Publication: Enhancing Job Opportunities : Eastern Europe and the Former Soviet Union
Loading...
Published
2005
ISSN
Date
2012-06-07
Author(s)
Scarpetta, Stefano
Editor(s)
Abstract
In the last 15 years, the countries of Eastern Europe and the Former Soviet Union have made impressive progress in their historical transition from centrally planned to market economies. In building the institutional foundations of a market economy, they have developed a vibrant private sector and opened themselves to international trade. After an initial economic recession, this has ignited economic growth, which in turn has brought about higher incomes and reduced poverty. But the transition and recent growth have been disappointing in one key area-jobs. In countries across the region, job opportunities remain scarce. This study focuses attention on the causes of these disappointing labor outcomes, and points to the solutions. Why has the job creation record of transition economies been disappointing? One reason is that the size of the new private sector that generates jobs is still relatively small in many of the Region's countries. And there is still enough room for firms to increase output through downsizing and retrenchment-what is sometimes termed "defensive restructuring." And why do firms not engage in more strategic restructuring? Often, they are discouraged by the poor investment climate-substantial risks, barriers, and costs associated with doing business. Two other factors also play a role. In countries in the Region with strong institutions and enforcement capacity, strict employment protection legislation can actually inhibit hiring. Again, for many firms in the Region, the lack of adequate skills among available workers also proves to be a significant constraint to growth. This study recommends a two-pronged strategy to create more and better jobs. First, in every country across the Region, the investment climate needs to be further improved to encourage new firms to enter the market, and for existing firms to grow. Second, countries in the Region need to have institutional and regulatory reform to develop an adaptable labor market, where core worker rights are effectively protected, but employers are not unduly constrained in adjusting the size and skill composition of their workforce to the changing product demand.
Link to Data Set
Citation
“Scarpetta, Stefano; Rutkowski, Jan J.. 2005. Enhancing Job Opportunities : Eastern Europe and the Former Soviet Union. © World Bank. http://hdl.handle.net/10986/7408 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 Innovation, Inclusion, and Integration : From Transition to Convergence in Eastern Europe and the Former Soviet Union(Washington, DC : World Bank, 2008)Since the fall of the Berlin Wall the transition countries of Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union have witnessed dramatic changes in outputs, the nature of jobs, standards of living, patterns of trade and the quality of education and health services. Yet, during much of this period, institutions that shape firm behavior and outcomes, most notably the business environment, have been converging toward those in developed market economies. The countries that acceded to the European Union in 2004 are the furthest advanced in this process. The countries of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) are followers but are some distance behind. The six regional flagship studies produced by the Europe and Central Asia Region of the World Bank during the last five years, of which this volume is a synthesis and culmination, attest to this evolution from their particular perspectives. Those studies have covered productivity growth, the enhancement of job opportunities, trade and integration, migration and remittances, poverty and inequality and the challenges posed by aging populations. All the reports in this series offer specific policy recommendations that are intended to help the countries of Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union promote economic growth and foster higher living standards in the rapidly changing world in which they are undertaking the transition to a market economy.Publication Migration and Remittances : Eastern Europe and the Former Soviet Union(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2007)In regard to migration and remittances for Eastern Europe and the Former Soviet Union, the overview chapter summarizes the main findings that are developed in much greater detail in later chapters. The core focus of this report is on documenting the trends of international migration and remittances in this region since the period of transition (chapters one and two) and discussing the determinants of migration in this region (chapter three). A final chapter (chapter four) reviews the organization of international migration policy in the region. It details the nature and types of bilateral migration schemes in place between Europe and Central Asia (ECA) countries and between ECA and Western Europe and identifies some of their limitations. The final section of chapter four suggests some avenues through which bilateral migration agreements could be improved.Publication Transition, The First Ten Years : Analysis and Lessons for Eastern Europe and the Former Soviet Union(Washington, DC, 2002)This study looks at lessons to be drawn from the ten-year experience of the transition countries in Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union in the period 1991 to 2000. The World's Bank "world Development Report 1996: From Plan to Market" focused on the transition process during the first half of this period. It recognized that while initial conditions are critical, decisive and sustained reforms are important for recovery of growth and should be accompanied by social policies designed to protect the most vulnerable groups until growth takes hold. Many of the prescriptions of the 1996 World Development Report continue to be valid today. The present study confirms that while initial conditions were critical for explaining the output decline at the start of transition, the intensity of reform policies explains the variability in the recovery of output thereafter. Beyond this, important new lessons highlight some key tradeoffs facing countries in transition that can be translated into priorities for policy. First, this study highlights the key role of the entry and growth of new firms in generating economic growth and in creating employment. A second lesson concerns the need to develop or strengthen legal and regulatory institutions to oversee the management and governance of both private and state enterprises. A third lesson involves recognizing that winners from the early stages of reform may oppose subsequent reforms when these reduce their initially substantial benefits.Publication Unleashing Prosperity : Productivity Growth in Eastern Europe and the Former Soviet Union(Washington, DC : World Bank, 2008)The analysis presented in this report assembles, for the first time, evidence from a variety of sources in the countries of Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union to show that policy and institutional reforms are important in achieving higher productivity growth. However, significant challenges remain in sustaining that growth. Many countries that started the reform process early, such as the new member states of the European Union, have come to resemble advanced market economies and face challenges in competing successfully in the global economy that are similar to the challenges faced by other European countries. For these new European Union members, the report argues, policies that facilitate innovation and firm expansion will be a key. But for other countries that started the reform process later, such as the countries of Southeastern Europe and the former Soviet Union, there is still a need to address the legacy of transition. For these countries, policies that accelerate restructuring and ease the entry and exit of firms will continue to be essential. This report - part of a series of regional studies of the World Bank's Europe and Central Asia region that has already covered poverty and inequality, the enhancement of job opportunities, trade and integration, migration and remittances, and the challenges posed by aging populations is intended as a contribution to the author thinking about how the World Bank may work more effectively with client states and other partners in the region to promote growth and foster higher living standards in a rapidly changing World.Publication Turmoil at Twenty : Recession, Recovery, and Reform in Central and Eastern Europe and the Former Soviet Union(World Bank, 2010)This book, written on the eve of the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin wall in 1989, addresses three questions that relate to recession, recovery, and reform, respectively, in Europe and Central Asia (ECA) transition countries. Did the transition from a command to a market economy and the period when it took place, plant the seeds of vulnerability that made transition countries (the region excluding Turkey) more prone to crisis than developing countries generally? Did choices made on the road from plan to market shape the ability of affected countries to recover from the crisis? What structural reforms do transition countries need to undertake to address the most binding constraints to growth in a world where financial markets have become more discriminating and where capital flows to transition and developing countries are likely to be considerably lower than before the crisis? This report is structured as follows: chapter one of the book analyses how countries fell into recession and crisis, why not all of them were equally affected, and whether different policies could have positioned them better to face the crisis. Chapter two discusses rescue and stabilization and the role of international collective action. The next two chapters focus on policies for recovery, chapter three on restructuring bank, corporate and household debt and chapter four on scaling up social safety nets. Chapters five and six focus on reform, examining the binding constraints to growth and the policy agenda in the most important sectors identified by that analysis.
Users also downloaded
Showing related downloaded files
Publication Kyrgyz Republic Country Climate and Development Report(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2025-11-03)This Country Climate and Development Report (CCDR) on the Kyrgyz Republic aims to support the country’s development goals amid a changing climate. The CCDR considers two policy scenarios up to 2050: the business-as-usual (BAU) and high-growth scenarios. As it quantifies the likely impacts of climate change on the Kyrgyz economy between now and 2050, the report highlights key government actions to best prepare for and adapt to climate impacts (referred to as “with adaptation” measures), with a particular focus on the time horizon up to 2030. The CCDR also outlines a path to net zero emissions by 2050 (referred to as “with mitigation” measures, “decarbonization,” or, simply, “net zero 2050”), highlighting associated development co-benefits.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 Direct and Indirect Impacts of Transport Mobility on Access to Jobs: Evidence from South Africa(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2025-11-12)Access to jobs is essential for economic growth. In Africa, unemployment rates are notably high. This paper reexamines the relationship between transport mobility and labor market outcomes, with a particular focus on the direct and indirect effects of transport connectivity. As predicted by theory, wages are influenced by the level of commuting deterrence. Generally, higher earnings are associated with longer commute times and/or higher commuting costs. Local accessibility is also important, especially for individuals with time constraints. Both direct and indirect impacts are found to be significant in South Africa, where job accessibility has been challenging since the end of apartheid. For the direct impact, the wage elasticity associated with commuting costs is significant. Returns on commute are particularly high for women. Local accessibility to socioeconomic facilities, such as shops and health services, is also found to have a significant impact, consistent with the concept of mobility of care. To enhance employment, therefore, it is crucial to connect people not only to job locations but also to various socioeconomic points of interest, such as markets and hospitals, in an integrated manner. This integration will enable individuals to spend more time working and commuting longer distances.Publication Taxes, Spending, and Equity: International Patterns and Lessons for Developing Countries(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2025-11-17)Taxes and public spending underpin the basic administration of government and finance the human capital and infrastructure investments needed for economic growth. They can also have a significant and immediate impact on poverty and inequality. The question of how public finance can support longer-term growth objectives while promoting equity has become even more important in recent years, given the high fiscal deficits and debt levels most countries emerged with in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic. These included the increasing cost of debt and the need to restart environmentally sustainable growth while helping households address the learning losses and other social scars caused by the pandemic. This paper examines the global evidence on which households pay which taxes and who benefits from what spending, and critically, the net effect on different households across the income distribution. The aim is to identify the patterns and lessons that emerge for designing progressive fiscal policies. A global dataset of 96 countries is assembled, spanning all regions of the world and all national income levels, grounded in the Commitment to Equity (CEQ) approach to fiscal incidence.Publication Continental Drying: A Threat to Our Common Future(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2025-11-04)Grounded in new evidence from satellite data, “Continental Drying: A Threat to Our Common Future” presents the first global assessment of freshwater reserves over the past two decades. The findings expose an alarming trend of “continental drying,” a persistent long-term decline in freshwater availability across vast landmasses. Not only are droughts and deluges becoming more unpredictable, but the total amount of freshwater available for use has also significantly declined. Continental drying, driven by global warming, worsening droughts, and unsustainable water and land use, is a silent but accelerating crisis—largely unknown to the public—that reshapes the global water narrative. Continental drying raises profound risks. This report reveals new empirical evidence showing how freshwater depletion leads to major job losses, reduced incomes, wildfires, and biodiversity threats. In the long term, the combined effects of drying and warming could push societies toward a tipping point where damage accelerates rapidly and adaptation becomes increasingly difficult. Against the backdrop of continental drying, global water consumption rose by 25 percent between 2000 and 2019, with about a third of this increase occurring in regions already experiencing drying. Compounding the pressure, a substantial share of water use in drying regions remains inefficient. Continental Drying identifies hot spots where rising demand and declining supply converge and explores where and how water savings can be realized. This report recommends a three-pronged approach to address the crisis: managing demand, augmenting water supply, and improving water allocation. Five cross-cutting levers—strengthening institutions, reforming water tariffs and repurposing subsidies, adopting water accounting, leveraging data and technological innovations, and valuing water in trade—are essential for effective implementation and to attract private investment to finance the approach. Beyond water, addressing trade barriers, investing in education and skills development, and improving access to markets and financial services are critical for strengthening job and livelihood resilience amid a continental drying crisis.