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Employment Strategy
Employment Strategy
very serious migration and employment situation in developing countries. We conclude with a
summary of what appears to be the consensus of most economists on the shape of a
comprehensive migration and employment strategy. This would appear to have seven key
elements:
First, Creating an appropriate rural-urban economic balance. Since, a more appropriate balance
between rural and urban economic opportunities appears to be indispensable to both urban and
rural unemployment problems and to slowing the pace of rural-urban migration. The main thrust
of this activity should be in the integrated development of the rural sector, the spread of rural
nonfarm employment opportunities, improved credit access, better agricultural training, the
reorientation of social investments toward rural areas, improving rural infrastructure, and
addressing shortcomings of rural institutions, the presence of which has the effect of raising the
cost of delaying out-migration.
Second, Expansion of small-scale, labor-intensive industries. The composition or “product mix”
of output has obvious effects on the magnitude of employment opportunities because some
products require more labor per unit of output and per unit of capital than others. Expansion of
these mostly small-scale and labor-intensive industries in both urban and rural areas can be
accomplished in two ways: First directly, through government investment and incentives and
improved access to credit, particularly for activities in the urban informal sector, and second
indirectly, through income redistribution to the rural poor, whose structure of consumer demand
is both less import-intensive and more labor-intensive than that of the rich.