of the African labour force.
短期內，許多人將會投身于農業耕作當中，而目前這正是非洲65%的勞動力的工作內容。
The agricultural sector struggles to create enough jobs.
農業部門一直在為創造足夠的新就業機會而掙扎。
In the 1990s donors lost interest in using their aid dollars for agricultural investment.
20世紀90年代，捐贈者們已經對農業方面的投資捐助失去了興趣。
Shame: better farming techniques could bring unproductive land into use and help Africa shift into higher-value-added crops.
而這正是一個值得羞愧的事情：更好的農耕技術能夠讓貧瘠的土地變肥沃，與此同時，還能幫助非洲轉向生產更高價值的作物。
According to a report by McKinsey, a consulting firm, that could create 6m extra jobs by 2020.
麥肯錫咨詢公司的報告表示，這樣的技術將會在2020年前為非洲創造額外600萬個就業機會。
But agricultural improvement can also free up labour to work in more productive sectors—if the jobs are available.
但是，農業技術進步的同時也解放了勞動力的使用，使得富余勞動力能夠往更高產出的部門流動。
Africa is embracing structural reform: a recent report from the World Bank shows that of the 20 economies worldwide making the most progress in improving business regulation, nine are in Sub-Saharan Africa.
非洲正在實現自身的結構性改革：一份世界銀行近期的報告顯示，全球20個在改進商業法規的方面做得最好的國家當中，有9個是非洲撒哈拉以南地區的國家。
Without further improvement, employment growth in Africa's formal sector will remain depressingly stunted.
然而，在沒有進一步改善的情況下，非洲正規部門的就業增長將依舊呈現出令人失望的受阻態勢。
