Assessment of industrial performance and the relationship between skill, technology and input-output indicators in Sudan
Samia S. O. M. Nour
#2011-030
This paper examines the industrial performance indicators and the
relationships between skill indicators; between skill, upskilling,
technology and input-output indicators in Sudan. Our findings are
consistent with the stylized facts in the new growth literature,
concerning the correlation between skill indicators: education,
experience and wages and also concerning the positive complementary
relationships between technology, skill and upskilling. Different from
the Sudanese literature, a novel element in our analysis is that we use
a new primary data from the firm survey (2010) and we provide a new
contribution and fill the gap in the Sudanese literature by examining
the industrial performance indicators defined by three different sets of
economic and productivity indicators, activity indicators and
profitability indicators in Sudan. One advantage and interesting element
in our analysis in this paper is that we confirm three hypotheses on the
relationships between skill indicators; between skill, upskilling,
technology and input-output indicators and industrial performance
indicators using new primary data from the firm survey (2010) in Sudan.
We verify our first hypothesis that irrespective of the observed
differences across the industrial firms, the low skill levels - due to
high share of unskilled workers - lead to skills mismatch and most
probably contribute to decline of labour productivity and industrial
performance indicators. We confirm our second hypothesis that an
increase in skill levels and firm size lead to improved relationships
between actual and required education and experience; between actual
education, experience and wages; and between skill, upskilling and
technology (ICT) and also improved industrial performance indicators. We
also support our third hypothesis concerning the inconclusive
relationships between new technology (the use of ICT) and input-output
indicators at the micro/firm level. Finally, we provide a new
contribution to the Sudanese literature, since we explain that the
performance of the industrial firms is most probably immensely
undermined by the shortage of skilled workers and also by the lack of
entrepreneur perspective. We recommend further efforts to be made to
improve adequate availability of skilled workers and commitment to
entrepreneur perspective for improvement of labour productivity,
industrial performance and therefore, economic growth and development in
Sudan.
Keywords: Industrial performance, skill, technology, input-output, firm
size, industry, Sudan
JEL classification: J24, L10, L20, L25, L60, O12, O15, O30.