This report summarizes the challenges facing Armenian women at school and in the workplace with a special focus on STEM-related employment. As the world transitions to an increasingly digital economy, jobs in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) will become a powerful driver of economic growth in the twenty-first century.
... See More + Changes in economic productivity brought through technological innovation require countries to focus on STEM; these high-productivity fields are increasingly in demand in the global economy, and are the key to competitiveness and gross domestic product (GDP) growth.Parity between men and women was one of the major achievements of socialist regimes in Eastern Europe and Central Cultural stereotypes about the types of work women should engage in and their responsibilities at home present the strongest barrier to equality between women and men in Armenia Asia. Although access, enrolment, and achievement rates are gender-equal in Armenia, women and girls tend to self-select out of STEM education tracks and career fields. At the level of education institutions, policy actions can address issues of access, information, biases, and system-wide changes to promote gender neutrality. In the short term, schools can engage teachers and students in discussions about the benefits of STEM fields of study and careers, encourage girls to embrace their interest in math and science, and provide positive role models of women who work in STEM careers. Policy action can help women make the school-to-work transition and promote their career advancement once they are working. At a national level, policy and regulatory actions can address systemic issues of bias, market failure, and information. Even at this level, some quick wins are feasible. The government may consider whether public information campaigns are needed to promote positive aspects of STEM careers to students in middle school and above, such as greater income, flexibility, and status, as well as launch a media campaign to promote and celebrate positive female role models in STEM. STEM sectors are an important source of growth for Armenia given the country’s geography and closed borders. Also, considering Armenia’s adverse demographic trends, lifting women’s participation in key growth potential sectors, including STEM, is increasingly critical.
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This is the first study to investigate the short- and long-term causal effects of a child-labor ban. The study explores the law that increased the minimum employment age from 14 to 16 in Brazil in 1998, and uncovers its impact on time allocated to schooling and work in the short term and on school attainment and labor market outcomes in the long term.
... See More + The analysis uses cross-sectional data from 1998 to 2014, and applies a fuzzy regression discontinuity design to estimate the impact of the ban at different points of individuals’ lifecycles. The estimates show that the ban reduced the incidence of boys in paid work activities by 4 percentage points or 27 percent. The study finds that the fall in child labor is mostly explained by the change in the proportions of boys working for pay and studying, and observes an increase in the proportion of boys only studying as a consequence. The results suggest that the ban reduced boys’ participation in the labor force. The study follows the same cohort affected by the ban over the years, and finds that the short-term effects persisted until 2003 when the boys turned 18. The study pooled data from 2007 to 2014 to check whether the ban affected individuals’ stock of human capital and labor market outcomes. The estimates suggest that the ban did not have long-term effects for the whole cohort, but found some indication that it did negatively affect the log earnings of individuals at the lower tail of the earnings distribution.
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Policy Research Working Paper WPS7796 AUG 15, 2016
Piza,Caio; Portela Fernandes De Souza,AndreDisclosed
The Kosovo Agency of Statistics (KAS) began conducting the Labor Force Survey (LFS) in 2001 and then undertook LFS on an almost annual basis until 2009.
... See More + In 2011 KAS began planning for the updated Labour Force Survey which has several important improvements over previous surveys. This Labour Force Survey 2015 report contains data on employment and unemployment by age, gender, employment status, economic activities, occupations and other areas of the labour market.The main objectives of LFS are to collect information, mainly on the supply side of the labour market, i.e., information on those who are working or who are actively looking for work. The LFS collects social and economic information for use in the following areas: (i) Macro-economic monitoring; (ii) Human resource development policies; (iii) Employment policies; and (iv) Income support and social programs.
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Growth moderated throughout 2015, affected by a slowdown in private consumption and weak export growth. The authorities have generally managed the downturn in commodity prices and the financial market volatility with a reasonable mix of macro policies.
... See More + Heightened external volatility calls for prudent macro policies and acceleration of structural reforms. The eleventh Malaysia plan stresses the importance of effective migration management to achieve high-income country status by 2020. Immigration continues to play a crucial role in Malaysia’s development. While job growth has recently been concentrated in high-skilled occupations, three quarters of all jobs in Malaysia are still low- and mid-skilled. Econometric modelling suggests that immigrant workers can raise gross domestic product (GDP) and create employment for Malaysians. The current process for sourcing immigrant workers is complex and costly for the migrant. The immigration system can better meet the country’s development objectives if it is aligned with Malaysia’s human resource development strategy. Global experience shows that successful immigration systems recognize the long-term role of immigrant workers in the hosting country’s economic and social objectives if they are: (a) market-driven, with immigration flows aligned with labor market demands; (b) comprehensive, acknowledging the need for immigrants of all types; and (c) balanced, minimizing the negative impacts on Malaysian workers, and protecting immigrant workers from abuse.
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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.
... See More + 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.
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Working Paper 102320 DEC 01, 2015
Gassmann,Franziska; Francois,Daphne Anna Stephanie; Zardo Trindade,LorenaDisclosed
The objective of the Additional Financing for the Eastern Recovery Project for Congo, Democratic Republic of is to improve access to livelihoods and socioeconomic infrastructures in vulnerable communities in the eastern provinces of DRC.
... See More + The additional credit and grant would finance the costs associated with scaled-up activities to enhance the impact of a well-performing project. To this end, the additional funding will: (a) increase activities to assist communities affected by forced displacement, therefore focusing on Internally Displaced Persons (IDP), refugees, returnees and their host communities, and (b) extend geographic coverage to the new Tanganyika province, which has recently witnessed an increase in forced displacements due to conflict, and the new Tshopo province, which is a frequent destination for people fleeing violence in the other districts of the province (already covered by the Eastern Recovery Project). In particular, the Additional Financing (AF) will: (a) assist returnees and host populations to rebuild socioeconomic infrastructure damaged during conflict; (b) assist IDPs who decide to remain in their area of displacement and their hosts by expanding socio-economic infrastructure that has become overburdened; (c) provide short-term and longer-term livelihoods opportunities to displaced populations and host communities both in areas of displacement and return; and (d) strengthen training at the community level on conflict prevention and management to improve the likelihood of peaceful reintegration of returning community members and minimize tensions between IDPs and their host communities.
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Bangladesh lies along the Ganges-Brahmaputra Delta, Asia’s largest and the world’s most densely populated delta. The country’s 160 million inhabitants live on a land mass of nearly 150,000 km, resulting in a population density of about 1,600 per km.
... See More + The delta not only marks the country’s physiology, but also the culture and livelihoods of its people. Like all delta environments, Bangladesh is a hotspot for natural disasters and climate change. Today, most Bangladeshis live in rural areas, but new employment opportunities in the industrial and service sectors have fueled urban population in recent years. Increases in labor incomes have been a main driver of poverty reduction and declining inequality. The structural shift from agriculture to industry and services has accelerated in recent years and created new and better paid jobs. In the non-agricultural sector, net employment rose by more than 10 million between 2002-03 and 2013, outstripping the 3.3 million increases in agriculture. Labor productivity increased dramatically across the board: the growth in output per worker was especially large in the industrial and agricultural sectors, while services also experienced a significant increase. Notwithstanding the fall in agriculture’s share in total employment, increases in farm incomes accounted for more than 90 percent of the poverty reduction between 2005 and 2010. Despite Bangladesh’s remarkable development achievements, significant challenges remain in its quest to eliminate extreme poverty. Bangladesh continues to be one of the poorest countries in the region, with constrained public services and comparatively weak institutions. Even though it has done fairly well in recent years, many others, e.g. China, Sri Lanka, and Vietnam, have done much better.
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The objective of the Integrated Economic Development of Small Towns Project for China is to promote sustainable economic development in selected towns of Gansu, Hunan and Guangdong provinces, creating conditions for increased employment, income generation and improved quality of life, by supporting public infrastructure development and strengthening the capacity of related institutions.
... See More + Some of the negative impacts and mitigation measures include: compensation and resettlement programs are able to improve displaced persons’ standard of living or at least restore it to the pre-project level; displaced persons should be meaningfully consulted and should have opportunities to participate in planning and implementing resettlement programs; all affected properties will be compensated for at full replacement cost; adherence to the principle of resettlement before demolition: Before LA and HD, displaced persons will receive full compensation for their losses, i.e., land and relevant properties will be acquired only if compensation has been paid or a resettlement site and a moving subsidy have been provided; the borrower shall raise compensation fees for resettlement, including contingencies; and in case of full cash compensation, compensation shall include compensation for housing sites and housing. The compensation rates may be based on market appraisal. Houses on collective land will be compensated for a replacement cost, and such land will be compensated for at location-based composite land price. The AHs may elect to purchase commercial housing themselves after receiving cash compensation, and will be no longer allocated housing land.
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The objective of the Londo ('Stand-Up') Project for Central African Republic is to provide temporary employment to vulnerable people throughout the entire territory of the country.
... See More + There are four components to the project, the first component being local governance. This component will first finance rapid development assessments at the level of sous-prefectures across the country to gather necessary data for successful development interventions: governance, security, social dynamics, economy, and logistics. These development assessments will complement the ‘Rapid Response Mechanism’ diagnostics of the humanitarian community and can be shared with other public agencies and development partners. The second component is the public infrastructure. This component will finance all works-related expenses except stipends to beneficiaries for the preparation, execution, and supervision of the works selected under component one. The third component is the socio-economic integration. This component will sponsor the development of a community maintenance system (cantonnage communal) to promote the sustainability of the investment, in terms of both jobs and roads. Tools and equipment (signage, wheelbarrows, etc.) will be transferred to local authorities (mairies), which will also benefit from technical assistance; protective equipment (gloves, boots, etc.) is kept by beneficiaries at the end of their assignment, including the bicycles provided to workers as a means of transportation to and from work sites. Finally, the fourth component is the project management. This component will cover all costs related to the management and coordination of the project, in particular the creation and maintenance of a comprehensive monitoring and evaluation (M&E) system. This will also include communication at the national level with beneficiaries and all other stakeholders involved in the project, including line ministries, international partners like MINUSCA, and civil society organizations.
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The objective of the Labor-intensive Public Works to Mitigate Ebola Impacts Project is to help mitigate the socioeconomic impact of the Ebola outbreak in Sierra Leone by providing temporary employment to youth in poor households.
... See More + Some of the negative impacts and mitigation measures include: provide farmers with the opportunity to derive additional production income from trees bearing more valuable fruits at off-season periods; provide cash payments to farmers to replace pre-project income derived from the sale of excess guava or mango production until replacement trees produce the equivalent (or more) in projected cash income; This policy does not permit the use of land that is defined to be a cultural property by the Banks Safeguards OP 4.11. Sacred sites include but not restricted only to altars, initiation centers, ritual sites, tombs and cemeteries. It includes other such sites or places/features that are accepted by local laws (including customary), practice, tradition and culture as sacred. To avoid any possible conflicts between individuals and/or communities/chiefdoms the use of sacred sites for any project activity is not permitted under this project; and these are planted with vegetable and ingredients for daily use. Until a replacement garden starts to bear, the family displaced (economically or physically) as a result of the project land needs will have to purchase these items in the market. The replacement costs therefore, will be calculated based on the average amount that an average town dweller spends on buying these items for one year per adult from the local market. Beehives are placed in various locations in the bush by some individuals that specialize in honey gathering. If such hives will be disturbed by the project activities, or access to hives is denied, beekeepers can move them, and the bees will adapt to the new locations. Beekeepers will be compensated by the value of one season’s production costs of honey for each hive that is moved and any reasonable costs associated with moving the hive.
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The objectives of the Emergency Labor Intensive Investment Project for Egypt are: (i) to create short-term employment opportunities for unemployed unskilled and semi-skilled workers, and (ii) to provide access to basic infrastructure services to the target population in poor areas in the Borrower's territory.
... See More + This restructuring paper seeks the approval of the Country Director to introduce changes to the Egypt Emergency Labor Intensive Investment Project. The following changes are proposed to be addressed under a level two restructuring: (i) extending the closing date of the project by 18 months; (ii) revising the Results Framework (RF), including the targets; and (iii) adjusting the disbursement schedule.
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The study includes an analysis of inequality patterns in terms of labor force participation as well as a review of policy responses, and areas for possible further policy action.
... See More + In particular, the report looks at the two main dimensions of inequality that characterize Macedonia’s labor market: gender and ethnicity. Almost half the female working age population is inactive, whereas male inactivity is considerably lower. Labor market outcomes also vary significantly with ethnicity. In particular, a strong interaction exists between gender and ethnicity, with ethnic minority women forming a particularly vulnerable group. Hence, it is worthwhile to investigate in more detail how gender and ethnicity shape the Macedonian labor market, and how public policy could be used to increase labor market participation and job opportunities for women and ethnic minorities. This report is organized as follows. First, the report describes the main characteristics of the Macedonian labor market, emphasizing the most important patterns of inequality in terms of labor market participation (section two). Section three addresses the possible causes of these inequality patterns. Section four discusses potential policy responses and concludes.
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This Labour Force Survey (LFS) report contains data on employment and unemployment by age, gender, employment status, economic activities, occupations and other areas of the labour market.
... See More + At the end of the section 6 reports on changes of the main indicators between 2012, 2013 and 2014. Table 6.1 shows that most of the key labour market indicators have remained similar over the past three years. The employment rate rose slightly between 2012 and 2013 but then fell again to certain extent in 2014. The LFS data show that the percentage of those employed in part-time jobs decreased from 11.1 percent in 2013 to 7.7 percent in 2014. Self-employment (as a percentage of those employed) has risen slightly in the last two years. Furthermore, the percentage of the employed in vulnerable jobs (persons who are self-employed without employees and those who work unpaid in a family business) increased from 23.6 percent in 2013 to 24.9 percent in 2014. Manufacturing, trade, education and construction continue to employ almost half of all employed people.
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After the global economic crisis hit, economic growth slowed down significantly and persistently in Albania, linked to the Eurozone crisis and particularly to the economic performance of Greece and Italy.
... See More + The labor market has suffered during the economic downturn and has adjusted mainly through job loss instead of wages. As a result, as an accompanying poverty analysis shows, the downward trends in poverty reduction halted, and the loss of jobs was a key factor behind unfavorable poverty trends. To resume its trend of poverty reduction and shared prosperity, the country needs to accelerate growth and boost job creation. The recent Albania systematic country diagnostic (SCD) shows that the domestic-driven growth model of the 2000s is exhausted and has led to household vulnerability and to macroeconomic imbalances. This note presents an overview of the Albanian labor market, and initial insights into the challenges for inclusive and better quality jobs. 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. The note is organized as follows; part one presents some of the key challenges of labor markets in Albania, looking into main labor market outcomes, and key characteristics of employment in Albania. Part two explores some of the potential factors behind the observed labor market outcomes related to labor market institutions and human capital, particularly to disincentives to (formal) work from taxes and social protection systems, skills and barriers to work affecting some specific groups.
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This report, funded by the Trust Fund for Environmentally and Socially Sustainable Development (TFESSD), seeks to identify labor market inequalities in the ten countries outlined above, to relate these inequalities to other forms of social exclusion, and to propose areas for policy action aimed at boosting labor market participation.
... See More + The remainder of the report is structured as follows. Chapter two describes the role that jobs play in fostering good living standards, productivity and social cohesion, and contextualizes the discussion on jobs and participation in the ten countries. Chapter three zooms in, highlighting inequalities in labor force participation across demographic groups. Chapter four shifts the focus to the factors explaining unequal labor force participation across groups, and discusses a policy agenda for these ten countries, drawing on experiences from the rest of the world. Chapter five concludes.
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This Executive Directors' strategic engagements work program covers FY15 QIV, FY16 Q1, FY16 Q2, and updated reports and other documents to be circulated for information.
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This report contributes not only to the existing literature, but also provides suggestions for future policy-design related to the TSA program in Georgia.
... See More + This study shows that Georgia’s TSA program does generate disincentives to search for jobs or work around the threshold of eligibility, with this effect being concentrated among women. This report is structured as follows: Section two discusses the existing literature and provides a more detailed overview of the TSA program. Section three describes the sampling frame, the sampling method and the data used. Section four explains the empirical approach of the study. Section five elaborates on the main results. Section six concludes with a discussion on policy implications.
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Co-residence is an important source of support for the elderly, especially in countries where pension systems do not cover most of the population.
... See More + This note provides new evidence regarding elderly co-residence patterns in more than 100 developing countries that represent over 90 percent of the developing world population. The authors find a wide range of co-residence rates across countries, ranging from 29 to nearly 100 percent, and a strong inverse relationship between the receipt of a pension and co-residence. The results show the importance of informal support, and have implications for the choice and design of policy instruments aimed at the elderly, including social insurance and assistance.
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