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Publication
The Economic Cost of Exclusion Based on Sexual Orientation, Gender Identity and Expression, and Sex Characteristics in the Labor Market in the Republic of Serbia
(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2023-09-26)Recent research suggests that the effects of stigma, discrimination, and exclusion against lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and intersex (LGBTI) people could be costing economies billions of dollars. There are numerous reasons for these costs, including adverse educational environments, employment discrimination, physical and mental health disparities, and violence. This research aims to estimate the economic cost of exclusion based on sexual orientation, gender identity and expression, and sex characteristics (SOGIESC) in the Republic of Serbia and to provide the country’s policy makers, civil society, and development partners with new evidence on the ongoing policy dialogue on strengthening the social inclusion of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and intersex (LGBTI) people. To estimate the cost of exclusion, this report presents two theoretical models focused on the labor market and related issues. The first model centers mainly on the accumulated loss of individual wages due to the consequences of exclusion. The second model calculates the negative effect of exclusion on accumulated fiscal revenues (due to lower income and payroll taxes) and expenditures (due to higher expenditures for unemployment benefits and active labor market programs). -
Publication
Effects of a Lottery Incentive on Sexually Transmitted Infections and HIV Incidence among Female Sex Workers in Tanzania: Results from the RESPECT II Randomized Trial
(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2023-09-26)Female sex workers are a key population who experience a disproportionately high burden of HIV and sexually transmitted infections. A growing body of evidence suggests that financial incentives can reduce risky sexual behavior and the incidence of HIV and sexually transmitted infections; however, few studies have examined a lottery-based incentive mechanism or been conducted with female sex workers. This paper examines the effect of a lottery intervention on the combined incidence of HIV and herpes simplex virus 2 among female sex workers in Tanzania. The RESPECT II trial was an unmasked, two-arm, parallel group randomized controlled trial conducted in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania among 2,206 enrollees from 2018 to 2021. Participants were randomized in a one-to-one ratio to the basic test control group or to the lottery intervention group. The basic test group received testing and counseling for HIV and biweekly text messages with information on safe sex practices. The lottery group received the basic test group intervention plus entry into a weekly lottery with a 100,000 Tanzanian shilling (US$50) reward offered to 10 randomly selected participants, conditional on negative test results for syphilis and trichomonas. The primary outcome was combined HIV and herpes simplex virus 2 incidence after 36 months. The results showed no statistically significant effect on this primary outcome. Thus the study finds no evidence that the lottery-based incentives reduced the incidence of HIV and sexually transmitted infections among the female sex worker population. However, the results may have been affected by disruption from the COVID-19 pandemic, and unexpectedly high study attrition levels made it impossible to statistically rule out possible moderate-sized effects. -
Publication
The Economic Cost of Exclusion Based on Sexual Orientation, Gender Identity and Expression, and Sex Characteristics in the Labor Market in the Republic of North Macedonia
(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2023-09-26)Recent research suggests that the effects of stigma, discrimination, and exclusion against lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and intersex (LGBTI) people could be costing economies billions of dollars. There are numerous reasons for these costs, including adverse educational environments, employment discrimination, physical and mental health disparities, and violence. This research aims to estimate the economic cost of exclusion based on sexual orientation, gender identity and expression, and sex characteristics (SOGIESC) in the Republic of North Macedonia and to provide the country’s policy makers, civil society, and development partners with new evidence on the ongoing policy dialogue on strengthening the social inclusion of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and intersex (LGBTI) people. To estimate the cost of exclusion, this report presents two theoretical models focused on the labor market and related issues. The first model centers mainly on the accumulated loss of individual wages due to the consequences of exclusion. The second model calculates the negative effect of exclusion on accumulated fiscal revenues (due to lower income and payroll taxes) and expenditures (due to higher expenditures for unemployment benefits and active labor market programs). -
Publication
Creating an Enabling Environment for Private Sector Climate Action: An Evaluation of World Bank Group Support, Fiscal Years 2013–22
(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2023-09-26)The private sector has a critical role to play in addressing climate change by investing in low-carbon technologies, developing new technologies, and building climate resilience into its investments and operations. Private sector financing will also be critical for meeting the needs for global finance flows, but climate finance from the private sector has been very low. One reason for this is that most countries lack a conducive enabling environment for the private sector to engage in climate action. This evaluation assesses the World Bank Group’s efforts to improve the enabling environment for private sector climate action (EEPSCA). The evaluation defines the private sector enabling environment for climate action as the set of policies (laws and regulations), incentives, standards, information, and institutions that encourage or facilitate the private sector to invest or behave in ways that reduce greenhouse gas emissions or adapt to the current or anticipated impacts of climate change. The private sector includes large, medium, and small firms; domestic and international financiers; and smallholder farmers or other producers. The evaluation assesses the relevance and effectiveness of Bank Group support to EEPSCA and aims to identify lessons applicable to the World Bank and the International Finance Corporation to inform implementation of the Bank Group Climate Change Action Plan 2021 and subsequent Bank Group climate activities. The evaluation also aims to inform discussions on the evolution road map, which considers further increasing the prominence of the role the Bank Group plays on global public goods, such as climate change. -
Publication
Gender and Informal Work in Thailand
(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2023-09-26)Thailand has made good progress in closing gender gaps in various dimensions, especially human capital development. However, the progress, though obvious, has not done much to get rid of the main deterrents discouraging Thai women from participating more actively in the labor market. Thailand’s labor force participation rate (LFPR) is 94 percent for men and 80.5 percent for women; both have been relatively stable since 2017. More than half of jobs in Thailand are considered informal, but though “informal worker” is in general use throughout the economy, what it refers to has no precise definition. The gender and informality study by the World Bank Bangkok team led to the recommendations covered in this report.