Tuccio, MicheleRanzani, Marco2016-07-052016-07-052015-05-26Applied Economics Letters1350-4851https://hdl.handle.net/10986/24613Using census data for Ghana, Mali and Mozambique, we study the long-term impact of public sector employment on local labor markets. We find that the public sector crowds out private employment and induces skilled workers to queue for a public job, thus increasing their unemployment rate. In addition, a growing public sector fosters employment in the tradable and nontradable sectors, remarkably for the unskilled, and the reallocation of unskilled workers away from agriculture.en-USCC BY-NC-ND 3.0 IGOpublic employmentlocal labor marketsskillscrowding-outJournal ArticleWorld Bank10.1596/24613