Publication: Effects of Recognition of Prior Learning on Job Market Outcomes: Impact Evaluation in Bangladesh
Loading...
Date
2021-04
ISSN
Published
2021-04
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.”
Associated URLs
Associated content
Other publications in this report series
Publication Geopolitics and the World Trading System(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2024-12-23)Until the beginning of this century, the GATT/WTO system worked. Economic research provided a compelling explanation. It showed that if governments maximize the well-being of their own countries broadly defined, GATT/WTO principles would facilitate mutually beneficial cooperation over their trade policy choices. Now heightened geopolitical rivalry seems to have undermined the WTO. A simple transposition of the previous rationalization suggests that geopolitics and trade cooperation are not compatible. The paper shows that this is only true if rivalry eclipses any consideration of own-country well-being. In all other circumstances, there are gains from trade cooperation even with geopolitics. Furthermore, the WTO’s relevance is in question only if it adheres too rigidly to its existing rules and norms. Through measured adaptation to the geopolitical imperative, the WTO can continue to thrive as a forum for multilateral trade cooperation in the age of geopolitics.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 Global Poverty Revisited Using 2021 PPPs and New Data on Consumption(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2025-06-05)Recent improvements in survey methodologies have increased measured consumption in many low- and lower-middle-income countries that now collect a more comprehensive measure of household consumption. Faced with such methodological changes, countries have frequently revised upward their national poverty lines to make them appropriate for the new measures of consumption. This in turn affects the World Bank’s global poverty lines when they are periodically revised. The international poverty line, which is based on the typical poverty line in low-income countries, increases by around 40 percent to $3.00 when the more recent national poverty lines as well as the 2021 purchasing power parities are incorporated. The net impact of the changes in international prices, the poverty line, and new survey data (including new data for India) is an increase in global extreme poverty by some 125 million people in 2022, and a significant shift of poverty away from South Asia and toward Sub-Saharan Africa. The changes at higher poverty lines, which are more relevant to middle-income countries, are mixed.Publication Global Socio-economic Resilience to Natural Disasters(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2025-05-22)Most disaster risk assessments use damages to physical assets as their central metric, often neglecting distributional impacts and the coping and recovery capacity of affected people. To address this shortcoming, the concepts of well-being losses and socio-economic resilience—the ability to experience asset losses without a decline in well-being—have been proposed. This paper uses microsimulations to produce a global estimate of well-being losses from, and socio-economic resilience to, natural disasters, covering 132 countries. On average, each $1 in disaster-related asset losses results in well-being losses equivalent to a $2 uniform national drop in consumption, with significant variation within and across countries. The poorest income quintile within each country incurs only 9% of national asset losses but accounts for 33% of well-being losses. Compared to high-income countries, low-income countries experience 67% greater well-being losses per dollar of asset losses and require 56% more time to recover. Socio-economic resilience is uncorrelated with exposure or vulnerability to natural hazards. However, a 10 percent increase in GDP per capita is associated with a 0.9 percentage point gain in resilience, but this benefit arises indirectly—such as through higher rate of formal employment, better financial inclusion, and broader social protection coverage—rather than from higher income itself. This paper assess ten policy options and finds that socio-economic and financial interventions (such as insurance and social protection) can effectively complement asset-focused measures (e.g., construction standards) and that interventions targeting low-income populations usually have higher returns in terms of avoided well-being losses per dollar invested.Publication From Patriarchy to Policy(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2025-05-29)Legal institutions play an important role in shaping gender equality in economic domains, from inheritance to labor markets. But where do gender equal laws come from? Using cross-country data on social norms and legal equality, this paper investigates the socio-cultural roots of gender inequity in the legal system and its implications for female labor force participation. To identify the impact of social norms, the analysis uses an empirical strategy that exploits pre-modern differences in ancestral patriarchal culture as an instrument for present-day gender norms. The findings show that ancestral patriarchal culture is a strong predictor of contemporary norms, and conservative social norms are associated with more gender inequality in the de jure legal framework, the de facto implementation of laws, and the labor market. The paper presents evidence for a political selection mechanism linking norms to laws: countries with more conservative norms elect political leaders who are more hostile to gender equality, who then pass less progressive legislation. The results highlight the cultural roots and political drivers of legalized gender inequality.
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 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 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 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 The Container Port Performance Index 2023(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2024-07-18)The Container Port Performance Index (CPPI) measures the time container ships spend in port, making it an important point of reference for stakeholders in the global economy. These stakeholders include port authorities and operators, national governments, supranational organizations, development agencies, and other public and private players in trade and logistics. The index highlights where vessel time in container ports could be improved. Streamlining these processes would benefit all parties involved, including shipping lines, national governments, and consumers. This fourth edition of the CPPI relies on data from 405 container ports with at least 24 container ship port calls in the calendar year 2023. As in earlier editions of the CPPI, the ranking employs two different methodological approaches: an administrative (technical) approach and a statistical approach (using matrix factorization). Combining these two approaches ensures that the overall ranking of container ports reflects actual port performance as closely as possible while also being statistically robust. The CPPI methodology assesses the sequential steps of a container ship port call. ‘Total port hours’ refers to the total time elapsed from the moment a ship arrives at the port until the vessel leaves the berth after completing its cargo operations. The CPPI uses time as an indicator because time is very important to shipping lines, ports, and the entire logistics chain. However, time, as captured by the CPPI, is not the only way to measure port efficiency, so it does not tell the entire story of a port’s performance. Factors that can influence the time vessels spend in ports can be location-specific and under the port’s control (endogenous) or external and beyond the control of the port (exogenous). The CPPI measures time spent in container ports, strictly based on quantitative data only, which do not reveal the underlying factors or root causes of extended port times. A detailed port-specific diagnostic would be required to assess the contribution of underlying factors to the time a vessel spends in port. A very low ranking or a significant change in ranking may warrant special attention, for which the World Bank generally recommends a detailed diagnostic.Publication World Development Report 1984(New York: Oxford University Press, 1984)Long-term needs and sustained effort are underlying themes in this year's report. As with most of its predecessors, it is divided into two parts. The first looks at economic performance, past and prospective. The second part is this year devoted to population - the causes and consequences of rapid population growth, its link to development, why it has slowed down in some developing countries. The two parts mirror each other: economic policy and performance in the next decade will matter for population growth in the developing countries for several decades beyond. Population policy and change in the rest of this century will set the terms for the whole of development strategy in the next. In both cases, policy changes will not yield immediate benefits, but delay will reduce the room for maneuver that policy makers will have in years to come.Publication Africa's Future, Africa's Challenge : Early Childhood Care and Development in Sub-Saharan Africa(Washington, DC : World Bank, 2008)This book seeks to achieve a balance, describing challenges that are being faced as well as developments that are underway. It seeks a balance in terms of the voices heard, including not just voices of the North commenting on the South, but voices from the South, and in concert with the North. It seeks to provide the voices of specialists and generalists, of those from international and local organizations, from academia and the field. It seeks a diversity of views and values. Such diversity and complexity are the reality of Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) today. The major focus of this book is on SSA from the Sahel south. Approximately 130 million children between birth and age 6 live in SSA. Every year 27 million children are born, and every year 4.7 million children under age 5 die. Rates of birth and of child deaths are consistently higher in SSA than in any other part of the world; the under-5 mortality rate of 163 per 1,000 is twice that of the rest of the developing world and 30 times that of industrialized countries (UNICEF 2006). Of the children who are born, 65 percent will experience poverty, 14 million will be orphans affected by HIV/AIDS directly and within their families and one-third will experience exclusion because of their gender or ethnicity.Publication Global Economic Prospects, January 2025(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2025-01-16)Global growth is expected to hold steady at 2.7 percent in 2025-26. However, the global economy appears to be settling at a low growth rate that will be insufficient to foster sustained economic development—with the possibility of further headwinds from heightened policy uncertainty and adverse trade policy shifts, geopolitical tensions, persistent inflation, and climate-related natural disasters. Against this backdrop, emerging market and developing economies are set to enter the second quarter of the twenty-first century with per capita incomes on a trajectory that implies substantially slower catch-up toward advanced-economy living standards than they previously experienced. Without course corrections, most low-income countries are unlikely to graduate to middle-income status by the middle of the century. Policy action at both global and national levels is needed to foster a more favorable external environment, enhance macroeconomic stability, reduce structural constraints, address the effects of climate change, and thus accelerate long-term growth and development.Publication World Development Report 2017(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2017-01-30)Why are carefully designed, sensible policies too often not adopted or implemented? When they are, why do they often fail to generate development outcomes such as security, growth, and equity? And why do some bad policies endure? This book addresses these fundamental questions, which are at the heart of development. Policy making and policy implementation do not occur in a vacuum. Rather, they take place in complex political and social settings, in which individuals and groups with unequal power interact within changing rules as they pursue conflicting interests. The process of these interactions is what this Report calls governance, and the space in which these interactions take place, the policy arena. The capacity of actors to commit and their willingness to cooperate and coordinate to achieve socially desirable goals are what matter for effectiveness. However, who bargains, who is excluded, and what barriers block entry to the policy arena determine the selection and implementation of policies and, consequently, their impact on development outcomes. Exclusion, capture, and clientelism are manifestations of power asymmetries that lead to failures to achieve security, growth, and equity. The distribution of power in society is partly determined by history. Yet, there is room for positive change. This Report reveals that governance can mitigate, even overcome, power asymmetries to bring about more effective policy interventions that achieve sustainable improvements in security, growth, and equity. This happens by shifting the incentives of those with power, reshaping their preferences in favor of good outcomes, and taking into account the interests of previously excluded participants. These changes can come about through bargains among elites and greater citizen engagement, as well as by international actors supporting rules that strengthen coalitions for reform.