Countries in the Central African Economic and Monetary Community (CEMAC) face unemployment in the context of increased trade openness, making the zone among those with the highest unemployment rates. This study investigates the effects of trade liberalization on unemployment (overall and among young people) in the CEMAC by applying the standard error-corrected panel linear regression model (PCSE) and analyzing data from the six CEMAC countries for 2002 to 2022. The results show that trade openness reduces overall and youth unemployment. Accordingly, a one-point increase in the trade openness index is associated with a 4.4% and 8% reduction in overall and youth unemployment, respectively. These results suggest that policies that strengthen trade openness should be given greater prominence. Such policies include guaranteeing a trade-friendly environment by easing barriers to trade, such as customs duties, significantly improving the business climate, prioritizing trade agreements, and encouraging and incentivizing export-oriented products.
References
[1]
Abugamea, G. (2018). Determinants of unemployment: Empirical evidence from Pales-tine. https://mpra.ub.uni-muenchen.de/89424/6/MPRA_paper_89424.pdf
[2]
Ajayi, S. I. (2006): FDI and Economic Development in Africa. In ADB/AERC International Conference on Accelerating Africas Development Five Years into the Twenty-First Century, Tunis, 22-24 November 2006. https://www.afdb.org/en/documents/document/2006-aec-fdi-and-economic-growth-8354
[3]
Alauddin, M., & Khan, R. H. (2021). Effects of Trade openness on unemployment Rate: Evidence from Selected Least Developed Countries (LDCS). Journal of Business Administration,42, 59-76.
[4]
Alkhateeb, T. T. Y., Mahmood, H., Sultan, Z. A., & Ahmad, N. (2017). Trade Openness and Employment Nexus in Saudi Arabia. MPRA Paper No. 109451. https://mpra.ub.uni-muenchen.de/109451/
[5]
Alrabba, M. (2017). The Determinants of Unemployment Rate in Jordan: A Multivariate Approach. International Journal of Economics and Finance, 9, 109-117. https://doi.org/10.5539/ijef.v9n11p109
[6]
Anjum, N., & Perviz, Z. (2016). Effect of Trade Openness on Unemployment in Case of Labour and Capital Abundant Countries. Bulletin of Business and Economics (BBE), 5, 44-58. https://bbejournal.com/index.php/BBE/article/view/248
[7]
Asaleye, A. J., Okodua, H., Oloni, E. F., & Ogunjobi, J. O. (2017). Trade Openness and Employment: Evidence from Nigeria. Journal of Applied Economic Sciences, 12, 1194. https://econpapers.repec.org/article/emeijsepp/ijse-06-2018-0320.htm
[8]
Ayhan, F. (2016). Youth Unemployment as a Growing Global Threat. Актуальніпроблемиекономіки, 7, 262-269.
[9]
Barro, R. J., & Sala-i-Martin, X. (1997). Technological Diffusion, Convergence, and Growth. Journal of Economic Growth, 2, 1-26. https://doi.org/10.1023/a:1009746629269
[10]
BEAC (2021). Rapport Annuel. https://www.beac.int/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/RAPPORT-ANNUEL-BEAC-2021-WEB.pdf
[11]
Blinder, A. S. (2006). Education for the Third Industrial Revolution. https://www.princeton.edu/~ceps/workingpapers/163blinder.pdf
[12]
Bolton, W., & Oatley, K. (1987). A Longitudinal Study of Social Support and Depression in Unemployed Men. Psychological Medicine, 17, 453-460. https://doi.org/10.1017/s0033291700025010
[13]
Chen, S., Yang, T., Yang, Y., & Wang, C. (2022). The Dynamic Effect of Unemployment Rate and Crime Rate on Suicide Rate under Economic Growth Rate. Discrete Dynamics in Nature and Society, 2022, Article ID: 7473054. https://doi.org/10.1155/2022/7473054
[14]
Dutt, P., Mitra, D., & Ranjan, P. (2009). International Trade and Unemployment: Theory and Cross-National Evidence. Journal of International Economics, 78, 32-44. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jinteco.2009.02.005
[15]
Ekodo, R., & Ngomsi, A. (2017). Ouverture Commerciale et Croissance Economique en Zone CEMAC. Journal of Economics and Development Studies, 5, 58-67. https://doi.org/10.15640/jeds.v5n3a7
[16]
Famode, D. M., Makalamba, P. M., & Ngobula, K. N. (2020). Econometric Assessment of Relationship between Trade Openness and Unemployment in Africa: The Case Study of Democratic Republic of Congo. International Journal of Economics and Business Administration, 6, 23-29.
[17]
Gachoki, C. M. (2022). Trade Openness and Female Employment: An Empirical Sectoral Analysis from Kenya. International Journal of Science and Business, 16, 42-58. https://zenodo.org/records/7022792
[18]
Gonese, D., Sibanda, K., & Ngonisa, P. (2023). Trade Openness and Unemployment in Selected Southern African Development Community (SADC) Countries. Economies, 11, Article 252. https://doi.org/10.3390/economies11100252
[19]
Gozgor, G. (2014). The Impact of Trade Openness on the Unemployment Rate in G7 Countries. The Journal of International Trade & Economic Development, 23, 1018-1037. https://doi.org/10.1080/09638199.2013.827233
[20]
Heckscher, E. F., & Ohlin, B. G. (1991). Heckscher-Ohlin Trade Theory. MIT Press.
[21]
Hjazeen, H., Seraj, M., & Ozdeser, H. (2021). The Nexus between the Economic Growth and Unemployment in Jordan. Future Business Journal, 7, Article No. 42. https://doi.org/10.1186/s43093-021-00088-3
[22]
Hoechle, D. (2007). Robust Standard Errors for Panel Regressions with Cross-Sectional Dependence. The Stata Journal: Promoting communications on statistics and Stata, 7, 281-312. https://doi.org/10.1177/1536867x0700700301
[23]
ILO (2003). International Training Compendium on Labor Statistics, Module1 Statistics of Employment, Unemployment, Underemployment: Economically Active Population (Geneva, ILO Bureau of Statistics, Policy Integration Department).
[24]
Islam, I., & Nazara, S. (2000). Estimating Employment Elasticity for the Indonesian Economy (pp. 9-10). International Labour Office. https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/196153858.pdf
[25]
Kouladoum, J. (2023). The Role of Institutional Quality on the Impact of Chinese Foreign Direct Investments and Human Capital Development on Macroeconomic Performance in the CEMAC Zone. Transnational Corporations Review, 16, Article ID: 200052. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tncr.2024.200052
[26]
Koutima-Banzouzi, J. M. (2023). The Effect of Trade Openness on GDP Growth in Congo. Theoretical Economics Letters, 13, 30-47. https://doi.org/10.4236/tel.2023.131002
[27]
Kpognon, K., Ondoa, H. A., & Bah, M. (2020). Trade Openness and Youth Employment in Sub-Saharan Africa: Should We Regulate the Labor Market? Journal of Economic Integration, 35, 751-777. https://doi.org/10.11130/jei.2020.35.4.751
[28]
List, F. (1941). The National System of Political Economy, Published in German, 1841. (English Translation, London 1885 Reprint New York: Augustus M. Kelley, 1991).
[29]
Maijama’a, R., Musa, K. S., Yakubu, M., & Mohammed, N. (2019). Impact of Population Growth on Unemployment in Nigeria: Dynamic OLS approach. Journal of Economics and Sustainable Development, 10, 79-89.
[30]
Marzan, M. H., Chen, X., Sarker, M., & Akter, S. (2020). The Impact of International Trade on Unemployment: Evidence from OECD Countries. IOSR Journal of Economics and Finance (IOSR-JEF), 11, 52-59. https://smartlib.umri.ac.id/assets/uploads/files/44f1f-h1103015259.pdf
[31]
Mincer, J. (1991). Education and Unemployment. NBER Working Paper #3838/
[32]
Ndombi Avouba, F., Akougbe, A. I., & Ndombi Ondze, C. l. I. L. (2023). Non-linearity between Financial Inclusion and Economic Growth in Sub-Saharan Africa: What Implications for the West African Economic and Monetary Union (WAEMU)? Cogent Economics & Finance, 11, Article ID: 2158630. https://doi.org/10.1080/23322039.2022.2158630
[33]
Nguyen, A. T. (2022). The Relationship between Economic Growth, Foreign Direct Investment, Trade Openness, and Unemployment in South Asia. Asian Academy of Management Journal, 27, 21-40. https://doi.org/10.21315/aamj2022.27.2.2
[34]
Nwaka, I. D., Uma, K. E., & Tuna, G. (2015). Trade Openness and Unemployment: Empirical Evidence for Nigeria. The Economic and Labour Relations Review, 26, 117-136. https://doi.org/10.1177/1035304615571225
[35]
Nwosa, P., Keji, S., Adegboyo, S., & Fasina, O. (2020). Trade Openness and Unemployment Rate in Nigeria. Oradea Journal of Business and Economics, 5, 52-62. https://doi.org/10.47535/1991ojbe111
[36]
Phillips, A. W. (1958). The Relation between Unemployment and the Rate of Change of Money Wage Rates in the United Kingdom, 1861-1957. Economica, 25, 283-299. https://doi.org/10.2307/2550759
[37]
Qasim, M. Z., Naqvi, S. N. U. H., Akhtar, M., & Tagala, M. W. (2025). Determinants of Unemployment: The Role of Education, Political Stability, Economic Growth and Inflation. ACADEMIA International Journal for Social Sciences, 4, 57-67.
[38]
Restrepo, B. J., Rabbitt, M. P., & Gregory, C. A. (2021). The Effect of Unemployment on Food Spending and Adequacy: Evidence from Coronavirus‐induced Firm Closures. Applied Economic Perspectives and Policy, 43, 185-204. https://doi.org/10.1002/aepp.13143
[39]
Ricardo, D. (1817a). The Theory of Comparative Advantage. In D. Ricardo, & R. N. Ghosh (Eds.), Principles of Political Economy and Taxation. Atlantic Publisher. https://view.officeapps.live.com/op/view.aspx?src=https%3A%2F%2Fclassiques.uqam.ca%2Fclassiques%2Fricardo_david%2Fprincipes_eco_pol%2Fricardo_principes_1.doc&wdOrigin=BROWSELINK
[40]
Ricardo, D. (1817b). On the Principles of Political Economy and Taxation. John Murray.
[41]
Rivera-Batiz, L. A., & Romer, P. M. (1991). Economic Integration and Endogenous Growth. The Quarterly Journal of Economics, 106, 531-555. https://doi.org/10.2307/2937946
[42]
Siregar, E. S., & Batubara, I. (2022). The Effect of Unemployment on Poverty in Mandailing Natal. Adpebi International Journal of Multidisciplinary Sciences, 1, 120-125. https://doi.org/10.54099/aijms.v1i1.230
[43]
Smith, A. (1776). An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations [WN]. In R. H. Campbell, & A. S. Skinner (Eds.), The Glasgow Edition of the Works and Correspondence of Adam Smith, Vol. 2. Oxford University Press.
[44]
Taris, T. W. (2002). Unemployment and Mental Health: A Longitudinal Perspective. International Journal of Stress Management, 9, 43-57.
[45]
Uddin, I., & Rahman, K. U. (2023). Impact of Corruption, Unemployment and Inflation on Economic Growth Evidence from Developing Countries. Quality & Quantity, 57, 2759-2779. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11135-022-01481-y
