Publication: Effects of Recognition of Prior Learning on Job Market Outcomes: Impact Evaluation in Bangladesh
Loading...
Published
2021-04
ISSN
Date
2021-04-29
Author(s)
Editor(s)
Abstract
The recognition of prior learning provides opportunities for workers to have their skills assessed and certified. In many countries, recognition of prior learning is expected to broaden individuals’ empowerment and economic opportunities. Using a randomized control trial method, this impact evaluation study aims to assess whether and to what extent assessment and certification of prior learning effectively improve economic and other job outcomes among assessment participants in Bangladesh. Five hundred applicants were randomly assigned to the treatment group and 500 applicants to the control group. The baseline survey took place in June 2018 and the end-line survey in January 2019. The findings indicate that assessment prior learning positively impacts workers’ employment outcomes and quality of employment, including the chance of getting employed, wage levels, formality of employment, and workers’ confidence in their skills and jobs. The findings also suggest that women may benefit more than men from certificates of recognition of prior learning in Bangladesh. The transition analysis further supports the finding that recognition of prior learning facilitates the transition of unemployed or not-working workers into employment. Recognition of prior learning also increases the chances of finding work through formal job search channels and at formal and larger private companies. These findings align with the assumption and expectation behind the recognition of prior learning programs in the context of economic development. The participants in assessments and certification of prior learning had overwhelmingly positive opinions about them. The study has some limitations and suggestions for future research.
Link to Data Set
Citation
“Sharma, Uttam; Rahman, Tashmina; Rahman, Mokhlesur; Aziz, Mustahsin-Ul; Nakata, Shiro. 2021. Effects of Recognition of Prior Learning on Job Market Outcomes: Impact Evaluation in Bangladesh. Policy Research Working Paper;No. 9644. © World Bank. http://hdl.handle.net/10986/35522 License: CC BY 3.0 IGO.”
Digital Object Identifier
Associated URLs
Associated content
Other publications in this report series
Publication Climate and Social Sustainability in Fragility, Conflict, and Violence Contexts(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2026-01-07)Climate change is widely recognized as a driver of violent conflict, but its broader social effects remain less understood. Ignoring these dimensions risks a vicious cycle where climate policies might undermine socially just adaptation. Evidence is still limited on how climate shocks influence political participation, trust, or migration. This paper helps fill that gap by examining links between climate change, conflict, and social sustainability, with a focus on inclusion, resilience, cohesion, and legitimacy. Using secondary data from 2019–24, the study applies simple correlation-based methods to test three hypotheses on the nature, severity, and composition of these associations. The analysis combines multiple climate impact measures, new conflict classifications, recent social sustainability frameworks, and controls for population and geography. The results reveal strong correlations—not causation—between climate events and contexts of fragility, conflict, and violence. Climate impacts are most pronounced in both national and subnational conflict settings. The study also finds robust links between fragility, conflict, and violence and low levels of social sustainability, reflecting its role as both a driver and consequence of conflict. Some dimensions—such as violent events and insecurity—appear weaker in areas most affected by climate shocks. Two of the hypotheses are supported, and one remains inconclusive.Publication The Macroeconomic Implications of Climate Change Impacts and Adaptation Options(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2025-05-29)Estimating the macroeconomic implications of climate change impacts and adaptation options is a topic of intense research. This paper presents a framework in the World Bank's macrostructural model to assess climate-related damages. This approach has been used in many Country Climate and Development Reports, a World Bank diagnostic that identifies priorities to ensure continued development in spite of climate change and climate policy objectives. The methodology captures a set of impact channels through which climate change affects the economy by (1) connecting a set of biophysical models to the macroeconomic model and (2) exploring a set of development and climate scenarios. The paper summarizes the results for five countries, highlighting the sources and magnitudes of their vulnerability --- with estimated gross domestic product losses in 2050 exceeding 10 percent of gross domestic product in some countries and scenarios, although only a small set of impact channels is included. The paper also presents estimates of the macroeconomic gains from sector-level adaptation interventions, considering their upfront costs and avoided climate impacts and finding significant net gross domestic product gains from adaptation opportunities identified in the Country Climate and Development Reports. Finally, the paper discusses the limits of current modeling approaches, and their complementarity with empirical approaches based on historical data series. The integrated modeling approach proposed in this paper can inform policymakers as they make proactive decisions on climate change adaptation and resilience.Publication Institutional Capacity for Policy Implementation: An Analytical Framework(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2026-01-07)State capacity is an important prerequisite for policy implementation, yet at the country level it is difficult to measure, assess, and reform. This paper proposes a focus on institutional capacity: the ability of public institutions to implement the specific policy mandates for which they are responsible. Based on a review of existing literature, the paper defines the different dimensions that compose institutional capacity and groups them into two cross-cutting categories: organizational dimensions (personnel, financial resources, information systems, and management practices) and governance dimensions (transparency, independence, and accountability). The paper proposes measures for organizational and governance dimensions using existing data, shows intra-institutional variation of these measures within countries, and discusses how new data could be collected for better measurement of these concepts. Finally, the paper illustrates how the framework can be used to diagnose the sources of common problems related to weak policy implementation.Publication South Africa’s Fragmented Cities: The Unequal Burden of Labor Market Frictions(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2026-01-08)Using high-resolution administrative, census, and satellite data, this paper shows that South African cities are characterized by spatial mismatches between where people live and where jobs are located, relative to 20 global peers. Areas within 5 kilometers of commercial centers have 9,300 fewer residents per square kilometer than expected, which is 60 percent below the global median. Poor, dense neighborhoods are most affected. In Johannesburg, a 10-percentile increase in distance from the nearest business hub corresponds to a 3.7-percentile drop in asset wealth (a proxy of household wellbeing) and 4.9-percentile drop in employment. In Cape Town, the declines are 4.0 and 3.7 percentiles, respectively. Employment is 87 percent lower in the poorest decile than the richest in Johannesburg and 61 percent lower in Cape Town. These findings suggest that South Africa’s spatial organization of people and economic activity constrains agglomeration and reinforces inequality. This methodology provides a scalable and standardized data-driven framework to analyze spatial accessibility and agglomeration frictions in complex, data-constrained urban systems.Publication Investment in Emerging and Developing Economies(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2026-01-07)The world faces a pressing challenge to meet key development objectives amid slowing growth and rising macroeconomic and geopolitical risks. With the number of job seekers rising rapidly, infrastructure shortfalls continuing to be large, and climate costs mounting, the case for a significant investment push has never been stronger. Yet the capacity to respond in many emerging markets and developing economies has eroded. Since the global financial crisis, investment growth has slowed to about half its pace in the 2000s, with both public and private investment weakening. Foreign direct investment inflows—a critical source of capital, technology, and managerial know-how—have also fallen sharply and become increasingly concentrated, leaving low-income countries with only a marginal share. The risks of further retrenchment are significant, as trade tensions, policy uncertainty, and elevated debt levels continue to weigh on investment. Reigniting momentum will require ambitious domestic reforms to strengthen institutions, rebuild macro-fiscal stability, and deepen trade and investment integration—the foundations of a supportive business climate. At the same time, international cooperation is indispensable. A renewed commitment to a predictable system of cross-border trade and investment flows, combined with scaled-up financial support and sustained technical assistance, is essential to help emerging markets and developing economies—especially low-income countries and economies in fragile and conflict situations—bridge financing gaps and implement the domestic reforms needed to restore investment as an engine of growth, jobs, and development.
Journal
Journal Volume
Journal Issue
Collections
Related items
Showing items related by metadata.
Publication Bangladesh Tertiary Education Sector Review(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2019-03)Bangladesh is recognized globally for its remarkable track record of socioeconomic development and potential for becoming an economic powerhouse in the region. The economy has sustained impressive economic growth over the past three decades despite incidences of political conflict, natural calamities, and financial shocks. The country met the Millennium Development Goals ahead of time and reduced the poverty level substantially over the past decades. Progress in human development, education, and health has been equally impressive and produced a healthier and better-educated working population. More women are joining the workforce while gender gaps in pay are gradually narrowing. Moving forward, the country aspires to reach the stage of a developed economy in the next two decades. Bangladesh needs to prepare its workforce for the emerging challenges for a dynamic economy in an increasingly globalized world. The economy is undergoing structural changes on several fronts. First, Bangladesh has transitioned from a largely traditional, agriculture-based economy to an industry and service-driven economy. Industry sector has been the main driving force for economic growth. Second, more recently, technological progress is rapidly changing the production and service modality. Firms need to not only constantly adjust their business and production modality with these technological changes but also have highly skilled manpower who can enable such change processes. Third, a growing and youthful workforce in Bangladesh provides a window of opportunity to improve productivity and accelerate economic growth. Equipping the young generation with the skills needed for jobs remains crucial. On one hand, employers are demanding higher-skilled professionals for technical and managerial positions to support the growing industry and service sectors. On the other hand, tertiary education institutes (TEIs) are struggling to produce employable graduates for the job market. Unemployment rates are consistently high among tertiary graduates, causing prolonged and frustrating joblessness for many. At the same time, the culture and practice of collaborative research to promote industry competitiveness and innovation has been largely missing in the country’s tertiary education landscape, undermining Bangladesh’s competitiveness ranking in the global knowledge economy. There is urgent need to identify and address the challenges in the sector and orient tertiary education toward the demands of the economy and labor market to help realize Bangladesh’s full economic development potential. On one hand, employers are demanding higher-skilled professionals for technical and managerial positions to support the growing industry and service sectors. On the other hand, tertiary education institutes (TEIs) are struggling to produce employable graduates for the job market. Unemployment rates are consistently high among tertiary graduates, causing prolonged and frustrating joblessness for many. At the same time, the culture and practice of collaborative research to promote industry competitiveness and innovation has been largely missing in the country’s tertiary education landscape, undermining Bangladesh’s competitiveness ranking in the global knowledge economy. There is urgent need to identify and address the challenges in the sector and orient tertiary education toward the demands of the economy and labor market to help realize Bangladesh’s full economic development potential.Publication A Simulation of COVID-19 School Closure Impact on Student Learning in Bangladesh(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2021-01)This Note presents results from a series of simulations that aim to capture the impacts that school closures in Bangladesh might have on the learning levels, enrollment and future earnings of children and students using a methodological tool developed by the Education Global Practice of the World Bank . We find that overall loss in learning for every child enrolled in school even in the most optimistic scenario is expected to be substantial and the economic implications of the learning losses are huge. Available data also indicates that remote learning requires to be made more effective. It is hoped that the insights from this note will be useful for the government, non-government, private sector and civil society engaged in education service delivery as they are attempting to forge effective partnerships during and after the crisis. There is an urgent need to substantially reduce additional dropouts and absenteeism through stipends and safe school opening and communication campaigns.Publication Labor Market Impacts and Effectiveness of Skills Development Programs in 5 States in India(Washington, DC, 2015-04)Over the past few years, the Government of India (GOI) has been implementing five large national skills development (SD) programs to improve the employment and earnings prospects of urban and rural youth. The critical questions to be addressed are: what have been the employment outcomes of those programs?; what earnings premium do one give to trainees?; do program benefits justify the significant public investments made into them?; what organizational aspects affect delivery and reach?; and finally, based on these findings, what should be the course of action? This paper tries to address these questions, using data from a set of surveys of trainees (past and current), non-trainees (comparison group), employers, and training providers. The quantitative analysis has been complemented by a qualitative study based on interviews and focus group discussions, with focus on business processes, program management, and monitoring and evaluation (M and E). Five states have been taken into consideration for this analysis: Assam, Andhra Pradesh (AP), Madhya Pradesh (MP), Odisha, and Rajasthan. This paper comprises several sections. The first section provides introduction. Section two presents skills development programs; section three presents employment outcomes of SD programs; section four presents wage and earnings effects of SD programs; section five is cost-effectiveness of SD programs; section six is India versus international experience; section seven presents findings from the qualitative study; and section eight gives conclusions and policy recommendations.Publication Labor Market Impacts and Effectiveness of Skills Development Programs in India(Washington, DC, 2015-04)Over the past few years, the Government of India (GOI) has been implementing five large national skills development (SD) programs to improve the employment and earnings prospects of urban and rural youth. The critical questions to be addressed are: what have been the employment outcomes of those programs?; what earnings premium do one give to trainees?; do program benefits justify the significant public investments made into them?; what organizational aspects affect delivery and reach?; and finally, based on these findings, what should be the course of action? This paper tries to address these questions, using data from a set of surveys of trainees (past and current), non-trainees (comparison group), employers, and training providers. The quantitative analysis has been complemented by a qualitative study based on interviews and focus group discussions, with focus on business processes, program management, and monitoring and evaluation (M and E). Five states have been taken into consideration for this analysis: Assam, Andhra Pradesh (AP), Madhya Pradesh (MP), Odisha, and Rajasthan. This paper comprises several sections. The first section provides introduction. Section two presents skills development programs; section three presents employment outcomes of SD programs; section four presents wage and earnings effects of SD programs; section five is cost-effectiveness of SD programs; section six is India versus international experience; section seven presents findings from the qualitative study; and section eight gives conclusions and policy recommendations.Publication The Landscape of Early Childhood Education in Bangladesh(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2020-02-12)This report reviews the landscape of the ECE system in Bangladesh, focusing on the following key aspects related to the provision of ECE services: (a) access and equity, (b) quality, (c) governance and management, and (d) financing. It is based primarily on a desk review of existing documents and literature on ECE, and quantitative analyses of existing survey data. The desk review focuses on policies, plans, and strategies; existing studies; and pertinent records related to ECE in Bangladesh. The quantitative analyses are based on data from two rounds of the Household Income and Expenditure Survey (HIES 2010, 2016–17); the Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey (MICS 2013); survey data from an ongoing impact evaluation of a small-scale ECE intervention in one district of the country; and administrative data from the Directorate of Primary Education (DPE). In addition, the study also uses some primary data collected using the World Bank’s Systems Approach for Better Education Results (SABER) tool to analyze the governance and management status of ECE in Bangladesh.
Users also downloaded
Showing related downloaded files
Publication From Risk to Resilience: Helping People and Firms Adapt in South Asia(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2026-01-13)South Asia is the most climate-vulnerable region among emerging market and developing economies. With governments having limited room to act due to fiscal constraints, the burden of climate adaptation will fall primarily on households and firms. Awareness of climate risks is high; more than three-quarters of households and firms expect a weather shock in the next 10 years. Climate adaptation is widespread, with 63 percent of firms and 80 percent of households having taken action. However, most rely on basic, low-cost solutions rather than leveraging advanced technologies and public infrastructure. Market imperfections and income constraints limit access to information, finance, and technologies needed for more effective adaptation. If these obstacles were removed, private sector adaptation could offset about one-third of the potential damage from rising global temperatures on South Asian economies. The policy priority for governments is therefore to facilitate private sector adaptation through a comprehensive policy package. The package includes climate-specific measures such as improving weather information access, promoting resilient technologies and weather insurance, and investing in protective infrastructure in a targeted manner. Equally important are broader developmental initiatives with resilience co-benefits: in other words, policies that generate double dividends. These include strengthening core public goods like transportation, water systems, and healthcare; addressing barriers to accessing markets, inputs, and finance without causing unintended responses that increase vulnerabilities; and supporting vulnerable groups through shock-responsive social protection.Publication MIGA Annual Report 2013 : Insuring Investments, Ensuring Opportunities(Washington, DC: World Bank Group, 2013-10-11)In fiscal year 2013, Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA) issued 2.8 billion dollars in investment guarantees for projects in our developing member countries. At 1.5 billion dollars, representing more than half of new business, the bulk of MIGA's guarantees issued support investments in Sub-Saharan Africa. Sixty-nine percent of new business volume this year was in complex projects in infrastructure and extractive industries, a strategic priority for the Agency. This year, 82 percent of MIGA's new volume fell into one or more of strategic priority areas: investments in the world's poorest countries, "South-South" investments, investments in conflict-affected countries, and investments in complex projects. MIGA also established the conflict-affected and fragile economies facility to further deepen support to this priority area.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 South Asia Development Update, October 2025: Jobs, AI, and Trade(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2025-10-07)Growth in South Asia is on track to exceed earlier expectations and reach 6.6 percent in 2025, but is expected to slow to 5.8 percent in 2026. While this short-term outlook is subject to downside risks, over the longer term, artificial intelligence (AI) could promote growth by boosting productivity especially among those 15 percent of South Asian workers who are in jobs where AI strongly complements human labor. Such a growth dividend could be amplified by trade reforms. Carefully sequenced tariff cuts, especially in conjunction with broader free trade agreements, would encourage private investment and job creation in trade-related activities, which disproportionately employ South Asia’s younger and higher-skilled workers and have accounted for most of South Asia’s employment growth over the past decade. This could particularly benefit manufacturing, where elevated tariffs on production inputs currently diminish competitiveness. South Asia’s governments can support the adjustment of labor markets to new technologies and trade opportunities by proactively removing obstacles to workers’ reallocation to new firms, occupations, and locations. Simultaneously, they could protect vulnerable workers during this period of change by streamlining and strengthening safety nets.Publication The Role of Social Ties in Factor Allocation(Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the World Bank, 2019-10)We investigate whether social structure helps or hinders factor allocation using unusually rich data from the Gambia. Evidence indicates that land available for cultivation is allocated unequally across households; and that factor transfers are more common between neighbors, co-ethnics, and kinship-related households. Does this lead to the conclusion that land inequality is due to flows of land between households being impeded by social divisions? To answer this question, a novel methodology that approaches exhaustive data on dyadic flows from an aggregate point of view is introduced. Land transfers lead to a more equal distribution of land and to more comparable factor ratios across households in general. But equalizing transfers of land are not more likely within ethnic or kinship groups. In conclusion, ethnic and kinship divisions do not hinder land and labor transfers in a way that contributes to aggregate factor inequality. Labor transfers do not equilibrate factor ratios across households. But it cannot be ruled out that they serve a beneficial role, for example, to deal with unanticipated health shocks.