Publication: Improving Labor Market Outcomes for Poor and Vulnerable Groups in Mongolia
Loading...
Published
2015-12
ISSN
Date
2016-01-19
Editor(s)
Abstract
Mongolia has experienced strong economic growth and declining poverty in the past. With the implementation of the law on employment promotion in 2011, the Government of Mongolia provided the legal base for a set of employment promotion programs. By means of these programs, different vulnerable labor market groups are addressed, ranging from graduates to disabled, older workers, herders, and unskilled job seekers. The objective of the report is to describe and analyze labor market outcomes for different groups of the population in Mongolia, with a particular focus on poor and vulnerable households, and present a set of policy interventions to strengthen the labor market participation and integration of currently unemployed or inactive adults. The focus of the report is on supply side issues of the labor market. In order to better understand the mechanisms driving labor market outcomes, a prospective qualitative analysis is already planned to complement the present quantitative analysis. The report is structured as follows: section one gives introduction. Section two provides the country context in terms of economic and demographic developments and the characteristics of the Mongolian labor market. The empirical analysis is presented in section three. In section four the existing labor market policies in Mongolia are mapped and their challenges discussed. Finally, section five concludes and recommends a set of policy measures to further improve the labor market outcomes of poor and vulnerable groups.
Link to Data Set
Citation
“Gassmann, Franziska; Francois, Daphne; Zardo Trindade, Lorena. 2015. Improving Labor Market Outcomes for Poor and Vulnerable Groups in Mongolia. © World Bank. http://hdl.handle.net/10986/23671 License: CC BY 3.0 IGO.”
Associated URLs
Associated content
Other publications in this report series
Journal
Journal Volume
Journal Issue
Collections
Related items
Showing items related by metadata.
Publication Armenia - Labor Market Dynamics : Volume 1. Overview(Washington, DC, 2007-05)This study is intended to help Armenian policymakers better understand the main factors behind modest labor market outcomes and to identify policy options to create more and better jobs. The report is based on data from administrative statistics, labor force surveys, and household surveys. The objective of the study is to determine the main factors behind poor labor market outcomes in Armenia: high unemployment of long duration despite rapid economic growth. To do so, it will assess, first, the key characteristics of the demand for labor. These include (a) the impact of macroeconomic policies on job growth; (b) wage flexibility and unit labor costs; (c) cost-of-doing-business factors, including costs, risks, and barriers to competition faced by firms; and (d) employment promotion legislation and labor market institutions. Recommendations are made on policies that can promote an effective and sustainable increased demand for labor; second, the key characteristics of the supply of labor, including the impact of long-term demographic developments and labor migration, and the impact of social benefits on the reallocation of labor. Policy options are analyzed that can support the development of an efficient supply of labor to a modern high-wage market economy; and, third, the mechanisms by which employers and workers are brought into contact with each other, and recommend policies that support efficient and effective labor market institutions. The report consists of two volumes. Volume I provides an overview of the study and summarizes its conclusions. Volume II provides a more technical and detailed analysis of various aspects of labor market transition in Armenia.Publication Recent Labor Market Performance in Vietnam through a Gender Lens(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2012-05)This paper provides an overview of the recent performance of the labor market in Vietnam during the Great Recession. The analysis uses data from the Labor Force Survey and the Vietnam Household Living Standard Survey. The author finds that, notwithstanding the global crisis and domestic volatility, job creation has been sustained in Vietnam, especially in the formal sector, but that the overall quality of employment has suffered. Gender differentials are found to affect older women especially, while educated women benefit from a skills wage premium. Reassuringly given the large youth share of the total workforce, the youth labor market is dynamic and outcomes for youths have improved. Meanwhile, participation in poverty alleviation programs and labor market programs has not changed, and few workers use the newly created employment services and unemployment benefits.Publication Portraits of Labor Market Exclusion(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2014-08)The financial crisis that hit the global market in the middle of 2008 gave way to the sharpest contraction of the European economies since the Great Depression. In 2009 the economic output in the countries of the European Union shrank 4.5 percent, the largest reduction in GDP since its creation. Since then, the economies have slowly recovered, but unemployment has continued to rise, reaching 11 percent in 2013, up from 7.1 percent in 2008. The economy of the European Union shrank 4.5 percent, the largest reduction in its GDP since the Union s creation. Furthermore, for the European Union as a whole, long-term unemployment among 15- to 64-year-olds has increased from 37.2 percent in 2008 to 47.5 percent of total unemployment in 2013. In several countries more than half of those unemployed are long-term unemployed, that is, they have been looking for jobs for more than 12 months. In Greece and Bulgaria the share of long-term unemployed in 2013 was 67.5 percent and 57.3 percent, respectively. Youth unemployment, on the other hand, has increased almost 8 percent since 2008, reaching 23.3 percent in 2013 in the EU-28 countries. In Bulgaria, Romania and Hungary, around a fourth of 15- to 24-year-olds are unemployed; in Greece close to 60 percent of youth were unemployed in 2013. Long spells of unemployment expose individuals to impoverishment. They can also lead to deterioration of skills and detachment from the labor market. Youth unemployment is particularly concerning as it risks damaging longer-term employment prospects for young people, leading them to face higher risks of exclusion and poverty. Youth unemployment also has growth implications as a generation of educated and productive people are not working at their potential. Finally, very high levels of youth unemployment for long periods of time can become a threat to social stability.Publication Jordan - Resolving Jordan's Labor Market Paradox of Concurrent Economic Growth and High Unemployment(Washington, DC, 2008-12-23)Reducing unemployment is a top priority of the Government of Jordan, as expressed in its principal strategies, "we are all Jordan" and the national agenda. Consistent with those strategies and with the recommendations of donors, the Government's approach to reducing unemployment has been to create jobs by attracting investments that promote gross domestic product (GDP) growth. In recent years, Jordan has successfully attracted investment, achieved strong GDP growth, and created many new jobs. This report also recommends actions to further the Government's goal of reducing employment. To accomplish this we cover industrial policy, fiscal policy, regional development, education, and social protection programs. Although this report comments on employment aspects of several policies and programs, truly comprehensive analysis of these policies and programs is beyond its scope. Rather, these findings and recommendations should be considered in the context of ongoing work by the Government, the World Bank, and other donors the various policy and program areas. That work includes analytical work and investments in the areas of: (a) public expenditure, (b) financial sector functioning, (c) investment climate, (d) poverty mapping, and (e) pension reform. It also includes projects in: (a) higher education development, (b) education reform for the knowledge economy, (c) social protection, (d) employer-driven skills development, and (e) regional and local development.Publication Urban Labor Markets in Sub-Saharan Africa(Washington, DC: World Bank and Agence Française de Développement, 2013-06-07)The population of Sub-Saharan Africa stood at 854 million in 2010. Annual population growth averaged 2.5 percent, with a relatively high sustained fertility rate, fostered by the fact that two-thirds of the population is under 25. The region has the highest proportion of poor people in the world, with 47.5 percent of its population living on less than $1.25 a day, as measured in terms of purchasing power parity in 2008. It is also the only region in which the number of poor is still rising. This book contributes to knowledge on the functioning of urban labor markets in Sub-Saharan Africa by investigating following questions: which individuals lack access to employment or are employed beneath their capacities; does education improve working conditions?; what opportunities does the labor market offer to climb the social ladder?; is the lack of good-quality jobs for adults and the poverty it implies one of the reasons for the prevalence of child labor?; do women and ethnic minorities have the same access to the labor market as everyone else?; how does the formal sector live alongside the informal sector?; what role does migration play in the functioning of labor markets?;and are there traits common to all urban labor markets in Africa, or is each country different? This book attempts to answer these questions by studying 11 cities in 10 countries (table O.1). Comparative studies are often based on disparate measurement instruments, which risk marring the validity of the findings. This study is based on a set of perfectly comparable surveys. The study also covers a number of topics (migration, child labor, job satisfaction, discrimination, and work after retirement) in addition to the topics covered by Lachaud (unemployment, access to employment and mobility, segmentation, labor supply, and poverty). This book is divided in five parts. The first is comparative analysis of urban labor markets in Sub-Saharan Africa; second is job quality and labor market conditions in Sub-Saharan Africa; third is dimensions of labor market inequalities; fourth is the key coping mechanisms and private responses; and fifth is moving forward.
Users also downloaded
Showing related downloaded files
Publication Corporate Governance of State-Owned Enterprises : A Toolkit(Washington, DC, 2014-10-04)This Toolkit provides an overall framework with practical tools and information to help policymakers design and implement corporate governance reforms for state-owned enterprises. It covers the key elements of corporate governance, including legal and regulatory framework, state ownership arrangements, performance management systems, financial and fiscal discipline, boards of directors, transparency and disclosure, and protection of shareholders in mixed ownership companies. Experience shows that no one approach is universally applicable and the choice of measures depends on country and enterprise circumstances. The Toolkit thus provides a range of frameworks, concepts, case examples, checklists, and model documents that together aim to help government officials make the appropriate choices for their circumstances. The Toolkit concludes with guidance on managing the reform process, in particular how to prioritize and sequence reforms, build capacity, and engage with stakeholders.Publication Empowerment in Practice : From Analysis to Implementation(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2006)This book represents an effort to present an easily accessible framework to readers, especially those for whom empowerment remains a puzzling development concern, conceptually and in application. The book is divided into two parts. Part 1 explains how the empowerment framework can be used for understanding, measuring, monitoring, and operationalizing empowerment policy and practice. Part 2 presents summaries of each of the five country studies, using them to discuss how the empowerment framework can be applied in very different country and sector contexts and what lessons can be learned from these test cases. While this book can offer only a limited empirical basis for the positive association between empowerment and development outcomes, it does add to the body of work supporting the existence of such a relationship. Perhaps more importantly, it also provides a framework for future research to test the association and to prioritize practical interventions seeking to empower individuals and groups.Publication Climate Shocks, Vulnerability, Resilience and Livelihoods in Rural Zambia(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2021-08)To what extent do the behavioral choices of Zambian smallholder farmers influence the negative effects of climate shocks, and what impact do these choices have on vulnerability and resilience? This paper uses nationally representative, three-wave household-level panel data to investigate these questions. The empirical estimation employs an instrumental variable probit regression model, which also controls for the endogeneity of key choice variables. There are four main empirical findings. First, droughts are the most prevalent climate shock rural smallholder farmers in Zambia face, but the extent of exposure differs spatially, with the Southern and Western Provinces being the hardest hit. Nationally, about three-quarters of all smallholder farmers are vulnerable and only about one-quarter are resilient. Second, increased climate shocks correlate with both increased vulnerability and reduced resilience, with short- and long-term deviations in seasonal rainfall worsening vulnerability and resilience. Third, higher asset endowments and education level of the household head reduce vulnerability and increase resilience among smallholder farmers. Female-headed households are more vulnerable and less resilient, on average. Fourth, the use of climate-smart agricultural practices—namely, minimum tillage and use of inorganic fertilizers or hybrid maize seed—significantly improves household resilience in the short term. The paper draws two main policy implications from the findings. First, the results point to an urgent need to invest in research and development for climate shock–tolerant crop varieties and in broader climate-smart agricultural technologies to scale out and scale up context-specific practices through innovative digital platforms. Second, more investment is needed in risk mitigation strategies such as weather indexed insurance, targeted social cash transfers and how to make these work effectively for smallholder farmers. Other important complementary elements include investment in innovative digital platforms that can facilitate timely delivery of climate information services and facilitating asset accumulation and education that can enable farmers to improve climate shock resilience over time.Publication Digital Progress and Trends Report 2023(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2024-03-05)Digitalization is the transformational opportunity of our time. The digital sector has become a powerhouse of innovation, economic growth, and job creation. Value added in the IT services sector grew at 8 percent annually during 2000–22, nearly twice as fast as the global economy. Employment growth in IT services reached 7 percent annually, six times higher than total employment growth. The diffusion and adoption of digital technologies are just as critical as their invention. Digital uptake has accelerated since the COVID-19 pandemic, with 1.5 billion new internet users added from 2018 to 2022. The share of firms investing in digital solutions around the world has more than doubled from 2020 to 2022. Low-income countries, vulnerable populations, and small firms, however, have been falling behind, while transformative digital innovations such as artificial intelligence (AI) have been accelerating in higher-income countries. Although more than 90 percent of the population in high-income countries was online in 2022, only one in four people in low-income countries used the internet, and the speed of their connection was typically only a small fraction of that in wealthier countries. As businesses in technologically advanced countries integrate generative AI into their products and services, less than half of the businesses in many low- and middle-income countries have an internet connection. The growing digital divide is exacerbating the poverty and productivity gaps between richer and poorer economies. The Digital Progress and Trends Report series will track global digitalization progress and highlight policy trends, debates, and implications for low- and middle-income countries. The series adds to the global efforts to study the progress and trends of digitalization in two main ways: · By compiling, curating, and analyzing data from diverse sources to present a comprehensive picture of digitalization in low- and middle-income countries, including in-depth analyses on understudied topics. · By developing insights on policy opportunities, challenges, and debates and reflecting the perspectives of various stakeholders and the World Bank’s operational experiences. This report, the first in the series, aims to inform evidence-based policy making and motivate action among internal and external audiences and stakeholders. The report will bring global attention to high-performing countries that have valuable experience to share as well as to areas where efforts will need to be redoubled.Publication Accelerating Digital Transformation in Zambia(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2020)Zambia’s seventh national development plan (7NDP) sets ambitious targets for economic growth and poverty reduction. Technology can play an important role as Zambia advances this vision for economic transformation. The introduction of digital systems can also have a transformative effect on government. Improved access to digital technologies and effective use of data and digital systems can thus be powerful tools in the quest to increase private sector productivity, enhance public sector efficiency and effectiveness, and improve the accountability of both the public and private sectors. This digital economy diagnostic assesses Zambia’s strengths and weaknesses with respect to five pillars that together form the foundation upon which the benefits of digital transformation can be realized. These pillars are digital infrastructure, digital skills, digital entrepreneurship, digital platforms, and digital financial services. This analysis finds that Zambia has made significant strides on its path to digital transformation over the past few years. Progress is particularly evident in digital infrastructure, digital financial services, and digital platforms, while more significant gaps remain in digital skills and digital entrepreneurship. This report suggests that the digital transformation strategy include four strategic: (1) promoting greater use of digital technologies in the economy, (2) reducing government transaction costs and reducing the cost of doing business through digitally optimized government systems, (3) improving the adoption of innovative digital solutions by enabling entrepreneurship, and (4) leveraging data and digital systems to improve sector-specific outcomes in secondary towns and rural areas.