ABSTRACT
The concentration of workers in large firms and in unionized public sectors reduces employment opportunities among new, poor, uncertified entrants. Unemployment and underemployment have three prominent causes. The first, in rural areas, is land: land ownership and the employment it generates; security of tenure and the willingness to take risks and to adopt new technologies; size of land holding, which may create or reduce labour requirements. The second cause is a deficiency in human resources - in some countries both quantitative and qualitative. The third cause of unemployment - technology - is a mixed blessing. In the South the causes are often considerably more complex, involving not only inadequate demand, but inadequate supply, mismatches between opportunities, expectations and education, inadequate institutional mechanisms, and market distortions, both local and international. The relevance of education to the development of local technological capacity, to national economic growth, to improved equity and to poverty reduction has been incontrovertibly demonstrated.
