Miscellaneous Knowledge Notes

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  • Publication
    Firms’ Recovery from COVID-19 in Malaysia: Results from the 5th Round of COVID-19 Business Pulse Survey
    (World Bank, Washington, DC, 2022-08) Kuriakose, Smita; Ting, Kok Onn; Hebous, Sarah; Tiew, Haris
    The survey implemented in August 2022 shows that economic recovery is taking root in Malaysia as evidenced by the trends in operating hours, sales, and employment. The outlook of firms is positive and with more than 38 percent of firms relative to 34 percent of firms in R4 business pulse survey (BPS) expecting higher sales for Q4 2022. With international borders being opened, firms’ recovery has accelerated across regions and firm sizes. However, this brings about new challenges for firms such as shortages of labor, rising input costs, and increasing market competition.
  • Publication
    Firms’ Recovery from COVID-19 in Malaysia: Results from the 4th Round of COVID-19 Business Pulse Survey
    (Washington, DC: World Bank, 2022-02-28) Kuriakose, Smita; Tran, Trang Thu; Ting, Kok Onn; Hebous, Sarah Waltraut
    The Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) business pulse survey (BPS) is a rapid survey designed to measure the various channels of impact of COVID-19 on firms, firm adjustment strategies, and public policy responses. The World Bank, in collaboration with a private survey company, conducted the 4th round of the Malaysia BPS in February to March 2022, following the 1st round in October 2020, 2nd round in Mid-January to February 2021, and 3rd round in July 2021. Firms were sampled randomly from an online business panel database, which consists of 100,000+ companies in all sectors and sizes, across Peninsular and East Malaysia. A minimum sample size was obtained for sectors that are important to Malaysia’s economy and are sensitive to the COVID-19 crisis (export-oriented activities: electronics, automotive, tourism related activities) while preserving the sectoral shares in the sampling frame. The survey was conducted online and yielded 1,500 responses from respondents in senior management positions at their company (i.e. owners, C-suite or Director level).
  • Publication
    Somalia: COVID-19 High Phone Survey Wave 2 Brief
    (World Bank, Washington, DC, 2021-11) Kotikula, Andy; Pournik, Milad; Yoshimura, Kazusa
    In January 2021, the second wave of the Somalia high frequency phone survey has been administered, calling 2,811 households to see the impact of Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) on people’s behavior and livelihood. The first wave has been conducted in June 2020, and compared to that, the adoption of preventive measures such as washing hands and wearing mask was less widespread in the second wave, while over 90 percent of people expressed interest in getting tested and vaccinated. The overall employment rate seems to have improved from the first wave, but still the majority of households (79 percent) reported the further income reduction. Food insecurity has clearly worsened compared to the first wave while government and non-government assistance appears to have reduced greatly since 2020, which strongly suggests the need of further support to the Somalis, especially the most vulnerable groups including internally displaced populations (IDPs) and nomadic households.
  • Publication
    Socioeconomic Impacts of COVID-19 on Households in Somalia: Results from Round 1 of the Somali High-Frequency Phone Survey
    (World Bank, Washington, DC, 2021-10-01) Karamba, Wendy; Salcher, Isabelle
    The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic and its effects on households create an urgent need for timely data and evidence to help monitor and mitigate the social and economic impacts of the crisis on the Somali people, especially the poor and most vulnerable. To monitor the socioeconomic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic and inform policy responses and interventions, the World Bank designed and conducted a nationally representative Somali High-Frequency Phone Survey (SHFPS) of households. The survey covers important and relevant topics, including knowledge of COVID-19 and adoption of preventative behavior, economic activity and income sources, access to basic goods and services, exposure to shocks and coping mechanisms, and access to social assistance. This brief summarizes the findings of the first round of the SHFPS, implemented between June and July 2020. The information presented here is based on a sample of 2,811 households across all regions of Somalia, drawn using a random digit dialing protocol. Sampling weights are computed to ensure representativeness at the national and state level, and by population type. The same households will be tracked over 12 months, with selected respondents—typically the household head—completing interviews every 8-12 weeks. Monitoring the well-being of households over time will improve understanding of the effects of, and household responses to the COVID-19 pandemic in near-real time.
  • Publication
    COVID-19 High Frequency Phone Surveys in Latin America: Technical Note on Sampling Design, Weighting, and Estimation
    (World Bank, Washington, DC, 2021-09) Flores Cruz, Ramiro
    The Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) high-frequency phone survey (HFPS) 2020 was conducted in 13 Latin American countries: Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Paraguay, and Peru. It followed a panel sample over three waves of data collection in 12 countries and over four waves in Ecuador. All waves spanned from May to August 2020 and each wave’s collection period lasted about ten days on average. The survey was administered to one adult per household. Each respondent was presented with both individual and household-level questions. All national samples were based on a dual frame of cell and landline phones, and selected as a one-stage probability sample, with geographic stratification of landline numbers. The samples were generated through a random digit dialing (RDD) process covering all cell and landline telephone numbers active at the time of the sample selection. Survey estimates represent households with a landline or at least one cell phone and individuals of 18 years of age or above who have an active cell phone number or a landline at home.
  • Publication
    COVID-10 Impact Monitoring: Malawi, Round 12
    (World Bank, Washington, DC, 2021-09) World Bank
    In May 2020, the National Statistical Office (NSO), with support from the World Bank, launched the High-Frequency Phone Survey on COVID-19 (coronavirus), which tracks the socio-economic impacts of the pandemic on a monthly basis for a period of 12 months. The survey aimed to recontact the entire sample of households that had been interviewed during the Integrated Household Panel Survey (IHPS) 2019 round and that had a phone number for at least one household member or a reference individual. This report presents the findings from the twelfth round of the survey that was conducted during the period of June 14 - June 30, 2021.
  • Publication
    Impacts of COVID-19 on Communities in the Philippines: Results from the Philippines High Frequency Social Monitoring of COVID-19 Impacts Round 2, April 8-14, 2021
    (World Bank, Washington, DC, 2021-08-23) World Bank
    The brief outlines the finding from the second round of a high frequency social monitoring survey that aimed to assess the impact of COVID 19 (coronavirus) pandemic on the poorest and most vulnerable rural communities. The survey also aimed to determine the level of understanding and source of information of the communities pertaining to the COVID 19 vaccine. The second round of phone-in survey was conducted April 4-13, 2021 and across National Community Driven Development Project (NCDDP, implemented by community DSWD) communities in nine regions in Luzon, the Visayas and Mindanao. Some of the views and observations from the respondents included : Communities were markedly concerned about vaccine safety and effectiveness and looked to doctors and health practitioners for information about vaccination plans. Getting vaccinated would likely be difficult for seniors, persons with comorbidities, and children because of health reasons. Communities preferred food, cash, and livelihood assistance.
  • Publication
    How Did the COVID-19 Crisis Affect Different Types of Workers in the Developing World?
    (World Bank, Washington, DC, 2021-08) Kugler, Maurice; Viollaz, Mariana; Duque, Daniel; Gaddis, Isis; Newhouse, David; Palacios-Lopez, Amparo; Weber, Michael
    The COVID-19 pandemic is the worst global macroeconomic shock since the Great Depression. This brief reports which groups of workers have been hit hardest by the economic fallout of COVID-19 in developing countries. Larger shares of female, young, less educated, and urban workers stopped working, with gender differences being particularly pronounced. Gender gaps in work stoppage stemmed mainly from differences within sectors rather than differential employment patterns across sectors. Among those that remained employed, changes in sector of employment and employment type were similar for all groups except for age, where young workers saw a slightly larger decline in industrial employment. Employment increased between April and October, with larger gains for the groups with larger initial job losses, but for most groups these gains fell far short of pre pandemic employment levels. Finally, evidence from five countries suggests that phone surveys give a generally accurate picture of group disparities in employment rates following the onset of the crisis and are proving to be a valuable tool for monitoring differential impacts of the crisis on workers
  • Publication
    Female-Owned Firms during the COVID-19 Crisis
    (World Bank, Washington, DC, 2021-07-29) Hyland, Marie; Muzi, Silvia; Viganola, Domenico
    This brief use firm-level data collected between May 2020 and May 2021 in 41 countries, to provide descriptive evidence on the differential effect of the Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) crisis on female- and male-owned firms. Data suggest that while female-owned and male-owned businesses closed permanently at the same rates, female-owned firms were more likely to have temporarily closed during the crisis and to have closed for a longer duration. When able to stay in business, female-owned firms were more likely to experience a decrease in demand for their products or services and supply of intermediate inputs than male-owned firms. They also reduced the size of their workforce more than their male counterparts and were more likely to reduce hours worked. Finally, female-owned firms suffered deeper financial distress than male-owned firms. Nevertheless, female and male-owned firms show similar optimism of returning to normal levels of sales or workforce in the near future.
  • Publication
    The Evolving Labor Market Impacts of COVID-19 in Developing Countries
    (World Bank, Washington, DC, 2021-07-22) Khamis, Melanie; Prinz, Daniel; Newhouse, David; Palacios-Lopez, Amparo; Pape, Utz; Weber, Michael
    The early labor market impacts of the Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic resulted in widespread disruption to livelihoods. Previous analysis showed that between April and July 2020, across a sample of 39 countries, an average of 34 percent of workers stopped work, 20 percent of employees experienced partial or no payments for work performed, and 9 percent changed jobs during the early part of the pandemic. This brief discusses how labor markets have evolved since the initial phase of the crisis in the spring and early summer of 2020. It uses harmonized data from high-frequency phone surveys (HFPS) conducted in 33 developing countries and provides information on the changing labor market impacts of the crisis in these countries from the initial phase of the pandemic in April 2020 through December 2020.