Other ESW Reports

242 items available

Permanent URI for this collection

http://hdl.handle.net/10986/2209

This includes miscellaneous ESW types and pre-2003 ESW type reports that are subsequently completed and released.

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Towards Better Labor Migration Systems in Northern Central America: Overview of Findings from El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras

(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2023-08-01) World Bank

This note aims to close the knowledge gap about the effectiveness and capacity of labor migration sending systems in NCA countries. The report assesses whether NCA countries have the fundamental elements of an effective labor migration sending system, identifies the missing elements, and offers recommendations for strengthening the systems over time. Filling such a knowledge gap is critical to inform policies that maximize the benefits and minimize the costs of economic migration. Programs and policies that help expand legal pathways for regular migration will not only promote mutually beneficial migration, but could be a step, albeit small, towards dissuading individuals from pursuing risky migration patterns. Indeed, evidence from Mexico indicates that investing in legal labor pathways can reduce irregular migration (Clemens and Gough, 2018). In this context, this note summarizes the main findings from three institutional diagnostics of the labor migration sending systems in NCA countries, with a view to deepening the understanding of the supply side of labor flows. To this end, and building on previous World Bank experience globally, a diagnostic tool was developed to identify what steps the NCA governments have taken to recognize and respond to foreign demand for workers. The tool examines if appropriate structures, systems, processes, and resources exist to prepare and deliver adequate labor supply arrangements in the context of bilateral agreements (BLAs) or Temporary Work Agreements (TWAs) with other countries. The diagnostic tool is organized around four main pillars to regulate, facilitate, fortify, and further access of labor migrants to international labor markets.
Understanding Urban Informality in Iraq: Findings from the Informal Sector Enterprise Survey

(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2023-07-24) Moosa, Dalal ; Abdel Ahad, Joanna ; Moreira, Vanessa

In Iraq, like many countries around the world, the informal sector is a major contributor to employment and business activity. The Iraq Labor Force Survey (LFS) of 2021 estimated that more than half of the workers in the country do not contribute to social insurance, consequently informal. Recent surveys conducted by the Central Statistics Organization (CSO) and the Kurdistan Region Statistics Office (KRSO) in collaboration with the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) found that 80 percent and 60 percent of businesses, respectively, are not registered with any public entity, consequently informal. Recognizing the prevalence of this sector and its role in people’s earning and consumption, this report extends the knowledge about Iraq’s urban informality through a new survey. The Informal Sector Enterprise Survey (ISES) was led by the World Bank, with the objective of further illuminating the characteristics of urban informal businesses and their workers. It was conducted in four key cities: Baghdad, Basrah, Najaf and Sulaymaniyah. It is complemented by two other World Bank surveys fielded around the same time: the World Bank Enterprise Survey (WBES) and the Micro-enterprise survey of 2022, both of which focus on formal businesses. The next sections are organized as follows. Section II explains the data collection process and final sample. Section III highlights the key findings. Section IV proposes some key policy and program priorities to improve the lives of the people who work in the sector and the performance of the businesses. Section VII concludes with a few remarks on the potential for future research on Iraq’s informality.
Working Without Borders: The Promise and Peril of Online Gig Work

(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2023-07-24) Datta, Namita ; Rong, Chen ; Singh, Sunamika ; Stinshoff, Clara ; Iacob, Nadina ; Nigatu, Natnael Simachew ; Nxumalo, Mpumelelo ; Klimaviciute, Luka

Jobs are crucial for individual well-being. They provide a livelihood and, equally important, a sense of dignity. They are also crucial for collective well-being and economic growth. Over the past decade, technology has fundamentally shifted traditional work patterns, creating new ways in which work is contracted, performed, managed, scheduled, and remunerated. New business models, digital platform firms, are allowing the effects of technology to reach more people more quickly, bringing economic opportunity to millions of people who do not live in industrialized countries or even industrial areas, simply with access to broadband and a digital device (World Bank 2019). Digital labor platforms play a role in the process of structural transformation especially by triggering organizational and occupational transformations, for example, by enhancing labor productivity and formalization in service sectors (Nayyar, Hallward-Driemeier, and Davies 2021). New forms of work, known as gig jobs, enabled by digital platforms, have now gained momentum (Eurofound 2020).
A Growing Crisis: Work, Workers, and Wellbeing in Myanmar

(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2023-06-15) Sinha Roy, Sutirtha ; Demarchi, Giorgia ; Rhoads, Elizabeth

Myanmar’s economy has been affected by numerous internal and external shocks since 2020. This report takes stock of the effect of these shocks on Myanmar’s workers and their well-being using a reliable new source of household data. The report compares employment indicators from 2017 and 2022 to spotlight the extent of adversity faced by workers and households. Employment indicators for 2017 are based on official Myanmar living conditions survey (MLCS) data. MSPS provides reliable employment indicators at the sub-national level for 2022 that are comparable with baseline official data from 2017. MSPS provides reliable employment indicators at the sub-national level for 2022 that are comparable with baseline official data from 2017. While anchored in the MSPS, this report complements quantitative data with qualitative insights from the community welfare monitoring surveys, in particular the March 2023 round, conducted by the World Bank since 2020. This report is organized as follows: chapter 1 provides a snapshot of overall labor market changes since 2017 and focuses on disparities by gender, employment type, industry of occupation, and other worker characteristics. Chapter 2 analyzes similarities and differences in level employment indicators by state and regions. Chapter 3 concludes by spotlighting key township level characteristics that have influenced workers, their work prospects, and their overall well-being.
Bosnia and Herzegovina: The Public Sector Labor Market and Its Implications

(Washington, DC, 2023-05-24) World Bank

Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) face the dual and interlinked challenge of lack of jobs and low quality of public services. Labor force participation rates, especially of women, are among the lowest in Europe, and the country faces high and sustained levels of unemployment, especially of the youth. Even within the employed sector there are concerns regarding the quality of jobs, including high levels of informality. The dearth of quality jobs is linked to skills mismatches between the demand and supply of labor, which in turn reflects the relatively low quality of human capital of workers, and poor education and health services. The objective of this report is to examine the “public sector labor market” in BiH and its implications for this twin challenge. The public sector labor market is defined as the employment, compensation, management, and work environment practices of the public sector. These practices influence the employment choices of individuals, such as whether to work and preferences over public sector or private sector employment. They also affect the selection, retention, motivation, and productivity of public sector workers, which in turn impact the ability of the government to effectively deliver its variety of outputs. The report measures these features of the public sector labor market through an original household survey conducted by the World Bank (WB) in 2021-2022 that is representative of the urban areas of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina (FBiH) and the Republika Srpska (RS).
Philippine Jobs Report: Shaping a Better Future for the Filipino Workforce

(Washington, DC, 2023-03-27) World Bank

Shaping a Better Future for the Filipino Workforce aims to inform jobs policy by examining key determinants and outcomes of jobs. Jobs are created when the macroeconomic environment is conducive and policies are predictable to businesses with sustained growth, trades, and investments. At the same time, a large body of literature also shows that economic growth alone is not sufficient for generating jobs. Jobs are created when firms pursue expansion through innovation and competitiveness and demand for more labor input, while workers’ skills and human capital are able to meet the needs of firms. Intrahousehold resource allocation and decisions for labor supply also affect the jobs outcomes. It is not uncommon that workers as self-employed create jobs by initiating their own business. The market clearing process of labor is then affected by labor market institutions, most notably labor market regulations and labor policies and programs. These are key determinants of how easy it is to start a business or to hire a worker, how high labor costs are, and how efficiently firms and workers are matched. Part I looks into the country’s labor market in chronological order, while Part II discusses three major areas of Philippine jobs - labor regulation, international migration, and emerging demands for green and digital jobs.
COVID-19 in Solomon Islands - Economic and Social Impacts: Insights from the January-February 2022 Round of High Frequency Phone Surveys

(Washington, DC, 2022-07) World Bank

This report focuses on the socio-economic impacts of Coronavirus (COVID-19) in Solomon Islands. The fourth round of the high frequency phone survey (HFPS) interviewed 2,671 households in January-February 2022 on the socio-economic impacts of Coronavirus (COVID-19), including employment and income, community trust and security and COVID-19 vaccination. The January-February 2022 round occurred at the onset of the first wave of COVID-19.
Socio-Emotional Drivers of Youth Unemployment: The Case of Higher Educated Youth in Sudan

(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2022-06) De Martino, Samantha ; Farfán, Gabriela ; Gayoso, Lyliana ; Osman, Eiman

This study seeks to contribute to the existing literature in Sudan by analyzing psychological, social, and behavioral drivers of youth employment in combination with key structural issues identified in the country. Our analysis is based in existing literature on the structural problems that Sudanese youth face to accessing the labor market and uses a novel dataset to examine the factors that determine youth’s career aspirations as well as the factors that serve as barriers to achieve their career aspirations. In addition, the study explores the role of mindsets and soft skills, both as direct determinants of labor market outcomes as well as indirect determinants through their impact on aspirations. Specifically, we measure mental health (anxiety), core self-beliefs, and job-relevant soft skills that moderate the way individuals manage and interact socially in the labor market. Core self-evaluation beliefs determine the way individuals perceive their own basic capabilities, and soft skills are a set of learned, realized behaviors that allow individuals to effectively manage inter- and intrapersonal situations. The aim of this study is to provide a deeper and more comprehensive understanding of the youth unemployment challenge to help identify potential cost-effective interventions that support youth’s job search and employability in Sudan.
What Do You Want to Be?: Youth Aspirations in the Time of the COVID-19 Crisis - Evidence from Three Sub-Saharan Countries

(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2022-02-01) Costa, Valentina ; Contreras Gonzalez, Ivette Maria ; Palacios-Lopez, Amparo

Understanding the aspirations and goals of the youth is essential to developing effective employment policies. Policies should be designed to allow educational and professional aspirations of young people to align with pathways to achieving them. The data collected is nationally representative and age distribution is similar across countries. Recent surveys on youth or sub-populations of youth have included questions to capture career aspirations and life goals in the time of the Coronavirus (COVID-19) crisis. Incorporating the youth aspirations and employment module for High Frequency Phone Surveys (HFPS) into multi-topic household surveys has several advantages. In conclusion, measuring youth aspirations helps shed light on the possible employment outcomes that can be observed in adulthood and play a role in breaking poverty circles, which is highly relevant for public policy.
Disability Inclusion and Accountability Framework

(Washington, DC, 2022) World Bank

The Disability Inclusion and Accountability Framework, updated in 2022, lays out a road map for (i) including disability in the World Bank’s policies, operations, and analytical work; and (ii) building internal capacity for supporting clients in implementing disability-inclusive development programs. The primary target audience of the Framework is Bank staff but it is also relevant to the Bank`s client countries, development partners and persons with disabilities.