Publication: Key Characteristics of Employment Regulation in the Middle East and North Africa
Loading...
Published
2010-07
ISSN
Date
2017-08-10
Author(s)
Kuddo, Arvo
Editor(s)
Abstract
This note provides a general background of the main features of labor regulation in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) and benchmarks them against international best practices. The note compiles information on available labor laws and other legal acts concerning employment protection regulation. Within the broader scope of labor regulation, and in order to assure regional comparability, information collected focuses on key issues in the labor law associated with commencing or terminating employment and during the period of employment (including maternity benefits). The main sources the data are the World Bank doing business 2010 and International Labour Organisation (ILO) databank. This note is a tool to provide policymakers and international organizations with a regional diagnose of how labor regulation affects labor market outcomes in MENA and inform client governments about strategic approaches to employment creation through labor policy and reform. This activity comes as a response to regional priorities in the context of the Arab World Initiative (AWI). One of the six strategic themes of the AWI focuses explicitly on employment creation as a top priority. Part of the World Bank's mandate under the AWI is to inform client governments about strategic approaches to employment creation through labor policy and reform.
Link to Data Set
Citation
“Kuddo, Arvo; Angel-Urdinola, Diego F.. 2010. Key Characteristics of Employment Regulation in the Middle East and North Africa. SP Discussion Paper;No. 1006. © World Bank. http://hdl.handle.net/10986/27712 License: CC BY 3.0 IGO.”
Digital Object Identifier
Associated URLs
Associated content
Other publications in this report series
Journal
Journal Volume
Journal Issue
Collections
Related items
Showing items related by metadata.
Publication Pakistan Labor Market Study : Regulation, Job Creation, and Skills Formation in the Manufacturing Sector(Washington, DC, 2006-09)In an effort to improve employment outcomes and industrial productivity, the Government of Pakistan (GoP) has launched a dual-track reform process involving broad-based overhaul of labor laws and institutions, and expansion and reform of the Vocational and Technical Training (VTT) system. Labor market regulation and laws are useful economic and social institutions designed to protect workers from undesirable consequences of market failure such as arbitrary or discriminatory actions by employers. They also help stabilize employment and household incomes against aggregate business cycles and shocks. Labor regulation is also an important element of society's instruments for the provision of social security and the maintenance of health, safety, and environmental standards in economic activities. Labor regulation in Pakistan is excessive by international standards, as can be seen from data on a number of indicators of labor market flexibility. All things considered, Pakistani industry and workers will seem to be better off with a more flexible labor market. The report analyzes the existing labor laws and institutions, along with the new draft laws, from this point of view. It also provides a review of the current VTT system and changes for it.Publication Employment Protection Legislation and Labor Market Outcomes : Theory, Evidence and Lessons for Croatia(Washington, DC, 2011-07)In response to prolonged recession, in April 2010 the Croatian Government adopted an Economic Recovery Program to safeguard macroeconomic stability and support faster recovery of the private sector. A central element of the program is revision of labor regulations to create a more dynamic labor market by ensuring labor force flexibility and job security. The goal is to increase the labor force participation rate and ensure that it has the skills and competencies required by the evolving and dynamic private sector. The Croatian Ministries of Finance and labor asked the World Bank for support in design of possible labor legislation reform. The objective of this note is to benchmark Croatia's legislation and help identify legal constraints on achieving a more dynamic and flexible labor market. Changes to employment protection legislation (EPL) can be politically difficult. They therefore need to be preceded by a public information campaign explaining their rationale and by dialogue with social partners. The central message to be conveyed to the public is that relaxing the most rigid provisions of the labor law will eventually lead to better employment prospects, shorter spells of unemployment, less informality, and higher productivity and ultimately incomes. This involves moving from protecting jobs to protecting workers an idea known as flexicurity.Publication Employment Creation and Social Protection in the Middle East and North Africa(Cairo: American University in Cairo Press in association with the Economic Research Forum and the World Bank, 2002)This book describes and analyzes critical aspects of the labor market and social protection in the Arab world. The authors address the interrelationship between labor, human development, and social well-being in the Middle East and North Africa region -- an interaction that is viewed against the backdrop of a globalization process that is a crucial shaping factor in national and international relations alike. The authors scrutinize the implications for workers of the new forms of insecurity being ushered in by the globalization era. At the forefront is the issue of social protection, which creates several dilemmas for policymakers, since formal social security covers only a small percentage of the labor force. The idea of social reinsurance, which would integrate the informal sector and allow for social dialog, emerges at various levels, and there is general agreement that any such dialog, or new social contract, must include government, the private sector, and civil society.Publication Bosnia and Herzegovina : Labor Market Update, The Role of Industrial Relations(Washington, DC, 2005-12)This report identifies recent developments in the labor market in Bosnia and Herzegovina and by focusing on industrial relations, aims to provide new policy insights. The report shows that there have also been some improvements in labor market outcomes over the last few years. Nonetheless, changes in the legal and regulatory framework could contribute further to the performance of the labor market. High wages compared to productivity in the formal sector, the large and growing share of workers in the informal sector who are not covered by social insurance, and persistent unemployment are the three key labor market challenges facing Bosnia and Herzegovina (BH) today. Prospects for growth in Bosnia and Herzegovina are too fragile and not sustainable unless systemic reforms are introduced and effectively implemented. The report is organized as follows. The overview presents a summary of the findings and recommendations of the report, while Chapter 1 assesses the structure of and trends in the labor market. Chapter 2 examines the effects of the different wage determination processes on earnings, and Chapter 3 reviews the regulatory and industrial relations framework. A review of the international experience with collective bargaining is included in Annex V of this report and can serve as the basis for future discussions among local stakeholders about reform directions for collective bargaining.Publication Job Creation in Mozambique : Is Labor Law Reform the Answer?(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2006-11)This paper analyzes the potential economic impact of changes to the labor laws proposed in 2006. The economic logic behind these reforms is reviewed, and the conditions under which the reforms could be expected to have the maximum impact on employment are isolated. Next, the experiences of selected developing countries which have undertaken similar reforms are reviewed, which showed the importance of initial conditions and economic trends outside of the labor market in ensuring a successful reform. Third, the main provisions of the proposed reforms are explained. The analysis concludes that given Mozambique s initial conditions, including strong demand from private sector employers for change, the scope of proposed reforms, and the potential for continued economic growth, the reforms should increase firms' profit margins, and as a result, a positive employment effect is possible in the medium term. The analysis also shows that although the reforms are deep compared with the starting point, even if reforms are enacted, Mozambique's labor market would still be classified as rigid by international benchmarks. The report concludes with a discussion of the possible social and poverty effect. In the short run, there is a danger of layoffs in some of the larger firms which had previously reported being overstaffed. If this happens, the poverty effect would certainly be negative in the short run. The concluding section notes that other countries have avoided these types of layoffs by introducing transition arrangements.
Users also downloaded
Showing related downloaded files
Publication Classroom Assessment to Support Foundational Literacy(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2025-03-21)This document focuses primarily on how classroom assessment activities can measure students’ literacy skills as they progress along a learning trajectory towards reading fluently and with comprehension by the end of primary school grades. The document addresses considerations regarding the design and implementation of early grade reading classroom assessment, provides examples of assessment activities from a variety of countries and contexts, and discusses the importance of incorporating classroom assessment practices into teacher training and professional development opportunities for teachers. The structure of the document is as follows. The first section presents definitions and addresses basic questions on classroom assessment. Section 2 covers the intersection between assessment and early grade reading by discussing how learning assessment can measure early grade reading skills following the reading learning trajectory. Section 3 compares some of the most common early grade literacy assessment tools with respect to the early grade reading skills and developmental phases. Section 4 of the document addresses teacher training considerations in developing, scoring, and using early grade reading assessment. Additional issues in assessing reading skills in the classroom and using assessment results to improve teaching and learning are reviewed in section 5. Throughout the document, country cases are presented to demonstrate how assessment activities can be implemented in the classroom in different contexts.Publication Digital Africa(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2023-03-13)All African countries need better and more jobs for their growing populations. "Digital Africa: Technological Transformation for Jobs" shows that broader use of productivity-enhancing, digital technologies by enterprises and households is imperative to generate such jobs, including for lower-skilled people. At the same time, it can support not only countries’ short-term objective of postpandemic economic recovery but also their vision of economic transformation with more inclusive growth. These outcomes are not automatic, however. Mobile internet availability has increased throughout the continent in recent years, but Africa’s uptake gap is the highest in the world. Areas with at least 3G mobile internet service now cover 84 percent of Africa’s population, but only 22 percent uses such services. And the average African business lags in the use of smartphones and computers as well as more sophisticated digital technologies that catalyze further productivity gains. Two issues explain the usage gap: affordability of these new technologies and willingness to use them. For the 40 percent of Africans below the extreme poverty line, mobile data plans alone would cost one-third of their incomes—in addition to the price of access devices, apps, and electricity. Data plans for small- and medium-size businesses are also more expensive than in other regions. Moreover, shortcomings in the quality of internet services—and in the supply of attractive, skills-appropriate apps that promote entrepreneurship and raise earnings—dampen people’s willingness to use them. For those countries already using these technologies, the development payoffs are significant. New empirical studies for this report add to the rapidly growing evidence that mobile internet availability directly raises enterprise productivity, increases jobs, and reduces poverty throughout Africa. To realize these and other benefits more widely, Africa’s countries must implement complementary and mutually reinforcing policies to strengthen both consumers’ ability to pay and willingness to use digital technologies. These interventions must prioritize productive use to generate large numbers of inclusive jobs in a region poised to benefit from a massive, youthful workforce—one projected to become the world’s largest by the end of this century.Publication Lebanon Economic Monitor, Fall 2022(Washington, DC, 2022-11)The economy continues to contract, albeit at a somewhat slower pace. Public finances improved in 2021, but only because spending collapsed faster than revenue generation. Testament to the continued atrophy of Lebanon’s economy, the Lebanese Pound continues to depreciate sharply. The sharp deterioration in the currency continues to drive surging inflation, in triple digits since July 2020, impacting the poor and vulnerable the most. An unprecedented institutional vacuum will likely further delay any agreement on crisis resolution and much needed reforms; this includes prior actions as part of the April 2022 International Monetary Fund (IMF) staff-level agreement (SLA). Divergent views among key stakeholders on how to distribute the financial losses remains the main bottleneck for reaching an agreement on a comprehensive reform agenda. Lebanon needs to urgently adopt a domestic, equitable, and comprehensive solution that is predicated on: (i) addressing upfront the balance sheet impairments, (ii) restoring liquidity, and (iii) adhering to sound global practices of bail-in solutions based on a hierarchy of creditors (starting with banks’ shareholders) that protects small depositors.Publication Argentina Country Climate and Development Report(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2022-11)The Argentina Country Climate and Development Report (CCDR) explores opportunities and identifies trade-offs for aligning Argentina’s growth and poverty reduction policies with its commitments on, and its ability to withstand, climate change. It assesses how the country can: reduce its vulnerability to climate shocks through targeted public and private investments and adequation of social protection. The report also shows how Argentina can seize the benefits of a global decarbonization path to sustain a more robust economic growth through further development of Argentina’s potential for renewable energy, energy efficiency actions, the lithium value chain, as well as climate-smart agriculture (and land use) options. Given Argentina’s context, this CCDR focuses on win-win policies and investments, which have large co-benefits or can contribute to raising the country’s growth while helping to adapt the economy, also considering how human capital actions can accompany a just transition.Publication World Development Report 2006(Washington, DC, 2005)This year’s Word Development Report (WDR), the twenty-eighth, looks at the role of equity in the development process. It defines equity in terms of two basic principles. The first is equal opportunities: that a person’s chances in life should be determined by his or her talents and efforts, rather than by pre-determined circumstances such as race, gender, social or family background. The second principle is the avoidance of extreme deprivation in outcomes, particularly in health, education and consumption levels. This principle thus includes the objective of poverty reduction. The report’s main message is that, in the long run, the pursuit of equity and the pursuit of economic prosperity are complementary. In addition to detailed chapters exploring these and related issues, the Report contains selected data from the World Development Indicators 2005‹an appendix of economic and social data for over 200 countries. This Report offers practical insights for policymakers, executives, scholars, and all those with an interest in economic development.