Economic Growth and Stable Employment in the West African Economic and Monetary Union

This article explores the impact of the institutional environment on the ability of economic growth to generate stable employment in West African Economic and Monetary Union (WAEMU) countries. Using an autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) model on panel data from 1996 to 2021, we find a positive correlation between economic growth and stable employment in the short and long term. Services and industry are the primary sources of stable jobs in the long run. Furthermore, institutional factors speed up employment adjustment to equilibrium during economic shocks. Specifically, controlling corruption, government efficiency and regulation quality enhance economic growth’s impact on stable job creation. Therefore, pursuing a structural transformation of the WAEMU’s economies and enhancing the institutional environment is imperative to ensure job stability. JEL Codes: C23, E24, J2, O55