Publication: Insights into Key Challenges of the Albanian Labor Market
Loading...
Published
2015-05
ISSN
Date
2015-08-18
Author(s)
Editor(s)
Abstract
This note presents an overview of the Albanian labor market, and initial insights into the challenges for inclusive and better quality jobs. The note does not intend to be comprehensive, but rather aims at compiling – under an integrative jobs umbrella and the regional framework on jobs – some of the available data and evidence on the Albanian jobs challenge, part of which was prepared for the Albania Systematic Country Diagnostic of the World Bank. By employing the regional report’s framework, the note can guide the Government, development partners, civil society and other stakeholders in identifying the many knowledge gaps that remain for a comprehensive jobs agenda and the work needed towards completing the picture.
Link to Data Set
Citation
“Dávalos, María E.; Cancho, César. 2015. Insights into Key Challenges of the Albanian Labor Market. © World Bank. http://hdl.handle.net/10986/22474 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 Arab Republic of Egypt : Gender assessment 2010(World Bank, 2010-01-01)The objective of this policy note is to examine the gender dimension of the Egyptian labor market, with a focus on identifying the scope for policies to improve female labor force participation. An update to the Egypt gender assessment report of 2003, it is envisioned as a contribution to programmatic work on gender and inclusion in Egypt, helping build evidence which can inform policy aimed at improving the participation and retention of women in the labor force. Analytical and investigative in nature, it is the hope that this note will motivate discussion and debate among stakeholders in the country. The questions to be addressed in the note are also relevant for policy discussions and Bank operations in other countries, especially those in the Middle East North Africa (MENA) region where females face similar challenges to labor force participation. Besides laying out the underlying correlates of gender gaps in these areas, the report recommended a comprehensive list of 'strategic interventions' by sector for the government and other development actors, in areas such as investment in women's education, the re-examination of certain discriminatory provisions in the country's legal system, and the promotion of cultural norms that value women as equal partners to men. In the sphere of women's economic opportunities, the report pinpointed vulnerabilities such as high unemployment rates (particularly among the more educated), and a disproportionate dependence on an already shrinking public sector. Highlighting the need for creating productive and sustainable jobs for women in the private sector, the report suggested initiatives such as increasing women's access to training, technology, land, credit and information.Publication West Bank and Gaza Checkpoints and Barriers : Searching for Livelihoods(World Bank, 2010-01-01)This report assesses the impact of the movement and access regime in the period 2000-07 on the economy and the working lives of Palestinians, exploring the gender dimension of restrictions on labor force participation, and how new tensions in the arena of work resulting from movement and access restrictions have affected relations between women and men. The findings of this study are based on an analysis of data covering the years 2000 to 2007 and examine the long-term impacts of restrictions on movement and access. As controls on movement became more entrenched following the second intifada, a massive economic decline ensued, leading to a drop in male employment and real wages resulting from job losses in Israel, and a corresponding rise in unemployment. This same period also witnessed a sharp rise in both covert and overt forms of violence. Israeli military incursions, detentions, manned checkpoints, home demolitions, the separation barrier, and the Palestinians' own response spun a web of violence in public and private that touched the everyday lives of all Palestinians. The violence resulting from the occupation has led to loss of life, land, property, and free movement of people, and has fragmented social space, a key source of material and moral support especially for women. With neither Israeli nor Palestinian legal systems able to provide defense or protection, these momentous changes in people's everyday lives created a sense of collapse of the public, social, and moral order against this backdrop, the effects on Palestinian society have been extensive and far reaching, on relations between men and women, on intergenerational relations between the young and the old, on ties of kinship, and on social networks. This study, through qualitative sources, provides insights to a chain of events that have and are moderating social behavior and gender relations associated with work. The study also captures what the deteriorating situation has meant for Palestinian females and males of all ages in terms of their economic engagement, their ability to seek alternate livelihoods, their coping strategies, their social and human investments, and their future aspirations.Publication The Challenge of Youth Employment in Sri Lanka(World Bank, 2010)Sri Lanka has been regarded as a model of a country with successful social policies, yet for decades it has faced major challenges in providing employment and satisfying other aspirations of youth. Although the labor force has become more educated, and this trend is particularly marked for youth, the main source of employment for both youth and adults remains the informal sector. Moreover, the importance of the informal sector as a source of employment has increased since the mid-1990s. On the positive side, unemployment declined in last decades, particularly for youth. The Sri Lankan government has continually acted on various fronts to address the youth unemployment problem. It has tried to improve and modernize Sri Lanka's general education system, which has long been criticized as too academic, and to increase the accessibility of training so as to promote the employability youth leaving school. Other actions included strengthening entrepreneurship programs and introducing career guidance and counseling and improving labor market information to help young people in their job searches and to guide human resource planning. In 2007, the government developed the National Action Plan for youth employment, built, for the first time, on a coherent youth employment policy framework and deriving an encompassing and consistent set of policy recommendations. The plan was based on in-depth analysis of Sri Lanka's labor market, provided via a series of background papers undertaken under the auspices of the Youth Employment Network (YEN). To provide the richness and comprehensiveness of this analysis in its totality, these papers, updated and revised, are collected in the present book. This book offers a wealth of valuable advice to the government and other stakeholders to achieve this goal. By exploiting the full potential of the youth, not only will their talent, aspirations, and energy be harnessed to advance economic growth, but also the existing inequities will be reduced and, hopefully in the longer run, eliminated.Publication Low Female Labor Force Participation in Sri Lanka : Contributory Factors, Challenges and Policy Implications(Washington, DC, 2013-01)Even though Sri Lanka is a fore-runner in many human development dimensions and aspects of gender equality amongst the South Asian countries, it is similar to other South Asian countries when it comes to women's participation in economic activities. Female labor force participation has not changed much in recent decades and remained stagnant at a rate around 30 to 35 percent of working age women. This rate is much lower than one would expect given the educational attainment of the female population in Sri Lanka. In order to encourage increased women s participation in economic activities, the first condition is to understand what is keeping them out of the scene. This paper analyzes the underlying reasons behind low participation rates of women in economic activities. It also investigates the employment outcomes, occupational choice, rates of returns, and skills set of economically active women in comparison with men to identify and understand the gaps. The findings have been used to suggest potential policies and programs that can help remove some of those barriers and encourage and enable women to become more economically active in the labor market.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.
Users also downloaded
Showing related downloaded files
Publication Capital Account Liberalization : What Do Cross-Country Studies Tell Us?(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2001-09)Capital account liberalization, it is fair to say, remains one of the most controversial and least understood policies of our day. One reason is that different theoretical perspectives have very different implications for the desirability of liberalizing capital flows. Another is that empirical analysis has failed to yield conclusive results. The answer, another influential strand of thought contends, is that this efficient-markets paradigm is fundamentally misleading when applied to capital flows. Limits on capital movements are a distortion. It is an implication of the theory of the second best that removing one distortion need not be welfare enhancing when other distortions are present.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 Belt and Road Initiative(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2020-06)Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), announced in 2013 and formalized in 2015, is China’s long-term commitment and aims to improve connectivity within Asia as well as between Asia and other continents via transport corridors (rail, road, maritime, air) and deeper economic, political, and cultural integration between China and the countries in Europe and Africa (National Development and Reform Commission, 2015). This study analyzes a potential impact of the BRI on Azerbaijan’s economy by focusing on (1) Azerbaijan’s connectivity and trade with the BRI economies; (2) its recent improvements in transport, power, and ICT infrastructure as part of the China, Central Asia, West Asia economic corridor; (3) its remaining connectivity gaps and challenges; and (4) potential economic effects of BRI on Azerbaijan’s trade, foreign investment, growth and welfare. Finally, the study concludes with policy implications that would mitigate the BRI risks and maximize the benefits.Publication Urban Flood Risk Handbook(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2023-08-02)This Urban Flood Risk Handbook: Assessing Risk and Identifying Interventions is a roadmap for conducting an urban flood risk assessment in any city in the world. It includes practical guidance for a flood risk assessment project, covering the key hazard and risk modeling stages as well as the evaluation of different flood-mitigating infrastructure intervention options and management of the project. The Handbook has been developed based on lessons learned from implementing urban flood risk assessments around the world in a diversity of contexts. It is intended for a wide variety of practitioners: project managers, city officials, and anyone else interested in conducting a strategic study of a city’s flood risk and developing potential solutions for it. We expect this Handbook tocontribute to the understanding of urban flood risk, make this specialized knowledge more accessible to a wider public, and support the process of building cities that are not only capable of withstanding floods but also provide safe, inclusive, and sustainable environments for all their residents.Publication What Explains Wage Differentials for the Urban Wage Earners?(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2021-09-20)The Ethiopian labor market is facing the dual challenge of creating new employment opportunities for the rapidly expanding labor force and improving the quality of existing jobs in the labor market. In this paper, the authors estimate an earnings function for the urban wage-employed to understand how investment in human capital shapes labor market outcomes and to what extent human capital returns have been realized. Their key findings show that there are significant gains associated with acquiring higher levels of education in the urban labor market. Interestingly, the authors also find that the margin of completed primary compared to incomplete primary education is critical in explaining earning gains. This finding has important implications for education policies in Ethiopia, a country in which about five percent of gross domestic product (GDP) is invested on education annually with nearly half of the budget ear-marked for tertiary level education. Understanding the returns from various levels of education, in different sectors, regions, as well as gender gaps in earning are critical to think about public investment choices and labor market policies that can support nudging market inclusiveness, equity, and efficiency. Investments by the government aimed at incentivizing completion of primary education can go a long way in ensuing higher wages and improving standards of living in Ethiopia.