经济学人364:非洲撒哈拉以南地区就业状况

　　Finance and economics
财经商业
Employment in Sub-Saharan Africa
非洲撒哈拉以南地区就业状况
Sorry, no vacancies¹
抱歉，暂无空缺
Why African firms create so few jobs
为何非洲公司创造的就业机会如此之少
AFRICAN businesses are reluctant employers.
非洲企业均为不愿聘请员工的雇主。
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.
全球发展中心一份近期的报告显示，在给定的相同规模条件下，非洲撒哈拉以南地区的公司通常比其他地方的公司在账面上要少雇佣24%的员工。
撒哈拉.jpg
Given the links between employment and development, economists² want to figure out the reasons for the shortfall.
就业与增长之间的是有所关联的，而在考虑到这一点后经济学家们都想要弄清楚上述差额产生的原因。
The study calculates the missing jobs by crunching³ information on 41,000 formal businesses globally from a World Bank survey.
此次研究使用了来自世界银行全球41000家正规企业的调查资料，统计出了岗位流失情况。
The data capture only a sliver⁴ of what actually happens in Africa: nine in ten workers have an informal job.
而这些数据只反映出了零星非洲的真实情况：事实上，十个工人当中有九位是在干着非正式的工作。
Shunned⁵ by the formal sector⁶, workers turn to below-the-radar employment—toiling on family farms or otherwise beyond the government's reach.
由于被正规部门所抛弃，工人们转向了地下就业市场—在家庭农场工作或是进入到政府监管之外的领域。
But a big informal sector makes it harder for Africa to reduce poverty, even when economic growth is strong.
但一个庞大的非正规就业市场，甚至是在经济增长强劲的条件下，也会使得非洲国家难以减少贫困人口。
Increases in income on the production side of the economy translate weakly into higher wages for workers.
国家经济在生产方面的收入增长，难以转化为更高的工人薪资水平。
Indeed the relationship between economic growth and poverty reduction is weaker in Africa than any other developing region.
事实上，经济增长与贫困人口减少之间的联系密切程度，在非洲地区的要比其他发展中地区弱得多。
Several factors explain African bosses' reluctance⁷ to take on new workers.
以下一些因素能够去解释为何非洲的老板们不愿意雇用新工人。
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区的公司年轻，但即便是老牌公司也雇用很少的员工。
More broadly, Africa's business climate discourages hiring.
更广泛地说，那就是非洲的市场不鼓励雇用员工。
Government officials in search of taxes and bribes⁸ tend to chase large firms, rather than small ones, says Vijaya Ramachandran of CGD, because they are considered more likely to cough up.
来自CGD组织的Vijaya Ramachandran解释道，渴望税收和贿赂的政府官员更倾向于对大公司下手而不是小公司，因为他们觉得大公司更有可能缴税和贿赂。
The managers of Nigerien and Liberian firms with more than 100 employees spend 14% longer dealing⁹ with government officials than smaller peers.
尼日尔和利比里亚当中规模超过100名员工的公司负责人，要比小规模的同行花费多出14%的时间去与政府官员打交道。
A recent study from South Africa revealed that bosses there were desperate to dodge¹⁰ the attentions of bureaucrats¹¹ and thus avoided taking on new workers.
最近一份南非的研究报告揭示，非洲这边的老板们正迫不及待地想要避开政府的关注，因此他们选择避免聘请新工人。
High unit labour costs are also culpable¹².
高昂的单位劳动力成本也是其中一个因素。
Employing people in Africa should be cheap, given that many of its countries have rock-bottom income levels.
鉴于许多非洲国家的国民收入水平都处于底部，这边的劳动力应该是十分低廉的。
Yet in half of African countries labour costs are higher than in China because workers are less productive.
然而，由于工人生产力低下，半数非洲国家的劳动力成本比中国还要高。
They are nearly 80% higher in Africa than those in other countries at similar levels of income.
与其他收入水平相当的国家相比，非洲的劳动力成本要高出约80%。
That lowers competitiveness and makes hiring less likely.
而这不仅降低了国家的竞争力，还令雇佣就业水平大减。
Economists disagree about the possible causes of this.
对其成因，经济学家们的观点并不一致。
Red tape and unionisation may be responsible, though on average indicators¹³ of labour-market regulation are no different in Africa than elsewhere.
虽然平均来看劳力市场监管的各项指标显示非洲与其他地区没什么不同，但政府的官僚作风和工会的组织不力有着一定的责任。
Nonetheless there are horror stories.
尽管如此，这里还是有可怕的故事。
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 parity¹⁴ than a German professor.
一份2012年来自南非的报告谴责了贪婪的垄断联合团体。该份报告统计了一家国有电力公司Eskom的情况，发现以购买力平价计算，该公司平均员工的薪酬水平比德国教授的薪酬水平还要高40%。
Africa's commodity-driven export models may be another cause of low formal employment.
非洲实体商品出口模式或许是正规就业市场低迷的另一大因素。
Four-fifths of the continent's export revenues are from commodities.
五分之四的非洲出口利润是从实体商品中获取的。
That can lead to overvalued exchange rates if their prices rise.
如果商品价格上升，这便会导致货币汇率被高估。
That hurts firms' competitiveness, curbs¹⁵ their growth and thus discourages hiring.
而这伤害了公司的竞争力，损害了他们的业绩增长，因此也导致了就业市场的低迷。
Changing labour-market dynamics¹⁶ could exacerbate¹⁷ the job problem.
动荡的劳动力市场会加剧就业问题。
Some 250m people are expected to join the African workforce¹⁸ between 2010 and 2050.
有2亿5千万人将在2010年至2050年间加入非洲的劳动力市场。
In the short term many will go into farming, which employs 65% of the African labour force.
短期内，许多人将会投身于农业耕作当中，而目前这正是非洲65%的劳动力的工作内容。
The agricultural sector struggles to create enough jobs.
农业部门一直在为创造足够的新就业机会而挣扎。
In the 1990s donors¹⁹ lost interest in using their aid dollars for agricultural investment.
20世纪90年代，捐赠者们已经对农业方面的投资捐助失去了兴趣。
Shame: better farming techniques could bring unproductive land into use and help Africa shift into higher-value-added crops.
而这正是一个值得羞愧的事情：更好的农耕技术能够让贫瘠的土地变肥沃，与此同时，还能帮助非洲转向生产更高价值的作物。
According to a report by McKinsey, a consulting firm, that could create 6m extra jobs by 2020.
麦肯锡咨询公司的报告表示，这样的技术将会在2020年前为非洲创造额外600万个就业机会。
But agricultural improvement can also free up labour to work in more productive sectors—if the jobs are available.
但是，农业技术进步的同时也解放了劳动力的使用，使得富余劳动力能够往更高产出的部门流动。
Africa is embracing structural²⁰ 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.
非洲正在实现自身的结构性改革：一份世界银行近期的报告显示，全球20个在改进商业法规的方面做得最好的国家当中，有9个是非洲撒哈拉以南地区的国家。
Without further improvement, employment growth in Africa's formal sector will remain depressingly stunted²¹.
然而，在没有进一步改善的情况下，非洲正规部门的就业增长将依旧呈现出令人失望的受阻态势。

1 vacancies   

n.空房间( vacancy的名词复数 )；空虚；空白；空缺

参考例句：

• job vacancies 职位空缺
• The sign outside the motel said \"No Vacancies\". 汽车旅馆外的招牌显示“客满”。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 economists   

n.经济学家，经济专家( economist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The sudden rise in share prices has confounded economists. 股价的突然上涨使经济学家大惑不解。
• Foreign bankers and economists cautiously welcomed the minister's initiative. 外国银行家和经济学家对部长的倡议反应谨慎。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 crunching   

v.嘎吱嘎吱地咬嚼( crunch的现在分词 )；嘎吱作响；（快速大量地）处理信息；数字捣弄

参考例句：

• The horses were crunching their straw at their manger. 这些马在嘎吱嘎吱地吃槽里的草。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The dog was crunching a bone. 狗正嘎吱嘎吱地嚼骨头。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 sliver   

n.裂片，细片，梳毛；v.纵切，切成长片，剖开

参考例句：

• There was only one sliver of light in the darkness.黑暗中只有一点零星的光亮。
• Then,one night,Monica saw a thin sliver of the moon reappear.之后的一天晚上，莫尼卡看到了一个月牙。

5 shunned   

v.避开，回避，避免( shun的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• She was shunned by her family when she remarried. 她再婚后家里人都躲着她。
• He was a shy man who shunned all publicity. 他是个怕羞的人，总是避开一切引人注目的活动。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 sector   

n.部门，部分；防御地段，防区；扇形

参考例句：

• The export sector will aid the economic recovery. 出口产业将促进经济复苏。
• The enemy have attacked the British sector.敌人已进攻英国防区。

7 reluctance   

n.厌恶，讨厌，勉强，不情愿

参考例句：

• The police released Andrew with reluctance.警方勉强把安德鲁放走了。
• He showed the greatest reluctance to make a reply.他表示很不愿意答复。

8 bribes   

n.贿赂( bribe的名词复数 )；向（某人）行贿，贿赂v.贿赂( bribe的第三人称单数 )；向（某人）行贿，贿赂

参考例句：

• It was alleged that he had taken bribes while in office. 他被指称在任时收受贿赂。
• corrupt officials accepting bribes 接受贿赂的贪官污吏

9 dealing   

n.经商方法，待人态度

参考例句：

• This store has an excellent reputation for fair dealing.该商店因买卖公道而享有极高的声誉。
• His fair dealing earned our confidence.他的诚实的行为获得我们的信任。

10 dodge   

v.闪开，躲开，避开；n.妙计，诡计

参考例句：

• A dodge behind a tree kept her from being run over.她向树后一闪，才没被车从身上辗过。
• The dodge was coopered by the police.诡计被警察粉碎了。

11 bureaucrats   

n.官僚( bureaucrat的名词复数 )；官僚主义；官僚主义者；官僚语言

参考例句：

• That is the fate of the bureaucrats, not the inspiration of statesmen. 那是官僚主义者的命运，而不是政治家的灵感。 来自辞典例句
• Big business and dozens of anonymous bureaucrats have as much power as Japan's top elected leaders. 大企业和许多不知名的官僚同日本选举出来的最高层领导者们的权力一样大。 来自辞典例句

12 culpable   

adj.有罪的，该受谴责的

参考例句：

• The judge found the man culpable.法官认为那个人有罪。
• Their decision to do nothing makes them culpable.他们不采取任何行动的决定使他们难辞其咎。

13 indicators   

（仪器上显示温度、压力、耗油量等的）指针( indicator的名词复数 )； 指示物； （车辆上的）转弯指示灯； 指示信号

参考例句：

• The economic indicators are better than expected. 经济指标比预期的好。
• It is still difficult to develop indicators for many concepts used in social science. 为社会科学领域的许多概念确立一个指标仍然很难。

14 parity   

n.平价，等价，比价，对等

参考例句：

• The two currencies have now reached parity.这两种货币现已达到同等价值。
• Women have yet to achieve wage or occupational parity in many fields.女性在很多领域还没能争取到薪金、职位方面的平等。

15 curbs   

v.限制，克制，抑制( curb的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• In executing his functions he is not bound by any legal curbs on his power. 在他履行职务时，他的权力是不受任何法律约束的。 来自辞典例句
• Curbs on air travel were being worked out and would shortly be announced. 限制航空旅行的有关规定正在拟定中，不久即将公布。 来自辞典例句

16 dynamics   

n.力学，动力学，动力，原动力；动态

参考例句：

• In order to succeed,you must master complicated knowledge of dynamics.要取得胜利，你必须掌握很复杂的动力学知识。
• Dynamics is a discipline that cannot be mastered without extensive practice.动力学是一门不做大量习题就不能掌握的学科。

17 exacerbate   

v.恶化，增剧，激怒，使加剧

参考例句：

• WMO says a warming climate can exacerbate air pollution.世界气象组织说，气候变暖可能会加剧空气污染。
• In fact efforts will merely exacerbate the current problem.实际上努力只会加剧当前的问题。

18 workforce   

n.劳动大军，劳动力

参考例句：

• A large part of the workforce is employed in agriculture.劳动人口中一大部分受雇于农业。
• A quarter of the local workforce is unemployed.本地劳动力中有四分之一失业。

19 donors   

n.捐赠者( donor的名词复数 )；献血者；捐血者；器官捐献者

参考例句：

• Please email us to be removed from our active list of blood donors. 假如你想把自己的名字从献血联系人名单中删去，请给我们发电子邮件。
• About half this amount comes from individual donors and bequests. 这笔钱大约有一半来自个人捐赠及遗赠。 来自《简明英汉词典》

20 structural   

adj.构造的，组织的，建筑（用）的

参考例句：

• The storm caused no structural damage.风暴没有造成建筑结构方面的破坏。
• The North American continent is made up of three great structural entities.北美大陆是由三个构造单元组成的。

21 stunted   

adj.矮小的；发育迟缓的

参考例句：

• the stunted lives of children deprived of education 未受教育的孩子所过的局限生活
• But the landed oligarchy had stunted the country's democratic development for generations. 但是好几代以来土地寡头的统治阻碍了这个国家民主的发展。