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PROF Carlos Oya's Outputs (109)

Why Mauritius? The Political Economy of Structural Transformation in a Small Island (2025)
Book Chapter
Campling, L., & Oya, C. (2025). Why Mauritius? The Political Economy of Structural Transformation in a Small Island. In C. Oya, R. Ramtohul, & V. Tandrayen-Ragoobur (Eds.), The Oxford Handbook of the Mauritian Economy (20-45). Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780192856494.013.2

This chapter explores the significance of the Mauritian economic development trajectory by connecting the experience of Mauritius to debates on structural economic transformation and on the perceived vulnerabilities and prospects of Small Island Deve... Read More about Why Mauritius? The Political Economy of Structural Transformation in a Small Island.

Introduction (2025)
Book Chapter
Oya, C., Ramtohul, R., & Tandrayen-Ragoobur, V. (2025). Introduction. In The Oxford Handbook of the Mauritian Economy (3-19). Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780192856494.013.1

Mauritius’s development pathway as a small island economy and part of the sub-Saharan African region is considered as an example for other countries. Its economic, social, and political landscape has been very dynamic over the past decades since inde... Read More about Introduction.

A Political Economy Perspective on Mauritian Water Services (2025)
Book Chapter
Peeroo, A., & Bayliss, K. (2025). A Political Economy Perspective on Mauritian Water Services. In C. Oya, R. Ramtohul, & V. Tandrayen-Ragoobur (Eds.), The Oxford Handbook of the Mauritian Economy (384-411). Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780192856494.013.18

Mauritian drinking water services are in urgent need of investment. Yet, tariffs are among the lowest in the region, despite relatively high-income levels. This chapter offers a political economy analysis, drawing on the systems of provision (SoP) ap... Read More about A Political Economy Perspective on Mauritian Water Services.

Better data for decent work in the global food system. (2024)
Journal Article
Meemken, E.-M., Charlton, D., Christiaensen, L., Maertens, M., Oya, C., Reardon, T., & Stemmler, H. (2024). Better data for decent work in the global food system. Nature Food, 5(6), 454-456. https://doi.org/10.1038/s43016-024-01002-0

Working conditions in food systems remain precarious across the globe. Little scientific guidance exists on what works where when it comes to initiatives aimed at addressing this issue. Investments in large-scale, nationally representative agricultur... Read More about Better data for decent work in the global food system..

Do Chinese firms in Africa pay lower wages? A comparative analysis of manufacturing and construction firms in Angola and Ethiopia. (2023)
Journal Article
Oya, C., & Schaefer, F. (2023). Do Chinese firms in Africa pay lower wages? A comparative analysis of manufacturing and construction firms in Angola and Ethiopia. World Development, 168, Article 106266. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.worlddev.2023.106266

This paper analyses wage differences between Chinese and non-Chinese firms in Angola and Ethiopia. The growing engagement of Chinese firms in sub-Saharan Africa has generated debates about the working conditions offered to African workers. However, t... Read More about Do Chinese firms in Africa pay lower wages? A comparative analysis of manufacturing and construction firms in Angola and Ethiopia..

Agricultural commercialization in the Mekong region: A meta-narrative review and policy implications (2023)
Journal Article
Nguyen, A.-T., Oya, C., Beban, A., Gironde, C., Cole, R., & Ehrensperger, A. (2023). Agricultural commercialization in the Mekong region: A meta-narrative review and policy implications. Journal of Land Use Science, 18(1), 128-151. https://doi.org/10.1080/1747423X.2023.2191599

Agricultural commercialization has been a development focus in the Mekong region for several decades, resulting in varying outcomes. In response to competing claims and policy advice, this meta-narrative review not only examines the literature on the... Read More about Agricultural commercialization in the Mekong region: A meta-narrative review and policy implications.

Building Angola: A Political Economy of Infrastructure Contractors in Post-War Angola (2023)
Journal Article
Wanda, F., Oya, C., & Monreal, B. (2023). Building Angola: A Political Economy of Infrastructure Contractors in Post-War Angola. Journal of Southern African Studies, 49(1), 25-47. https://doi.org/10.1080/03057070.2023.2192589

Following the end of the civil war in 2002, Angola entered a period of political stability and economic growth that was sustained until the oil-price crisis hit the economy in 2015. During this period a vast reconstruction plan of economic infrastruc... Read More about Building Angola: A Political Economy of Infrastructure Contractors in Post-War Angola.

Labour Retention end Workforce Development in Ethiopia's Apparel and Textile Industry: The Case of Hawassa Industrial Park (2023)
Thesis
Gebrechristos Gebreegziabher, N. Labour Retention end Workforce Development in Ethiopia's Apparel and Textile Industry: The Case of Hawassa Industrial Park. (Thesis). SOAS University of London

This research examines the dynamics and challenges of labour retention and, more broadly, building an industrial workforce in the Ethiopian apparel and textile industry in the 2010s/early 2020s through the case of Hawassa Industrial Park (HIP), Afric... Read More about Labour Retention end Workforce Development in Ethiopia's Apparel and Textile Industry: The Case of Hawassa Industrial Park.

Contract Farming (2021)
Book Chapter
Pérez Niño, H., & Oya, C. (2021). Contract Farming. In A. Akram-Lodhi, K. Dietz, B. Engels, & B. McKay (Eds.), Handbook of Critical Agrarian Studies (417-426). Edward Elgar. https://doi.org/10.4337/9781788972468.00057

Contract farming is an arrangement in which buyers request farmers to provide agricultural goods under contract, as opposed to procuring these in spot markets. This chapter provides an introduction to contract farming and explains its significance an... Read More about Contract Farming.

Is the system of rice intensification (SRI) pro poor? Labour, class and technological change in West Africa (2021)
Journal Article
Graf, S. L., & Oya, C. (2021). Is the system of rice intensification (SRI) pro poor? Labour, class and technological change in West Africa. Agricultural Systems, 193, Article 103229. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agsy.2021.103229

CONTEXT: Increasing numbers of young people enter Sub-Saharan Africa's labour markets each year while industrial jobs only grow slowly. As 62% of Sub-Saharan Africans work in agriculture and as the rural population will continue to rise, agriculture... Read More about Is the system of rice intensification (SRI) pro poor? Labour, class and technological change in West Africa.

Introduction: Covid‐19 and the conditions and struggles of agrarian classes of labour (2021)
Journal Article
Pattenden, J., Campling, L., Castañón Ballivián, E., Gras, C., Lerche, J., O'Laughlin, B., Oya, C., Pérez Niño, H., & Sinha, S. (2021). Introduction: Covid‐19 and the conditions and struggles of agrarian classes of labour. Journal of Agrarian Change, 21(3), 582-590. https://doi.org/10.1111/joac.12440

Covid-19 generated a crisis in capitalism, but not of capitalism. Capitalism reproduces itself in crisis and in ways that have significant but uneven impacts on the conditions and struggles of agrarian classes of labour. This article explores prelimi... Read More about Introduction: Covid‐19 and the conditions and struggles of agrarian classes of labour.

The politics of labour relations in global production networks: collective action, industrial parks, and local conflict in the Ethiopian apparel sector (2021)
Journal Article
Oya, C., & Schaefer, F. (2021). The politics of labour relations in global production networks: collective action, industrial parks, and local conflict in the Ethiopian apparel sector. World Development, 146, Article 105564. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.worlddev.2021.105564

In this paper we examine the emerging politics of labour agency as new manufacturing locations are incorporated into existing global production networks, using the example of the Ethiopian apparel industry. The Ethiopian state has employed an active... Read More about The politics of labour relations in global production networks: collective action, industrial parks, and local conflict in the Ethiopian apparel sector.

Governance capabilities, Industrialisation and the State: the case of the cotton and textile sectors in Ethiopia (2021)
Thesis
Damestoy, J.-B. Governance capabilities, Industrialisation and the State: the case of the cotton and textile sectors in Ethiopia. (Thesis). SOAS University of London

With an average GDP growth rate of 10%, Ethiopia is one of the notable exceptions in Sub-Saharan Africa since the 2000s (4.6% for SSA), especially given that this growth is based on rich natural resources or oil. This rapid economic growth has been p... Read More about Governance capabilities, Industrialisation and the State: the case of the cotton and textile sectors in Ethiopia.

The Dynamics of Chinese Private Outward Foreign Direct Investment in Ethiopia: A Comparison of the Light Manufacturing Industry and the Construction Materials Industry (2021)
Thesis
Chen, W. The Dynamics of Chinese Private Outward Foreign Direct Investment in Ethiopia: A Comparison of the Light Manufacturing Industry and the Construction Materials Industry. (Thesis). SOAS University of London

Chinese outward foreign direct investment (OFDI) in Africa has increased significantly following the turn of the century. With the increasingly supportive ‘Going Out’ (zou chu qu) policy promoted by the Chinese government, ferocious competition in th... Read More about The Dynamics of Chinese Private Outward Foreign Direct Investment in Ethiopia: A Comparison of the Light Manufacturing Industry and the Construction Materials Industry.

The politics of labour relations in global production networks: Collective action, industrial parks, and local conflict in the Ethiopian apparel sector. IDCEA Working Paper n. 076. (2020)
Preprint / Working Paper
Oya, C., & Schaefer, F. The politics of labour relations in global production networks: Collective action, industrial parks, and local conflict in the Ethiopian apparel sector. IDCEA Working Paper n. 076. London

In this paper we examine the emerging politics of labour agency as new manufacturing locations are incorporated into existing global production networks, using the example of the Ethiopian apparel industry. The Ethiopian state has employed an active... Read More about The politics of labour relations in global production networks: Collective action, industrial parks, and local conflict in the Ethiopian apparel sector. IDCEA Working Paper n. 076..

Industrial Hubs and the Industrial Labour Force in Africa and Asia (2020)
Book Chapter
Oya, C., & Schaefer, F. (2020). Industrial Hubs and the Industrial Labour Force in Africa and Asia. In A. Oqubay, & J. Y. Lin (Eds.), The Oxford Handbook of Industrial Hubs and Economic Development (381-400). Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780198850434.013.20

Industrial hubs can take a number of institutional forms and vary greatly in size, sectoral composition, and degree of internal coordination. What all such hubs have in common, though, is that they concentrate industrial workers in great numbers and... Read More about Industrial Hubs and the Industrial Labour Force in Africa and Asia.

Contributions of Chinese Firms to Employment Dynamics in Africa: A Comparative Analysis Based on a Large-scale Survey = 中国企业对非洲就业发展的贡献: 基于一项大规模调查的比较性分析 (2020)
Journal Article
Oya, C., Schaefer, F., & Qi, H. (2020). Contributions of Chinese Firms to Employment Dynamics in Africa: A Comparative Analysis Based on a Large-scale Survey = 中国企业对非洲就业发展的贡献: 基于一项大规模调查的比较性分析. Zhengzhi jingjixue pinglun, 11(6), 184-224