Miscellaneous Knowledge Notes
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Publication
Insights from the Labor Module on Work and Wages in Cox's Bazar
(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2019-11-19)The labor market module was administered as part of the adult questionnaire of the Cox’s Bazar Panel Survey to 2 randomly selected adults from every household in the sample, amounting to a total of 9,045 individuals. The module generates representative statistics for the adult (15+) population of hosts and displaced Rohingya in Cox’s Bazar; and it can be further disaggregated into hosting areas with low and high exposure to the Rohingya influx, and by gender. Besides collecting information on the participation of adults in the labor force and their employment status, the module collects details on wage and non-wage employment, wage rates, sectors of employment and barriers faced in obtaining work. -
Publication
The Involvement of Third-Party Professionals in Business Registration and Property Transfer
(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2019-10)Complex business regulations and bureaucratic processes tend to be obstacles for new entrepreneurs. To navigate these processes as smoothly as possible, entrepreneurs may solicit the services of third-party professionals. Whether in business incorporation or land transactions, third-party agents provide professional assistance and ensure that certain processes comply with the regulations in place. Depending on the economy and the specific regulatory process, these professionals can be lawyers, notaries or accountants, among others. This policy note explores the role of third-party professionals in the areas of starting a business and registering property in 168 economies and analyzes some of the differences in terms of time and costs for services provided by third-party professionals, as well as trends and reforms over time. The doing business indicator sets for these areas are used to benchmark the steps, cost, and time to incorporate a business and to transfer a property. -
Publication
Targeting versus Universality: Is There a Middle Ground?
(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2019-10)In the last few years, proposals to introduce a universal basic income or universal basic income (UBI) have proliferated. Proponents point out that narrowly targeted programs exclude many of the poor. Critics point out that universality spreads limited resources thinly over the population limiting the impact on poverty for a given level of spending. While high income countries can claw back the transfer to the higher income group through a progressive income tax, this is not possible in developing countries where most people operate in the informal sector. This note looks at an alternative to either narrow targeting or UBI. It uses household survey data from 52 low and middle-income countries to compare the poverty impact of a UBI to a transfer that is gradually reduced as estimated consumption increases. The taper can be set at different rates and can lead to zero transfers to households above a chosen threshold. The tapered UBI (TUBI) can be based on proxy indicators for unobserved income from special surveys and administrative databases. Both are becoming more common as government databases are digitized. -
Publication
Economic Mobility Across Generations in the Developing East Asia and Pacific Region
(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2019-09)The pace and success of economic growth in the developing East Asia and Pacific region (EAP) has been described as nothing short of a miracle. Education and its complementarities are often linked and credited significantly for the region's positive story on economic growth. During the early stages of the region's development, education kept pace and complemented labor needs; widespread basic literacy and numeracy met demands in manufacturing and assembling. This led to rapid improvements in educational mobility across generations in absolute terms, where mobility is understood as the rise in education levels from one generation to the next. On the other hand, progress has been slower and uneven in relative mobility, which is more closely linked to inequality in education and income and refers to the extent to which an individual's position in society is influenced by that of his or her parents. -
Publication
Women in Utilities: A Driving Force for Workforce Modernization – A Case Study of Three Utilities in the Danube Region
(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2019-09)Diversity at the top of an organization can lead to better decision making and governance, and gender-inclusive companies—including utilities—can better reflect the needs of a diverse set of consumers. In the Danube region, utilities often face a predominantly male and sometimes aging workforce. However, gender gaps in tertiary education are closing, including programs in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. For the water sector, creating an environment with equal opportunities for men and women at all levels of responsibility should therefore be an integral part of every utility's modernization process. Beginning in 2017, the Danube Water Program and the World Bank Global Water Security and Sanitation Partnership collaborated with three pioneering utilities in the Danube region to take a closer look at gender equality in their workplace: Brasov Regional Water Utility in Romania, the Prishtina Regional Water Utility in Kosovo, and the Tirana Water Utility in Albania. The assessment focused on four areas that determine success in gender equality, and results show that although all utilities have their individual strengths and weaknesses, there is wide scope for improvement toward optimal performance through human resource practices that foster a more gender-inclusive workforce. -
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Gender Inequality, Human Capital Wealth, and Development Outcomes in Uganda
(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2019-08)Reducing gender inequality makes economic sense apart from being the right thing to do. Achievinggender equality and empowering all women and girls is the fifth sustainable development goal and is a top priority for governments. Countries can achieve this goal if they take appropriate steps. This note is part of a series that aims to measure the economic cost of gender inequality globally and regionally by examining the impacts of gender inequality in a wide range of areas and the costs associated with those impacts. Given that gender inequality affects individuals throughouttheir life, economic costs are measured in terms of losses in human capital wealth, as opposed to annual losses in income or economic growth. The notes also aim to provide a synthesis of the available evidence on successful programs and policies that contribute to gender equality in multiple areas and achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). This note has two main objectives. The first is to estimate potential losses in national wealth due to inequality inearnings between men and women in Uganda. The second is to document the impact of gender inequality in selected other domains, including fertility and population growth, health outcomes for young children, and measures of women’s agency. -
Publication
Female Labor Force Participation in Bangladesh: What Do We Know? How Can We Address it in Operations?
(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2019-06)This knowledge note is designed to support operational teams to design interventions to help address the challenges of female labor force participation in Bangladesh. The note presents a brief overview of the status and dynamics of female labor force participation in Bangladesh, along with a discussion of underlying causes. It identifies potential areas for investment and policy intervention and provides good practice case examples from World Bank projects around the world. -
Publication
Collecting Robust Real-Time High Frequency Price Data in Fragile Settings
(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2019-03)To embark on a sustainable pathway toward development, effective policy responses must be implemented quickly and based on evidence. This requires reliable, timely data, which is often unavailable especially in fragile settings. An innovative High Frequency Survey (HFS) infrastructure offers a modern data collection system to fill critical data gaps. It can provide quantitative data to inform programs and policies, often linked to resilience in fragile settings. Using the cases of Somalia and South Sudan, this note describes the design and setup of such a HFS infrastructure and illustrates how high frequency price data can effectively support decision-making even in the event of an economic or humanitarian crisis. -
Publication
Framing the Future of Work
(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2018-10-17)Digital technologies affect employment through complex channels: automation, connectivity, and innovation. Labor-saving technologies coupled with reshoring may disrupt labor markets in developing countries and result in job losses. Yet, technological change drives productivity gains in both white-collar and blue-collar jobs either through ICT uptake or modern mechanical technologies. The ‘gig economy’ changes the traditional employer-employee relationship as it introduces new types of work. Digital platforms increase flexibility and labor market transparency, but delink workers from employers and from social benefits and protections making them more vulnerable. Policymakers in rich and poor countries alike should rethink social protection mechanisms. Technology diffusion has created divided worlds varying by region and income level. Job automation is likely to have a greater impact on less skilled workers than those with a university education (40 percent versus 5 percent in OECD countries). Moving towards a digital economy will reward those with access to broadband connectivity, strong institutions, and digital literacy. Future workers must acquire basic IT skills together with socio emotional skills that adapt to a lifelong learning environment in a changing jobs landscape. Technology can also increase labor market access for women and persons with disabilities, given the right ‘analog’ complements are in place. Technological change will affect the number, quality, and distribution of jobs across the world. In developing countries, the future workforce should be ready to embrace technology, digital literacy, and connectedness—bringing everyone closer to the technological frontier. -
Publication
When is a Current Account Deficit Bad?
(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2018-10)A current account deficit is sustainable when its underlying drivers support a smooth correction in the future. It is unsustainable when symptomatic of macroeconomic imbalances that would eventually trigger disruptive adjustments. Although a current account deficit in itself is neither good nor bad, it is likely to be unsustainable and lead to harmful consequences when it is persistently large, fuels consumption rather than investment, occurs alongside excessive domestic credit growth, follows an overvalued exchange rate, or accompanies unrestrained fiscal deficits. Even though a current account deficit is often paralleled by deteriorating net foreign assets, it may not be as informative about immediate-term financial vulnerabilities as the size, maturity, and currency composition of gross financial stocks.