Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-ndw9j Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-19T12:36:27.174Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Confronting Leaders at the Apex of the State: The Growth of the Unofficial Economy in Congo

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  23 May 2014

Kisangani N. F. Emizet
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract:

This study examines ways that political leaders influence the development of the unofficial economy in Congo. Using aggregate data as well as data from observation and two surveys conducted in 1991–1992, it demonstrates that the unofficial economy develops not only as a reaction against an over-regulated state, but also because of a market segmentation along gender lines, state policy in defining property rights, and networks of relationships that partly shape the behavior of bureaucrats who act to satisfy their own preferences. Although the unofficial economy creates institutions that can challenge state hegemony, it neither allocates resources equally among the participants nor provides an equal access to high-profit activities to all. The findings suggest that women are more likely to be involved in low-value profit sectors of the unofficial economy than men. Because the unofficial economy reinforces mutual trust and reciprocity, it tends to create a new idea of social order and interactions.

Résumé:

Résumé:

Cette étude examine les manières dont les dirigeants politiques influencent le développement de l'économie parallèle au Congo. Utilisant un ensemble d'agrégats économiques aussi bien que des données empiriques et deux enquêtes réalisées en 1991–1992, cette étude démontre que l'économie parallèle se développe non seulement en tant que réaction contre un contrôle étatique trop excessif, mais aussi du fait d'autres facteurs: une segmentation du marché selon des critères de sexe (homme/femme), la politique de l'état relative aux droits à la propriété, et des réseaux de relations qui déterminent en partie la conduite de bureaucrates pour la satisfaction de leurs propres préférences. Bien que cette économie non officielle crée des institutions capables de remettre en question l'hégémonie de l'état, elle ne répartit guère équitablement ses ressources parmi ses membres ni ne leur donne à tous le même accès aux activités hautement lucratives. Les conclusions de cette étude suggèrent qu'il est plus probable que ce soit les femmes plutôt que les hommes qui s'adonnent aux secteurs les moins lucratifs de l'économie parallèle. Du fait que l'économie parallèle renforce la confiance mutuelle et la réciprocité, elle tend aussi à créer une nouvelle idée de l'ordre social et des interactions.

Type
Articles
Information
African Studies Review , Volume 41 , Issue 1 , April 1998 , pp. 99 - 137
Copyright
Copyright © African Studies Association 1998

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Acharya, Sarthi. 1983. “The Informal Sector in Developing Countries—A Macro Viewpoint,” Journal of Contemporary Asia, 13: 432–445.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Africa Research Bulletin. 1996. (October/11).Google Scholar
Africa South of the Sahara. (Annual) 1974 to 1996. London: Europa Publications Limited.Google Scholar
Alchian, Armen A. 1977. Economic Forces at Work. Indianapolis: Liberty Press.Google Scholar
Azarya, Victor, and Chazan, Naomi. 1987. “Disengagement from the State in Africa: Reflections on the Experience of Ghana and Guinea,” Comparative Studies in Society and History, 29(1): 106–131.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bevan, D., Collier, P., and Gunning, J. 1988. “Black Markets and Black Goods.” Mimeo. Oxford: Oxford University Institute of Economics and Statistics (12).Google Scholar
Bhagwati, Jadish N. 1981. “Alternative Theories of Illegal Trade: Economic Consequences and Statistical Detection,” Weltwirtschftliches Archiv, 117: 409–427.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bonacich, Edna. 1972. “A Theory of Ethnic Antagonism: The Split Labor Market,” American Sociological Review, 37(4): 547–559.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Braeckman, Colette. 1992. LeDinosaure, le Zaire de Mobutu. Paris: Fayard.Google Scholar
Bruegel, Irene. 1983. “Women's Employment, Legislation and Labor-Market,” in Lewis, Jane (ed.) Women's Welfare Women's Rights. London & Canberra: Croom Helm, pp. 130–169.Google Scholar
Buchanan, James M. 1980. “Rent Seeking and Profit Seeking,” in Buchanan, James M. et al (eds.) Toward a Theory of the Rent Seeking Society. College Station: Texas A & M University Press, pp. 3–15.Google Scholar
Chickering, Lawrence A., and Salabdine, Mohamed. (eds.) 1991. The Silent Revolution: The Informal Sector in Five Asian and Near Eastern Countries. San Francisco: ICS Press.Google Scholar
Cornelius, Wayne A. 1982. “Interviewing Undocumented Immigrants: Methodological Reflections Based on Fieldwork in Mexico and the US,” International Migration Review, 16(3): 378–411.Google Scholar
Cummings, Scott, (ed.) 1980. Self-Help in Urban America: Patterns of Minority Business Enterprise. National University Publications: Kennikat Press.Google Scholar
Danesh, Abol Hassan. 1991. The Informal Economy: A Research Guide. New York & London: Garland Publishing, Inc. Google Scholar
Davies, Rob. 1979. “Informal Sector or Subordinate Mode of Production? A Model,” in Bromley, Ray and Gerry, Chris, (eds.) Casual Work and Poverty. London: John Wiley & Sons., pp. 87–104.Google Scholar
de Soto, Hernado. 1989. The Other Path: The Invisible Revolution in the Third World. New York: Harper and Row.Google Scholar
Echo de la Bourse. 1970. (24 08).Google Scholar
Eggertsson, Thráinn. 1990. Economic Behavior and Institutions. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ellis, Stephen, and MacGaffey, Janet. 1996. “Research On Sub-Saharan Africa's Unrecorded International Trade: Some Methodological and Conceptual Problems,” African Studies Review, 39(1): 19–41.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Emizet, Kisangani. 1997. “Zaire after Mobutu: A Case of a Humanitarian Emergency,” Research for Action #32. Helsinki: World Institute for Development and Economics Research.Google Scholar
Emizet, Kisangani. 1987. “Implementation of Stabilization Policies in an Authoritarian Setting: Zaire, 1970-1980,” Canadian Journal of African Studies, 21 (2):175–200.Google Scholar
Nkoy-Eyalinganga, Essalomwa. 1991. “Editorial,” Elima (26 09).Google Scholar
Log, Field. 1997. Non-Structured Interviews with pro-democratic groups and some members of government.Google Scholar
Log, Field. 1991–1992. “Structured and Non-Structured Interviews in Zaire.”Google Scholar
Food and Agricultural Organization. 1981. Food Production Yearbook. Rome: FAO Publications.Google Scholar
French, Howard W. 1997. “New Day in Congo, but Sticky-Fingered Habits Persist,” New York Times (11 23): 3.Google Scholar
Hart, Keith. 1973. “Informal Income Opportunities and Urban Unemployment in Ghana,” Journal of Modern African Studies, 11(1): 61–89.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hechter, Michael. 1987. Principles of Group Solidarity. Berkeley: University of California Press.Google Scholar
Hirschman, Albert O. 1970. Exit, Voice and Loyalty. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.Google Scholar
Houyuox, Joseph. 1973. Budgets Ménagers, Nutrition et Mode de la Vie à Kinshasa. Kinshasa: Presses Universitaires du Zaire.Google Scholar
Hyden, Goran. 1980. Beyond Ujamaa in Tanzania: Underdevelopment and Uncaptured Peasantry. Berkeley: University of California Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jagannathan, Vijay N. 1987. Informal Markets in Developing Countries. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Jones, Christine and Roemer, Michael. 1991. “The Behavior of Parallel Markets in Developing Countries,” in Roemer, Michael and Jones, Christine (eds.) Markets in Developing Countries. San Francisco: ICS Press, 15–27.Google Scholar
Leslie, Winsome J. 1993. Zaire: Continuity and Political Change in an Oppressive State. Boulder: Westview.Google Scholar
Lin, Justin Y. 1989. “An Economic Theory of Institutional Change: Induced and Imposed Change,” Cato Journal 9(1): 1–33.Google Scholar
Lindauer, David L. 1989. “Parallel, Fragmented or Black? Defining Market Structure in Developing Economies,” World Development 17(12): 1871–1880.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lomnitz, Larissa, and Diaz, Rodrigo. 1992. “Cultural Grammar and Bureaucratic Rationalization in Latin American Cities,” in Morse, Richard M. and Hardoy, Jorge E. (eds.) Rethinking Latin American City. Washington, D.C.: The Woodrow Wilson Center Press, pp. 179–192.Google Scholar
Macafee, Kerrick. 1982. “A Glimpse of the Hidden Economy in the National Accounts of the United Kingdom,” in Tanzi, Vito (ed.) The Underground Economy in the United States and Abroad. Lexington, Mass.: Lexington Books.Google Scholar
MacGaffey, Janet. 1991. “Historical, Cultural and Structural Dimensions of Zaire's Unrecorded Trade,” in MacGaffey, Janet (ed.) The Real Economy of Zaire. London: James Currey, pp. 26–40.Google Scholar
MacGaffey, Janet. 1986. Entrepreneurs and Parasites: the Struggle for Indigenous Capitalism in Zaire. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Maliyamkono, T. L., and Bagachwa, M. S. D. 1990. The Second Economy in Tanzania. London: James Currey.Google Scholar
Masland, Tom. 1997. “An African Big Man in Trouble,” Newsweek (12 15): 37–39.Google Scholar
Moe, Terry M. 1980. The Organization of Interests. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.Google Scholar
Morokvasic, Mirjana. 1988. “Garment Production to a Metropole of Fashion: Small Enterprise, Immigrant Entrepreneurs,” Economic & Industrial Democracy 9 (02) :83–97.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
North, Douglas C. 1992. “Institutions and Economic Theory.” The American Economist 36(1):3–6.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
North, Douglas C. 1981. Structure and Change in Economic History. New York: W. W. Norton.Google Scholar
Nzongola, Ntalaja. 1987. “The Crisis in Zaire,” in Nzongola, Ntalaja (ed.) Africa's Crisis. London: Institute for African Alternatives, pp. 7–26.Google Scholar
Nzongola, Ntalaja. 1979. “The Continuing Struggle for National Liberation in Zaire,” Journal of Modern African Studies, 17(4) :595–614.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pitt, M. 1981. “Smuggling and Price Disparity,” Journal of International Economics, 11(4):447–458.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Prunier, Gérard. 1997. “The Great Lakes Crisis,” Current History, 96 (610):193–199.Google Scholar
Ray, S. K. 1975. “Profiteering: An Economic Analysis.” Eastern Economist, 65(15): 732–734.Google Scholar
Redclift, Nanneke, and Mingione, E. (eds.) 1985. Beyond Employment: Household, Gender and Subsistence. Oxford: Basil Blackwell.Google Scholar
Riker, William H., and Weimer, David L. 1993. “The Economic and Political Liberalization of Socialism: The Fundamental Problem of Property Rights,” Social Philosophy andPolicy, 10(1): 79–102.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Schatzberg, Michael G. 1980. Politics and Class in Zaire. New York: Africana Publishing Company.Google Scholar
Shleifer, Andrei and Vishney, Robert W. 1993. “Corruption,” Quarterly Journal of Economics 108(3): 599–617.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sivard, Ruth L. 1982. World Military and Social Expenditures. Leesburg: World Priorities.Google Scholar
Staudt, Kathleen. 1987. “Women's Politics, the State, and Capitalist Transformation in Africa,” in Markovitz, Irving L. (ed.) Studies in Power and Class in Africa. New York and Oxford: Oxford University Press, pp. 193–208.Google Scholar
United Nations. (Annual) 1982 to 1994. World Trade Annual. New York: Walker and Company.Google Scholar
UNCTAD. (Annual) 1972 to 1996. UNCTAD Commodity Yearbook. New York and Geneva: United Nations Publications.Google Scholar
Vwakyanakazi, Mukohya. 1991. “Import and Export in the Second Economy in North Kivu,” in MacGaffey, Janet (ed.), The Real Economy of Zaire. London: James Currey, pp. 43–71.Google Scholar
Vwakyanakazi, Mukohya. 1982. “African Traders in Butembo, Eastern Zaire: A Case Study of Informal Entrepreneurialship in a Cultural Context of Central Africa.” Ph. D. dissertation, The University of Wisconsin, Madison.Google Scholar
Weiss, Linda. 1987. “Explaining the Underground Economy: State and Social Structures,” The British Journal of Sociology, 38(2): 222–235.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Willame, Jean-Claude. 1997. Zaire, Predicament and Prospects: A Report to the Minority Rights Group. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Institute of Peace.Google Scholar
World Bank. 1992. African Development Indicators. Washington, D.C.: The World Bank.Google Scholar
World Bank. 1987. World Debt Tables. Washington, D.C.: The World Bank.Google Scholar
World Bank. 1982. World Debt Tables. Washington, D.C.: The World Bank.Google Scholar
Young, Crawford, and Turner, Thomas. 1985. The Rise and Decline of the Zairian State. Madison: University of Wisconsin Press.Google Scholar
Zaire, Association des Petites and Moyennes Entreprises Zairoises. 1992. “Compensation des Victims des Sinistres du 23 Septembre 1991.” Mimeo. Kinshasa: ANEZA.Google Scholar
Zaire, Association des Petites and Moyennes Entreprises Zairoises. 1991. Commerçants Enregistrés à Butembo. Butembo: ANEZA.Google Scholar
Zaire, Banque du Zaire. 1985. Rapport Annuel. Kinshasa.Google Scholar
Zaire, Banque du Zaire. 1983. Rapport Annuel. Kinshasa.Google Scholar
Zaire, Banque du Zaire. 1976. Rapport Annuel. Kinshasa.Google Scholar
Zaire, Centre National d'Expertise des Substances Minérales Précieuses. 1990. “Production Artisanale Diamant et Or: Comptoirs agrées et officiel.” Kinshasa.Google Scholar
Zolberg, Aristide. 1966. “A View from the Congo,” World Politics 19(1): 137–150.CrossRefGoogle Scholar