Sánchez Puerta, Maria Laura

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Sánchez Puerta, Maria Laura

Global Practice on Social Protection and Labor

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Global Practice on Social Protection and Labor

Last updated: January 31, 2023

Biography

Maria Laura Sanchez Puerta is a senior economist in the Jobs Group of the Social Protection and Labor Global Practice at the World Bank, where she specializes on the intersection of labor and development economics. She currently leads the jobs and skills agenda and co-leads the global STEP initiative including household and employer surveys measuring adult skills in 17 countries. She prepared one of the first Job Diagnostics at the country level and contributed to an innovative, multi-sector work program on jobs in Kenya. Maria Laura’s research includes cognitive and non-cognitive skills and labor outcomes; design, implementation, and evaluation of active labor market programs; income mobility in Latin America; informality and labor market segmentation; and the effects of globalization on working conditions. Maria Laura has also supported analytical and operational work in Argentina, Brazil, Cambodia, Colombia, El Salvador, Indonesia, Kenya, Lebanon, Rwanda and Tunisia. She holds a PhD in Economics from Cornell University and joined IZA as a Research Fellow in 2007.

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Now showing 1 - 10 of 16

Taking Stock of Programs to Develop Socioemotional Skills: A Systematic Review of Program Evidence
(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2016-08-01) Sánchez Puerta, Maria Laura; Valerio, Alexandria; Gutiérrez Bernal, Marcela
This book represents a systematic review of the documented impacts of programs aimed at fostering socio-emotional skills in developed and developing countries. It uses a life-cycle approach to organize the findings from rigorous evaluations of more than 80 programs. This includes programs for toddlers and young children before primary school, programs for students enrolled in formal education, and programs targeted at the out-of-school population. The book develops a conceptual framework that helps to identify the program characteristics and participants’ profiles associated with a range of program outcomes. These include health-related, behavioral, academic or cognitive, and economic-related outcomes. The review finds that few of the programs studied focus exclusively on the development of socio-emotional skills. In fact, most efforts to develop socio-emotional skills are embedded within innovative education and training curricula, as well as pedagogical and classroom practices. Evidence shows that programs are particularly effective when targeted to highly vulnerable populations and, in particular, to young children. Overall, findings indicate that high-quality programs for young children tend to foster cognitive abilities in the short run and to impact socio-emotional skills over the long run. Programs for students enrolled in formal education (primary and secondary levels) show positive and significant impacts on the outcomes reviewed. The most successful of these programs are implemented school-wide and follow the SAFE approach: that is, they are appropriately sequenced, active, focused, and explicit. Finally, the review finds that programs for out-of-school children and youth are usually designed as a means of achieving immediate labor market outcomes (e.g., job-placement, formal employment, and higher wages). While some of these programs show positive and statistically significant impacts on socio-emotional skills, the impacts tend to be small.
From Ghana to America: The Skill Content of Jobs and Economic Development
(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2019-01-31) Lo Bello, Salvatore; Sanchez Puerta, Maria Laura; Winkler, Hernan
There is a growing body of literature exploring the skill content ofjobs. This article contributes to this research by using data on thetask content of occupations from developing countries, instead of US data as most existing studies do. It finds that US-based indexes do not provide a fair approximation of the levels, changes and drivers of the routine cognitive and non-routine manual skill content of jobs in developing countries. The authors also uncover three new stylized facts. First, while developed countries tend to have jobsmore intensive in non-routine cognitive skills than developing ones, income (both in growth and levels) is not associated with the skill content of jobs once other factors are accounted for. Second,while ICT adoption is linked to job de-routinization, international trade is an off setting force. Last, ICT adoption is correlated with lower employment growth in countries with a high share of occupations intensive in routine tasks.
From Ghana to America: The Skill Content of Jobs and Economic Development
(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2019-02) Lo Bello, Salvatore; Sanchez Puerta, Maria Laura; Winkler, Hernan
There is a growing body of literature exploring the skill content of jobs. This paper contributes to this research by using data on the task content of occupations in developing countries, instead of U.S. data, as most existing studies do. The paper finds that indexes based on U.S. data do not provide a fair approximation of the levels, changes, and drivers of the routine cognitive and nonroutine manual skill content of jobs in developing countries. The paper also uncovers three new stylized facts. First, while developed countries tend to have jobs more intensive in nonroutine cognitive skills than developing countries, income (in growth and levels) is not associated with the skill content of jobs once the analysis accounts for other factors. Second, although adoption of information and communications technology is linked to job de-routinization, international trade is an offsetting force. Last, adoption of information and communications technology is correlated with lower employment growth in countries with a high share of occupations that are intensive in routine tasks.
Measuring Skills Demanded by Employers: Skills Toward Employment and Productivity (STEP)
(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2018-05-01) Rizvi, Anam; Sanchez Puerta, Maria Laura
Economic growth depends on skills being put to productive use. In recent years, research on labor outcomes and education shows that there is a substantial mismatch between the supply and demand for skills around the world (Cappelli, 2014: McIntosh and Vignoles, 2001). This mismatch affects more than just wages or individual job satisfaction. Skills mismatches have an impact on productivity and growth at both the firm level and the macro-economic level (Quintini, 2014). Reports show that firms around the world consider skills challenges to be an impediment to the operation and development of their business. A cause for further concern is that this constraint seems to be disproportionately affecting the more dynamic and innovative employers, signifying a potentially negative impact on job creation and technological progress (World Bank, 2012).
Framing the Future of Work
(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2018-10-17) Christensen, Luc; D’Souza, Ritika; Gatti, Roberta V.; Valerio, Alexandria; Sanchez Puerta, Maria Laura; Palacios, Robert J.
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.
Kenya: Capturing Skills Requirements and Assessing Skills Gaps in the Modern Economy
(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2018-05-01) Johansson de Silva, Sarah; Sanchez Puerta, Maria Laura; Rizvi, Anam
In Kenya, skills constraints are reported to have a detrimental impact on job creation and labor market outcomes. Employers have reported concerns with the level and relevance of a broad set of socio-emotional skills and cognitive skills amongst job applicants and recently hired workers. These skill gaps affect firms' competitiveness (ability to grow and create more jobs), as well as productivity (better wages). Evidence of job dissatisfaction on both the demand and supply side suggests that workers are not being matched with the right jobs. Three policy implication are derived from these results. First, worker mobility and resilience to new challenges requires the continuous upgrading of skills through on-the-job and other training opportunities. Second, with the projected population growth rate (for young people) there is an urgent need to foster high productivity jobs, as well as jobs that are inclusive (to vulnerable populations). Third, in order to address the skills mismatch, comprehensive labor market information is needed to guide students and jobseekers by providing unemployment data, job vacancies and the level of wages by occupation type.
Accounting for Mismatch in Low- and Middle-Income Countries: Measurement, Magnitudes, and Explanations
(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2016-08-23) Handel, Michael J.; Valerio, Alexandria; Sánchez Puerta, Maria Laura
To stimulate economic advancement, low- and middle-income countries need well-educated and trained workforces to fill the types of skilled jobs that drive economic growth. Improving educational quality and attainment and providing better training are all rightly put forth as policy recommendations to leverage economic growth and job creation. However, new findings based on large scale surveys of adult skills from the World Bank Group’s STEP (Skills toward Employment and Productivity) Skills Measurement Program suggest that many workers are overqualified for their current jobs (based on the education those jobs require). The results of this study suggest that countries may not reap as much benefit from their investments in quality education and training if weak job creation leaves workers’ skills underutilized. Most of the literature on mismatch focuses on higher-income countries and rates of over-education among college graduates. Accounting for Mismatch in Low- and Middle-Income Countries uses new STEP Skills Survey data from 12 low- and middle-income countries, representing a range of economic and educational and training climates, to better understand the scope and patterns of education and skills mismatch. STEP collects information not only on workers’ level of education and employment status, but also on the types, frequency, and durations of tasks they carry out at their jobs as well as some of the cognitive skills they use. The study also explores additional factors such as gender, health, career stage, and participation in the informal labor sector that may help explain the degree of mismatch rates. The study’s findings indicate that over-education is common in low and middle income countries with both lower and higher rates of educational attainment. There is also evidence that over-educated tertiary workers do not use all of their skills, potentially wasting valuable human capital and educational resources. Aimed at policy makers, business and education leaders, and employers, Accounting for Mismatch in Low- and Middle-Income Countries suggests that job growth must go hand-in-hand with investments in education and training.
Do Cognitive and Noncognitive Skills Explain the Gender Wage Gap in Middle-Income Countries?: An Analysis Using STEP Data
(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2016-11) Tognatta, Namrata; Valerio, Alexandria; Sanchez Puerta, Maria Laura
Gender-based wage discrimination is a highly researched area of labor economics. However, most studies on this topic have focused on schooling and paid limited attention to the mechanisms through which cognitive and noncognitive skills influence wages. This paper uses data from adults in seven low- and middle-income countries that participated in the STEP Skills Measurement Survey to conduct a comparative analysis of gender wage gaps. The paper uses schooling and skills measures, including reading proficiency and complexity of on-the-job computer tasks to proxy cognitive skills, and personality and behavioral measures to proxy for noncognitive skills in wage decompositions. The analysis finds that years of school explain most of the gender wage gap. The findings also suggest that cognitive and noncognitive skills affect men’s and women’s earnings in different ways, and that the effects of these skills vary across the wage distribution and between countries.
Are There Skills Payoffs in Low- and Middle-Income Countries?: Empirical Evidence Using STEP Data
(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2016-11) Monroy-Taborda, Sebastian; Valerio, Alexandria; Sanchez Puerta, Maria Laura; Tognatta, Namrata
Most research on the economic payoffs of skills has used individuals' level of schooling attained -- typically years or level of education or training received—as a key proxy for skills. Such research has consistently found that individual returns to schooling are positive and that returns tend to be higher in low- and middle-income countries than in higher-income countries. However, years in school is only one proxy for skills -- are these returns still observed using other measures as proxies? This study uses data from the STEP Skills Measurement Survey to examine the extent to which there is an independent association between cognitive and noncognitive skills and earnings in low- and middle-income countries. The study uses measures of reading proficiency and complexity of on-the-job computer tasks to proxy cognitive skills, and personality and behavioral measures to proxy noncognitive skills. The results demonstrate that even when controlling for schooling and background factors, these skills pay off in the labor market. This is particularly the case for the measures of cognitive skills, while noncognitive skills show some significant, but small, effects on earnings. The findings also suggest that there is significant heterogeneity across countries in how skills are valued in the labor market.
Employer Survey Snapshot 2016: Highlights from Six Low and Middle-Income Countries
(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2016) Hoftijzer, Margo; Sanchez Puerta, Maria Laura; Rizvi, Anam; Valerio, Alexandria; Avato, Johanna
The Employer Survey Snapshot features a descriptive analysis of the data collected during the first two waves of the Skills Towards Employment and Productivity (STEP) Employer Surveys. Key objectives of the Snapshot are (1) to explain the motivation and relevance behind the implementation of employer skills surveys and (2) to highlight some of the observed cross-country patterns from six participating countries, namely, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Sri Lanka, Vietnam and China (Yunnan Province). The Snapshot provides information on how employers view jobs mismatch and how they identify and value worker skills sets. In addition, it includes insights from innovative firms and examples of training provisions. A section on survey methodology has also been included as an annex.