CHINESE FIRMS AND EMPLOYMENT DYNAMICS IN SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA: A COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS

本世纪头十年，中国在撒哈拉以南非洲的投资(包括公共和私人投资)大幅飙升，引发了许多关于其发展影响的讨论和争议。然而，尽管最近在研究方面取得了一些进展，但关于这种影响的具体证据仍然有限。这项研究将特别侧重于收集有关这类投资的就业影响的具体信息。但这项研究不会仅限于考察中国的外商直接投资。它还将调查更广泛的“中国海外承包工程”类别的影响。这些倡议包括中国的援助，近年来呈指数级增长，通常采取建设项目的形式。为了衡量此类倡议的就业影响，将在中国投资巨大的两个国家--安哥拉和埃塞俄比亚--的建筑业和制造业这两个行业进行企业层面和以工人为重点的调查。尽管中国公司在两国的建筑业创造了更多的就业机会，但最近中国对制造业投资的增加尤其重要，因为这可能预示着生产率更高的工作岗位的显著增加，而整个撒哈拉以南非洲地区都缺乏这些工作岗位。这项研究将评估中国投资在三个具体领域的影响：国家工人的就业、工作条件和技能发展。工人层面的访谈对该项目将很重要，因为它们将使研究人员能够更动态地了解国家工人的就业状况。例如，受访工人将被问及他们以前的工作情况，以便与他们在中国公司的现状进行比较。此外，这种工人层面的面试将被用来识别为了在国有公司或自营职业中获得新工作而离开中国公司的工人。这些工人随后将接受采访，以确定他们在中国公司的就业是否是改善未来就业的跳板。特别值得关注的是在中国公司就业对培训和一般技能发展的影响。这项研究项目还将寻求将中国公司在撒哈拉以南非洲的就业条件与中国工人在中国类似公司的就业条件进行比较。这项研究将由中国的研究人员和英国的研究人员进行，他们是中国的专家。但该项目在这方面的研究将不会基于新的调查，而是基于收集所有有关中国劳动条件的相关材料，特别是他们最近的演变。尤其值得关注的是最近就业条件的趋势以及中国政府政策的任何变化，这些变化可能会影响中国公司在撒哈拉以南非洲的投资行为。这项研究项目的目的是对正在进行的关于位于撒哈拉以南非洲的中国公司的发展影响的辩论的性质产生重要影响。尤其重要的是，我们的成果将对撒哈拉以南非洲各国政府和区域发展组织的政策立场产生影响。但该项目的主要目标之一也是影响国际发展界关于发展合作对就业的影响的更广泛辩论的性质，特别是在努力制定新的、更有效的2015年后全球发展议程的背景下。

The dramatic upsurge during the 2000s of Chinese investment (both public and private) in sub-Saharan Africa has sparked much discussion and controversy about its development impact. However, despite some recent advances in research, concrete evidence on this impact has remained limited. This research will focus specifically on gathering concrete information on the employment effects of such investment. But this research will not confine itself to examining just Chinese FDI. It will also investigate the impact of the much broader category of what are called 'Chinese overseas contracted projects'. These initiatives, which include Chinese aid, have grown exponentially in recent years, and have often taken the form of construction projects.In order to gauge the employment effects of such initiatives, firm-level and worker-focused surveys will be conducted in two sectors, construction and manufacturing, in two countries where such Chinese investment has been substantial, i.e., Angola and Ethiopia. Though Chinese firms have created more employment in construction in both countries, the recent increase in Chinese investment in manufacturing is particularly important because it could portend significant increases in higher-productivity jobs, which are in short supply throughout sub-Saharan Africa.This research will assess the impact of Chinese investment in three specific areas: the employment, working conditions and skill development of national workers. Worker-level interviews will be important to the project because they will enable researchers to develop a more dynamic picture of the employment conditions of national workers. For example, the workers interviewed will be asked about their previous employment so that comparisons can be drawn with their current conditions in Chinese firms. Moreover, such worker-level interviews will be utilized to identify workers who have left Chinese firms in order to secure new jobs in national firms or in self-employment. Such workers will subsequently be interviewed in order to determine whether their employment in Chinese firms was a springboard for improved future employment. Of particular concern will be the effect of employment in Chinese firms on training and general skill development.This research project will also seek to compare employment conditions in Chinese firms in sub-Saharan Africa to the employment conditions of Chinese workers themselves in similar firms in China. This research will be carried out by both researchers in China and researchers in the United Kingdom who are China specialists. But this aspect of the project's research will not be based on new surveys but on the gathering of all relevant available material on labour conditions in China and especially their recent evolution. Of particular concern will be the effect of recent trends in employment conditions and any changes in the policy of the Chinese government that could have influenced the conduct of Chinese firms investing in sub-Saharan Africa.The intent of this research project is to have an important impact on the character of the ongoing debate on the development impact of Chinese firms located in sub-Saharan Africa. Particularly important will be the effect of our results on the policy stance of governments and regional development organizations in sub-Saharan Africa. But also one of the project's major objectives is to influence the character of the broader debate within the international development community on the employment effects of development cooperation, particularly within the context of the efforts to frame a new and more effective global post-2015 development agenda.