The Working Behavior of Young People in Rural Côte d'Ivoire

Abstract

One of the major features of structural adjustment is an attempt to reallocate laborand hence output-through changes in relative prices. This article assesses how price changes affect the working patterns of young people in rural C6te d7voire. The analysis is based on a model of the labor supply of rural households and on the construction of composite price indexes. The data come from the C6te d'Ivoire Living Standards Survey for 1985 and 1986. The panel aspect of the data allows the work choice made in one year to depend on the individual's choice in the previous year. Results indicate that the price of agricultural output generally is a positive incentive on the decision to participate in the labor force. However, this result depends heavily on the employment and education of the individual in the previous period. Those not already working are less likely to respond to favorable movements in the prices of cash crops by entering the work force. This article reports on research on the determinants of working patterns among young people in rural C6te d'Ivoire. Because young people's decisions about working are closely related to decisions about schooling, the article also focuses on the relationship between work and school. The motivation for this study arises from an interest in the effects of structural adjustment programs on work incentives. Structural adjustment is expected to increase output by altering the incentives facing producers. The effect of improved incentives could, in principle, be measured by directly observing changes in output. The time lag between the change in incentives and the change in output can be substantial, however, especially when tree crops are involved, so that data over a long period may be