WIDER Working Paper 2020/36 Structural transformation and inclusive growth in Ghana Robert Darko Osei,1,* Richmond Atta-Ankomah,1 and Monica Lambon-Quayefio2 March 2020 Abstract: This study examines the structural transformation–inclusive growth nexus for Ghana. The data cover the post-independence period for Ghana and are phased into three periods: the post-independence period to the start of the economic recovery programme (ERP) and structural adjustment programme (SAP) (1957–83), the ERP/SAP period to the start of oil production (1984–2010), and the start of oil production to date (2010–17). The paper finds that structural transformation has been generally weak and also associated with limited inclusive growth. In part, the legacy problem relating to political settlements, and with its roots in the immediate post- independence policies, has been important in shaping these outcomes. The paper concludes by noting that there is potential for the country to move to a path where structural transformation will be more impactful for inclusive growth. However, the risk of adverse political settlements still mitigating this potential impact remains. Key words: Ghana, inclusive growth, structural transformation, industrialization JEL classification: I32, O14, O47 Acknowledgements: We acknowledge very useful comments from Andrew Sumner and participants at the September 2020 workshop on the ‘Development Dilemma: Structural Transformation, Inequality and Inclusive Growth’ in Bangkok. All errors are those of the authors. 1 Institute of Statistical Social and Economic Research, University of Ghana, Legon-Accra, Ghana; 2 Department of Economics, University of Ghana, Legon-Accra, Ghana; * corresponding author:
[email protected]. This study has been prepared within the UNU-WIDER project Developer’s dilemma – structural transformation, inequality dynamics, and inclusive growth.