Christiaensen, Luc

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Christiaensen, Luc

Jobs Group of the World Bank

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Agriculture, Poverty, Urbanization

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Jobs Group of the World Bank

Last updated: January 30, 2025

Biography

Luc Christiaensen is lead agricultural economist in the World Bank’s Jobs Group. He has written extensively on poverty, food security and urbanization in Africa and East Asia. He is an honorary research fellow at the Maastricht School of Management and the Catholic University of Leuven. He was Senior Research Fellow at UNU-WIDER during 2009-2010. He holds a PhD in agricultural economics from Cornell University.

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Now showing 1 - 10 of 73

How Do Migrants Fare in Africa’s Urban Labor Markets?
(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2025-01-30) Christiaensen, Luc; Keenan, Michael
Africa’s urban population is on the rise, and it is often feared that migrants are a direct source of urban underdevelopment under the premise that they are poorly integrated into urban labor markets. This study examines the validity of this premise using data from six African countries. It explores whether destination labor market and welfare outcomes systematically differ between migrants and nonmigrants, and whether the results differ depending on the duration of stay, migrants’ origin (rural or urban), and destination (town or city). Overall, migrants prove to integrate swiftly and well. They integrate better in towns than in cities, and urban migrants tend to integrate better than rural migrants. The integration of rural-to-city migrants has been more challenging. They are able to work more and obtain similar welfare levels as their urban counterparts, but initially they face an occupational earnings penalty. Together, the findings do not provide support for policies hindering internal migration to urban areas.
Rural Employment in Africa: Trends and Challenges
(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2022-02-23) Maertens, Miet; Christiaensen, Luc
Africa’s rural population continues to expand rapidly and labor productivity in agriculture and many rural off farm activities remains low. This paper uses the lens of a dual economy and the associated patterns of agricultural, rural, and structural transformation to review the evolution of Africa’s rural employment and its inclusiveness. Many African countries still find themselves in an early stage of the agricultural and rural transformation. Given smaller sectoral productivity gaps than commonly assumed, greater size effects and larger spillovers, investment in agriculture and the rural off-farm economy remains warranted to broker the transition to more and more productive rural employment. The key policy questions thus become how best to invest in the agri-food system (on and increasingly also off the farm) and how best to generate demand for nonagricultural goods and services which rural households can competitively produce. Informing these choices continues to present a major research agenda, with digitization, the imperative of greening and intra-African liberalization raising many unarticulated and undocumented opportunities and challenges.
Jobs, Food and Greening: Exploring Implications of the Green Transition for Jobs in the Agri-food System
(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2023-05-16) Nico, Gianluigi; Christiaensen, Luc
The agri-food system (AFS) employs about one third of the global workforce and contributes about one third of global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. This together with its large exposure to the effects of climate change and environmental degradation makes what happens in AFS central to the green transition and its implications for jobs and the structural transformation. Microeconomic evidence suggests that the adoption of climate smart agricultural practices will increase labor requirements, at least in the short run and at lower levels of incomes, when its mechanization is still limited. Econometric macro-model-based simulations suggest however that especially substantial investment in climate friendly agricultural R&D as well as soil and water preserving practices and market integration will more than offset the negative effects of climate change and even accelerate the structural transformation, especially in Sub Saharan Africa. Overall, the findings underscore the tremendous potential of increasing agricultural and climate friendly R&D investment for brokering an environmentally sustainable structural transformation. Repurposing of agriculture’s current US$ 638 billion support package towards supporting more climate friendly practices, including to overcome the time lag between the moment of investment and the realization of the benefits, provides an important policy entry point.
Accelerating Poverty Reduction in Africa
(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2019-10-09) Beegle, Kathleen; Christiaensen, Luc
Sub-Saharan Africa's turnaround over the past couple of decades has been dramatic. After many years in decline, the continent's economy picked up in the mid-1990s. Along with this macroeconomic growth, people became healthier, many more youngsters attended schools, and the rate of extreme poverty declined from 54 percent in 1990 to 41 percent in 2015. Political and social freedoms expanded, and gender equality advanced. Conflict in the region also subsided, although it still claims thousands of civilian lives in some countries and still drives pressing numbers of displaced persons. Despite Africa’s widespread economic and social welfare accomplishments, the region’s challenges remain daunting: Economic growth has slowed in recent years. Poverty rates in many countries are the highest in the world. And notably, the number of poor in Africa is rising because of population growth. From a global perspective, the biggest concentration of poverty has shifted from South Asia to Africa. Accelerating Poverty Reduction in Africa explores critical policy entry points to address the demographic, societal, and political drivers of poverty; improve income-earning opportunities both on and off the farm; and better mobilize resources for the poor. It looks beyond macroeconomic stability and growth—critical yet insufficient components of these objectives—to ask what more could be done and where policy makers should focus their attention to speed up poverty reduction. The pro-poor policy agenda advanced in this volume requires not only economic growth where the poor work and live, but also mitigation of the many risks to which African households are exposed. As such, this report takes a "jobs" lens to its task. It focuses squarely on the productivity and livelihoods of the poor and vulnerable—that is, what it will take to increase their earnings. Finally, it presents a road map for financing the poverty and development agenda.
Towards a Just Coal Transition Labor Market Challenges and People’s Perspectives from Wielkopolska
(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2022-10-18) Ferré, Céline; Christiaensen, Luc; Gajderowicz, Tomasz Janusz; Honorati, Maddalena; Wrona, Sylwia Michalina
Part of a three-region set of papers analyzing coal-related labor market challenges in Poland, this paper focuses on Wielkopolska, which is most advanced in the transition out of coal. Finding viable job transitions is of enormous importance. The findings call for a more territorial-oriented approach to brokering the coal transition, rather than a sectoral one. First, even though limited from a regional perspective (4,000 workers), affected jobs are highly concentrated in a few already lagging and depopulating municipalities. Second, while coal-related workers are similarly skilled as other workers in Wielkopolska, non-coal related workers in the at-risk municipalities are substantially less skilled, exposing them to potential displacement effects. Finally, while ready to work and to be re-skilled, discrete choice experiments about their job attribute preferences show that all workers are averse both to commuting and relocating for work, even more so than in Silesia and Lower Silesia. Complementary social protection and employment support will be needed, and the paper suggests some policy options based on international experience. The paper concludes by illustrating how a big-data driven job-matching tool, calibrated on the Polish labor market, could be used to assist caseworkers in identifying “viable-job-transition-pathways” for affected workers as well as to help policymakers identify reskilling needs and attract investments.
Towards a Just Coal Transition Labor Market Challenges and People’s Perspectives from Silesia
(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2022) Ferré, Céline; Christiaensen, Luc; Gajderowicz, Tomasz; Ruppert Bulmer, Elizabeth; Wrona, Sylwia
Part of a three-region set of papers analyzing coal-related labor market challenges in Poland, this paper focuses on Silesia. The findings call for a more territorial-oriented approach to brokering the coal transition, rather than a sectoral one. First, the number of jobs directly linked to coal-mining in Silesia is substantial, with 72,000 employees in the mining conglomerates, and an additional 17,000 providing goods and services to the mines. Second, coal-related employment is heavily concentrated geographically: as much as 40 percent of the population of Bieruńsko-Iedziński is employed directly and indirectly in the mining sector, and 80 percent of the mining conglomerates' contract value goes to subcontractors within a 20km radius of the mines. Third, the coal sector is highly integrated among a few large firms: 28 percent of the indirect workforce is employed by 10 subcontractors. Fourth, workers in the mining conglomerates have lower foundational (but better technical) skills than their regional and national counterparts, especially those with lower education. Finally, while eager to work, discrete choice experiments about their job attribute preferences show that they are averse to both, commuting and relocating for work, even though less so than in Wielkopolska, yet more so that in Lower Silesia, the two other regions. Together this suggests that there are important welfare and political economic benefits to adequate job creation locally. The paper further advances a data-driven viable-job-matching tool specifically tailored to the Polish labor market and illustrates how it could be used to assess the potential of local labor markets and future investments to absorb the coal-affected workers accounting for their skills profile, re/upskilling needs, and job attribute preferences.
Agriculture, Jobs, and Value Chains in Africa
(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2020-04-29) Christiaensen, Luc
This Jobs Solutions Note identifies approaches for development practitioners and policymakers to better integrate poor smallholders into agricultural value chains. Based on curated knowledge and evidence for a specific topic and relevant to jobs, the Jobs Solutions Notes are not intended to be exhaustive; they provide key lessons, solutions and approaches synthesized from the experiences of the World Bank Group and partners. This Note develops a conceptual framework to guide policy choices in using inclusive agricultural value chain development for better job creation in the rural space. As the agricultural iVCD agenda is still nascent and rigorous empirical evidence incipient, it refrains from nuts-and-bolts operational guidance on how to do this.
Just Coal Transition in Western Macedonia, Greece: Insights from the Labor Market
(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2020-10-31) Ferré, Céline; Christiaensen, Luc
This report analyzes the consequences for the labor force of Western Macedonia’s (Greece) decarbonization as part of Europe’s new Green Deal. Already, the region records the highest unemployment rate of the country (27 percent in 2018). A survey of contractors suggests that about 16,000 jobs could potentially be affected by the closure of the mines (about 4,500 directly in coal and power production and another 11,000-11,500 indirectly supplying goods and services). It mainly concerns older and less educated, but medium-skilled workers. Many do not expect much of a future in Western Macedonia, with most of the better-skilled seeing themselves move to other regions. But much will also depend on the coal transition path chosen, including the timing and labor intensity of the power plant decommissioning and land reclamation plans, as well as those of the new alternative activities promoted. Timely consultations with the workers affected will also be critical.
Towards a Just Coal Transition: Labor Market Challenges and People’s Perspectives from Lower Silesia
(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2022) Ferré, Céline; Christiaensen, Luc; Gajderowicz, Tomasz; Wrona, Sylwia
Part of a three-region set of papers analyzing coal-related labor market challenges in Poland, this paper focuses on Lower Silesia. The findings call for a more territorial-oriented approach to brokering the coal transition, rather than a sectoral one. First, while the number of people directly and indirectly affected by coal mine closures in Lower Silesia (~5,500) is relatively small compared to the total regional labor force (<1%), affected workers are heavily concentrated geographically. Second, workers in heavily affected municipalities have lower foundational (but better technical) skills than their regional and national counterparts, and already operate in lagging local economies. Third, while eager to work, discrete choice experiments about their job attribute preferences show that they are averse to both, commuting and relocating for work, even though less so than in Silesia and Wielkopolska, the two other regions. Together this suggests that there are important welfare and political economic benefits to adequate job creation locally. The paper further advances a data-driven viable-job-matching tool specifically tailored to the Polish labor market and illustrates how it could be used to assess the potential of local labor markets and future investments to absorb the coal-affected workers accounting for their skills profile, re/upskilling needs and job attribute preferences.
Assessing the Affordability of Nutrient-Adequate Diets
(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2021-11) Schneider, Kate; Christiaensen, Luc; Webb, Patrick; Masters, William A.
The affordability of nutritious diets is increasingly used as a metric of how well a food system provides access to nutritious diets for all. Recent work on least-cost diets has focused on individuals, while most food and anti-poverty programs and policies target the household level. Members within households have differing nutritional needs, presenting the methodological question: how should the cost of nutritious diets be estimated at the household level This study develops bounds on the cost, affordability, and seasonal variation of least-cost diets for whole households, illustrated with the example of Malawi. When intrahousehold sharing is not possible to observe, the bounded approach provides insights into the range of the cost and affordability, and the extent to which the cost may vary seasonally. The results reveal that when meals are shared, ignoring demographic diversity within households greatly underestimates the affordability of adequate diets.