O'Keefe, PhilipDas, Maitreyi Bordia2012-06-062012-06-062007-03https://hdl.handle.net/10986/7231Like many low-income countries, Timor-Leste faces challenges in providing employment for and increasing the skills of its labor force-challenges made more acute by high fertility rates, a very young population, and the capacity constraints of a new nation. However, there is limited information for policymakers to formulate appropriate policies. The paper presents findings of the first urban enterprise survey in independent Timor-Leste. It explores several aspects of the Timorese urban labor market, including the profile of formal and informal enterprises, their behavior in terms of employment and wage-setting practices, and constraints on firm growth. It also presents findings on the skills and training needs of urban employers, and constraints faced in overcoming skills shortages. It finds a highly informal urban enterprise scene, where even "formal" enterprises are largely micro-enterprises. While there has been considerable action in terms of new firm creation since independence, there is already surprisingly low job creation or destruction. This is driven by a number of constraints inside and outside the labor market. With respect to wages, the impacts of the informal minimum wage policy inherited from the interim international administration suggest the need for caution in future wage policy development. While employers identify many skills gaps, basic literacy, numeracy, and language skill needs dominate, and employers appear to value short courses and less formal modes of skills training to address their needs. The paper concludes with suggestions for addressing the key constraints identified.CC BY 3.0 IGOACCESS TO EDUCATIONAGE DISTRIBUTIONAGGREGATE DEMANDBASIC LITERACYBUSINESS CLIMATEBUSINESS ENVIRONMENTCOLLECTIVE BARGAININGCOMMERCIAL BANKSCONTRACT ENFORCEMENTCOST OF CONTRACT ENFORCEMENTCOSTS OF CONTRACT ENFORCEMENTCREDIT MARKETSDEVELOPING COUNTRIESDISCRIMINATIONDISMISSALECONOMIC GROWTHECONOMIC VOLATILITYEDUCATIONEMPLOYMENTEMPLOYMENT DYNAMICSEMPLOYMENT GENERATIONEMPLOYMENT GROWTHEMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITIESEMPLOYMENT OUTCOMESEMPLOYMENT PATTERNSEMPLOYMENT POLICYENTERPRISESENVIRONMENTAL DEGRADATIONEXOGENOUS SHOCKSFAMILY MEMBERSFAMILY RESOURCESFEMALE LABORFEMALE LABOR FORCEFERTILITYFERTILITY RATESFINANCIAL CONSTRAINTSFINANCIAL SECTORFINANCIAL SERVICESFINANCIAL SUPPORTFIRM GROWTHFOREIGN INVESTORSGENDER DIFFERENCESGENDER GAPGROSS DOMESTIC PRODUCTHEALTHHIGH POPULATION GROWTHHOUSEHOLD ENTERPRISESHOUSEHOLD SURVEYHUMAN CAPITALHUMAN DEVELOPMENTINFORMALINFORMAL ENTERPRISESINFORMAL SECTORINTERNATIONAL LABOR ORGANIZATIONINVESTMENT CLIMATEJOB CREATIONJOB TURNOVERJOBSLABOR CODELABOR FORCELABOR FORCE PARTICIPATIONLABOR LAWSLABOR MARKETLABOR MARKET CONDITIONSLABOR MARKET INFORMATIONLABOR MARKET INSTITUTIONSLABOR MARKET OUTCOMESLABOR MARKET POLICIESLABOR MARKETSLABOR ORGANIZATIONLABOR REGULATIONSLABOR RELATIONSLIVE BIRTHSLIVING STANDARDSLOW-INCOME COUNTRIESMALE WORKERSMEDIUM ENTERPRISESMICROENTERPRISESMICROFINANCEMINIMUM WAGEMINISTRY OF EDUCATIONMINORITYMORTALITYMORTALITY RATENATIONAL ORIGINNET EMPLOYMENTNUMBER OF WORKERSOCCUPATIONOLDER WORKERSPOLICY ANALYSISPOLICY DEVELOPMENTPOLICY DEVELOPMENTSPOLICY IMPLICATIONSPOLICY RESEARCHPOLICY RESEARCH WORKING PAPERPOPULATION GROWTH RATEPOPULATION PRESSURESPOPULATION STRUCTUREPOVERTY LINEPREGNANT WOMENPRIVATE SECTORPRIVATE SECTOR DEVELOPMENTPRODUCTIVITY GROWTHPROGRESSPUBLIC SECTOR EMPLOYMENTREGULATORY FRAMEWORKRESPECTRETAIL TRADERURAL AREASRURAL POPULATIONSECONDARY SCHOOLSEVERANCE PAYMENTSSEXSHOPSSIZE OF ENTERPRISESKILL LEVELSKILLED WORKERSSKILLS DEVELOPMENTSMALL AND MEDIUM ENTERPRISESSMALL ENTERPRISESSMALL FIRMSSOCIAL SERVICESSTARTUP CAPITALTRADE UNIONSUNEMPLOYEDUNEMPLOYMENTUNEMPLOYMENT RATESUNIONSUNPAID WORKERSURBAN AREASURBAN EMPLOYMENTVENDORSVOCATIONAL EDUCATIONVOCATIONAL TRAININGWAGE POLICYWORKERWORKERSWORKFORCEWORKING CONDITIONSYOUNG WORKERSYOUNGER WORKERSYOUTH UNEMPLOYMENTYOUTH UNEMPLOYMENT RATESWorld Bank10.1596/1813-9450-4177