Causes, Effects and Solutions to the Eradicating of...

Is Functional Literacy a Prerequisite for Entering the Labor Market? An Analysis of the Determinants of Adult Literacy and Earnings in Ghana Niels-Hugo Blunch and Dorte Verner Working Paper 00-05 April 2000 Published by Centre for Labour Market and Social Research Universitetsparken, Building 350 8000Aarhus C, Denmark Editor: Peder J. Pedersen Copyrights: Niels-Hugo Blunch and Dorte Verner ISSN 0908-8962 Is Functional Literacy a Prerequisite for Entering the Labor Market? An Analysis of the Determinants of Adult Literacy and Earnings in Ghana Niels-Hugo Blunch The George Washington University and World Bank Dorte Verner World Bank JEL Classifications: I21, J31, O12 Keywords: functional literacy, earnings determinants, Ghana,†¦show more content†¦Alternatively, it could suggest that education is not serving as a signaling device in Ghana. Functional literacy affects selection into the labor market. In developing countries, jobs are rationed (that is, demand-side determined). We therefore interpret this result to indicate that functional literacy is a prerequisite for entering the labor market. This interpretation may partly explain the lack of returns to education. 2 The policy implications of these results are that greater efforts should be devoted to developing functional literacy skills and basic education. Policymakers should aim to increase both the supply and the quality of basic education and literacy programs. Basic education and literacy programs should target females and poorer households, especially in rural areas. The article is organized as follows. Section 2 describes changes in and determinants of literacy. Section 3 describes the Ghanaian economy. Section 4 presents the economic model and the econometric methodology underlying the analysis. Section 5 presents the data and descriptive statistics, and section 6 presents the regression analysis. Section 7 summarizes the article’s findings and draws policy conclusions. 2. CHANGES IN AND DETERMINANTS OF LITERACY Opinions differ widely over how best to define literacy. Unesco defines a functionally literate person as any person 15 or older who can â€Å"read and write a simple statement on his orShow MoreRelatedThe Issues of Breast Cancer in Nigeria Essay1552 Words   |  7 Pagesbreast cancer in Nigeria should be of interest to the average Nigerian. In the year 2005, breast cancer was announced to be the leading cause of deaths from cancer amongst women in Nigeria (Ade, 1). The arousing question would be how much Nigeria is doing about breast cancer? However, before any developed or developing country can even begin planning eradicating this devastating crisis, the people have to be fully educated about this illness. The intelligent question is how much does Nigeria as aRead MorePoverty in America1999 Words   |  8 Pageseat. There are issues with these programs that contribute to the furthering of poverty, but for the most part are more helpful than harmful. 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