Publication: Globalization, Wages and the Quality of Jobs : Lessons for Policy Makers
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2009-12
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2012-08-13
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This note summarizes the results and describes the policy implications of the recently published book globalization, wages, and the quality of jobs that evaluates some of the effects of trade and foreign investment on workers. This book contains a framework for analysis, a literature review, and five country studies that provide the foundation for three main lessons for policy makers that are described at the end of this note.
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“World Bank. 2009. Globalization, Wages and the Quality of Jobs : Lessons for Policy Makers. World Bank Employment Policy Primer; No. 15. © World Bank. http://hdl.handle.net/10986/11715 License: CC BY 3.0 IGO.”
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Publication Globalization, Wages, and the Quality of Jobs : Five Country Studies(World Bank, 2009)The country studies in this volume analyze the link between globalization and working conditions in Cambodia, El Salvador, Honduras, Indonesia, and Madagascar. These countries vary significantly in population, economic circumstances, region, history, and institutions. All have experienced liberalization and globalization in the last 20 years. The heterogeneity of these countries provides the basis for a useful comparison of the effects of globalization on working conditions. As suggested in the framework, each country study has three main components: a description of the country's experience with globalization, a qualitative part that analyzes country-specific aspects of working conditions, and an analysis of changes in interindustry wage differentials (IIWDs) that can be compared across countries. 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For Madagascar, apparel exports from the Zone Franche were the primary force behind the country's remarkable export growth and its transition from exporting primary products to exporting manufactured products between 1990 and 2005. By 2001, Madagascar had become the second most important clothing exporter in Sub-Saharan Africa as measured by total export value.Publication Export Shocks and the Volatility of Returns to Schooling : Evidence from Twelve Latin American Economies(World Bank Group, Washington, DC, 2014-12)This paper builds on previous studies to uncover evidence suggesting that cyclical fluctuations in returns to schooling are determined by fluctuations in foreign demand, which tend to be positively correlated with returns to schooling. The effect of export fluctuations (driven by changes in foreign demand) seems to be attenuated by labor market rigidities, such as constraints on employers to hire temporary workers on an hourly basis. 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Changing cohort sizes of young and old workers not only affect their own labor market outcomes (job quality, earnings), but also potentially affect growth prospects in the economy. Recovering from a 30-year conflict in the North and the East, Sri Lanka aims to accelerate growth in the medium term by substantially increasing investments. What will be the role of the labor market in delivering this growth? The service sector is expanding and accounts for nearly 60 percent of the Growth Domestic Product (GDP) and almost 40 percent of employment. However, only 56 percent of the working age population is employed, a result of low participation and high unemployment rates among women and youth. Any growth strategy will have to bring in more working age people, particularly women, into economic activity. The paper is organized as follows. The two sections that follow present an overview of the supply and demand side of the labor market. 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