Moroz, Harry

Person:
Moroz, Harry

Social Protection and Labor, East Asia and Pacific

Fields of Specialization

Labor Economics, Migration

Departments

Social Protection and Labor, East Asia and Pacific

Last updated: March 18, 2025

Biography

Harry Moroz is an economist in the Social Protection and Labor Global Practice of the East Asia and Pacific Region. His work focuses primarily on migration and migration systems, new approaches to labor market information, labor market programming, and risk management. He holds an MPP from the University of Chicago.

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Now showing 1 - 10 of 11

The Future of Work in Central America and the Dominican Republic
(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2024-08-13) Moroz, Harry; Viollaz, Mariana
Technological progress has the potential to cause significant disruption in labor markets. This report examines the impact of computers, robots, AI, and improved ICT at work on labor markets in CADR. Advanced economies offer a model for how the future of work will look in Central America and the Dominican Republic (CADR), but important differences in development stages mean that the labor market impacts of technological progress are distinct now and are likely to continue to be in the near future. The report focuses on these technologies as the most likely to have shaped labor markets in the region in the recent past and the most likely to shape them in the near future. The report first examines how technological progress within the region is shaping what workers do and how they do it. The report goes beyond the analysis of susceptibility to automation to dissect the factors underlying recent labor market transformations and undercover the extent to which technological change has played a role in these transformations. The report also examines how technological progress outside of the region is shaping labor markets within it by investigating how robot adoption in the United States is affecting the demand for CADR workers in CADR countries and for CADR workers in the United States.
Understanding Labor Market Demand in Real Time in Argentina and Uruguay
(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2025-03-18) Vezza, Evelyn; Zunino, Gonzalo; Laguinge, Luis; Moroz, Harry; Apella, Ignacio Raúl; Spivack, Marla
This paper explores how job vacancy data can enhance labor market information systems (LMISs) in Argentina and Uruguay where, as in many countries, data on in-demand skills is lacking. By analyzing job postings collected over four years in Argentina and Uruguay, this study assesses the potential of vacancy data to fill labor market data gaps. The findings reveal that vacancy data capture labor market dynamics across time and geography, showing a strong correlation with traditional labor market indicators such as employment and unemployment. However, the data are biased towards higher-skilled occupations. Despite these limitations, the large volume of postings allows for robust inferences and provides valuable insights into skills demand. The study presents three key applications of the data: 1) using postings as a leading indicator of labor market health; 2) identifying in-demand skills; and 3) mapping similarities between occupations to improve the information available to job counselors to provide advice about job transitions. Finally, the paper contributes methodologically by developing both a manually created skills taxonomy and an experimental machine learning approach to classifying skills. The machine learning method, while less comprehensive, highlights in-demand skills and can complement the manual approach by keeping it up to date with minimal input. Overall, the paper demonstrates the potential of job vacancy data to improve LMISs and inform labor market policies in Argentina and Uruguay with immediate practical applications for labor market analysis, skills development, and workforce training.
Identifying Skills Needs in Vietnam: The Survey of Detailed Skills
(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2023-09-12) Granata, Julia; Moroz, Harry; Nguyen, Nga Thi
This paper describes a new survey designed to collect comprehensive and granular information about required skills and tasks for detailed occupations in Vietnam. The Survey of Detailed Skills asks workers in Vietnam about their skills and tasks for a set of 30 occupations that are in demand or of strategic importance for economic growth. In doing so, the survey generates practical, detailed information at the occupation level that policy makers and practitioners can use to inform their efforts to build skills in Vietnam. The Survey of Detailed Skills makes several contributions. Most existing efforts to profile occupational skills and tasks in developing countries draw on data from other countries, most frequently the Occupational Information Network (O*NET) in the United States. However, recent research has shown that translating these data across countries via occupational crosswalks yields inaccurate results. The Survey of Detailed Skills is among the first surveys to collect detailed O*NET-type information at the detailed occupational level in a developing country setting. The collection of information about detailed skills means that these skills can be flexibly grouped into different categories (for example, socioemotional skills, digital skills, routine skills, and interpersonal skills) as needed. The use of a consistent scale anchored to the time spent using or performing a skill or task creates clarity for respondents while also yielding a measure of skill and task importance that is easily interpreted. The Survey of Detailed Skills requires outlays on administering the survey, and inclusion of all occupations in Vietnam with regular updating would require ongoing investment.
The Demand for Digital and Complementary Skills in Southeast Asia
(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2022-05-31) Cunningham, Wendy; Moroz, Harry; Muller, Noël
As the economies of Southeast Asia continue adopting digital technologies, policy makers increasingly ask how to prepare the workforce for emerging labor demands. However, little is known about the skills that workers need to adapt to these changes. Skills profiles in low- and middle-income countries are typically derived from data collected in the United States, which is known to inaccurately reflect their occupational skills. This paper uses online job postings data from Malaysia to identify the digital, cognitive, and socioemotional skills required for digital and non-digital occupations. The skills profiles for each occupation are then merged with labor force survey data from Cambodia, Malaysia, Thailand, and Vietnam to sketch skills profiles of the workforces in these countries. Using descriptive statistics and linear probability model regressions, the paper finds evidence that highly digital occupations require not only digital skills, but also cognitive and socioemotional skills. Similarly, virtually all occupations, regardless of the digital intensity of the job, require some basic or intermediate digital skills. Pairwise correlations and a factor analysis confirm the complementarity between digital skills and different subsets of cognitive and socioemotional skills. The data also confirm that, even with the excitement about the digital revolution, the bulk of employment in Southeast Asia is in low- (around two-thirds) or medium-digital (around one-third) occupations. Only between 1 and 5 percent of jobs are highly digital in the four countries studied. These findings suggest that as education and training systems adapt to teach basic digital skills, they will need to continue to foster cognitive and socioemotional skills.
Potential Responses to the COVID-19 Outbreak in Support of Migrant Workers
(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2020-04-21) Shrestha, Maheshwor; Moroz, Harry; Testaverde, Mauro
The note describes the key challenges facing the health, livelihoods, and mobility of internal and international migrants and their families due to the COVID-19 (Coronavirus) outbreak. The note presents the policy options available to governments to address these challenges and describes the assistance that the World Bank can offer in areas related to social protection and jobs to support these efforts. The living and working conditions of internal and international migrants make them vulnerable to contracting COVID-19 (Coronavirus). Measures put in place to control disease transmission both within and across countries have resulted in significant disruption in transportation networks and in labor markets that have hit migrant workers hard. The resulting decline in remittances will transmit these negative impacts to the families of migrants. Travel restrictions may lead to labor shortages in critical sectors like agriculture that are dominated by migrant workers. While the specific type of support that should be targeted to migrants depends on location, legal status, and type of migration, most migrants will need access to safety nets in the form of cash or in-kind assistance to support them as they comply with transmission control measures and cope with the impacts of the crisis. Policies to support employment retention and promotion will be particularly important as a complement to these safety nets for internal migrants and migrants returning from abroad. Policies to offset the expected declines in remittances will be important for all migrants and their families. Programs created to respond to the COVID-19 (Coronavirus) outbreak should be migrant-sensitive to take into account the unique challenges facing migrants.
The Role of Social Protection in Building, Protecting, and Deploying Human Capital in the East Asia and Pacific Region
(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2020-10) Moroz, Harry Edmund
The objective of this note is to highlight how social protection can help lay the human capital foundations needed for poverty reduction and economic growth in the East Asia and Pacific region while also building, protecting, and deploying the human capital needed to keep up with and take advantage of technological and demographic developments. The note first introduces the human capital development challenge in the region in the context of the World Bank’s Human Capital Project. The note then discusses social protection policies that relate directly to the Human Capital Index, a cross-country indicator of progress on human capital that focuses on the early and school-age years. The final part of the note discusses social protection policies relevant to the broader aim of the Human Capital Project to initiate engagement with client countries about how human capital can be accumulated, protected, and deployed throughout the entire lifecycle. The note considers the potential impacts of the COVID-19 outbreak on human capital, but frames the discussion of social protection and human capital broadly to identify implications relevant to the outbreak but also beyond it
Migrating to Opportunity: Overcoming Barriers to Labor Mobility in Southeast Asia
(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2017-10-08) Testaverde, Mauro; Moroz, Harry; Hollweg, Claire H.; Schmillen, Achim
The movement of people in Southeast Asia is an issue of increasing importance. Countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) are now the origin of 8 percent of the world's migrants. These countries host only 4 percent of the world's migrants but intra-regional migration has turned Malaysia, Singapore, and Thailand into regional migration hubs that are home to 6.5 million ASEAN migrants. However, significant international and domestic labor mobility costs limit the ability of workers to change firms, sectors, and geographies in ASEAN. This report takes an innovative approach to estimate the costs for workers to migrate internationally. Singapore and Malaysia have the lowest international labor mobility costs in ASEAN while workers migrating to Myanmar and Vietnam have the highest costs. Singapore and Malaysia's more developed migration systems are a key reason for their lower labor mobility costs. How easily workers can move to take advantage of new opportunities is important in determining how they fare under the increased economic integration planned for ASEAN. To study this question, the report simulates how worker welfare is affected by enhanced trade integration under different scenarios of labor mobility costs. Region-wide, worker welfare would be 14 percent higher if barriers to mobility were reduced for skilled workers, and an additional 29 percent if barriers to mobility were lowered for all workers. Weaknesses in migration systems increase international labor mobility costs, but policy reforms can help. Destination countries should work toward systems that are responsive to economic needs and consistent with domestic policies. Sending countries should balance protections for migrant workers with the needs of economic development.
Labor Mobility as a Jobs Strategy for Myanmar: Strengthening Active Labor Market Policies to Enhance the Benefits of Mobility
(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2020) Testaverde, Mauro; Moroz, Harry; Dutta, Puja
The government of Myanmar is committed to creating new and better jobs, including for migrant workers. In 2018, they introduced the Myanmar sustainable development plan (2018-2030), a national strategy to inform policies and institutions that drive inclusive and transformational economic growth. Goal 3 of that plan focuses on job creation and private sector-led growth, and it includes separate strategies for job creation in rural areas, in industry and services, and in small and medium enterprises (SMEs); another part of goal 3 addresses the need to improve the enabling environment for investment. Protecting the rights and harnessing the benefits of work, including for migrant workers, is likewise addressed in the government’s plan. The ministry of labor, immigration, and population also released two national plans of action that highlight the importance of migration for Myanmar and the need to improve its management.
Improving the Resilience of Peru's Road Network to Climate Events
(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2017-03) Briceno-Garmendia, Cecilia; Rozenberg, Julie; Lu, Xijie; Bonzanigo, Laura; Moroz, Harry
This paper proposes a methodology to prioritize interventions in Peru's road network. A network model is built, linking the country's economic and population centers through indicative corridors, which are defined as the least-cost routes to connect origins to destinations. The network's critical links are identified by systematically simulating disruptions and calculating the costs associated with them. The network is then overlaid with natural hazard layers. The average annual losses associated with the hazard disruptions of the critical links are calculated in many scenarios, including climate change uncertainty and different impacts and reconstruction times. A robust decision-making approach is then used to select interventions that decrease hazard disruption costs.
Macroeconomic Implications of Aging in East Asia Pacific: Demography, Labor Markets and Productivity
(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2014-08-08) Flochel, Thomas; Ikeda, Yuki; Moroz, Harry; Umapathi, Nithin
This background paper was prepared for the East Asia Pacific aging report. The East Asia and Pacific region grew at an unparalleled rate in the past 50 years. This economic boom is partly attributable to unprecedented demographic changes in East Asia during this period. But demographics are only part of the story. The size of the economic bonus or burden which results from population aging depends on how policy influences labor force participation, savings, human capital accumulation and total factor productivity.