Journal of African Economies, Volume 6, Number 1, 3-34
© 1997 Centre for the Study of African Economies
research-article |
Firm-Level Responses to the CFA Devaluation in Cameroon1
Georgetown University USA École des Hautes Études Commerciales Canada University of Milano Italy University of Geneva Switzerland
This article assesses the impact of the CFAF devaluation on industrial enterprises in Cameroon. Using detailed survey data spanning the 1992–95 period, the article documents and interprets firms' reactions to the devaluation in terms of adjustments in output, factor usage, market orientation and productivity. The article shows that the CFAF devaluation had the expected effect of increasing the return to producing tradable goods, and increased the real cost of using importing intermediate goods. Despite slow output growth, the pooled sample registered a cumulative rate of productivity growth exceeding 6% over the 1992/93 to 1994/95 period. Exporters appear to have done better than non-exporters, and medium-sized firms appear to have done the worst. These results are robust with respect to measurement technique, and can be obtained using either production or cost data. Hence encouraging signs of efficiency gains are present. The devaluation also influenced export supplies. Firms with low unit costs were relatively likely to become exporters, and tradable goods producers, who were favoured by the devaluation, expanded output. However, the number of firms in our sample that exported did not increase dramatically after the devaluation.
1This article is based on a larger study commissioned by the Union Douaniere et Economique de l'Afrique Centrale (UDEAC) and the World Bank. Julie Hunt, Isidro Soloaga and Michel Sylvain provided extensive research assistance. Under the supervision of the Centre dlitudes en Administration Internationale (CETAI) at the University of Montreal, Georges M'benda and Lucie Brindamour conducted field interviews to augment the existing RPED data base.