Download or read book Business Environment and Labor Market Outcomes in ECA Countries written by Paloma Lopez-Garcia and published by . This book was released on 2006 with total page 44 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: New firm entry has been fundamental for job creation in the transition economies. Hence, the urge to reform the framework in which firms operate. This paper aims to improve our understanding of the business environment of the Europe and Central Asia (ECA) countries, as well as to assess which of the institutions that shape it are most important for labor market performance. To achieve that aim, the author groups the institutions into those affecting firm entry and those affecting business survival and growth, and proceeds to construct indicators to summarize them. Next, she analyzes the impact of the business environment institutions on the employment generated by the private sector of the countries, proxied by the service employment rate. The regression analysis uses an unbalanced panel of 28 ECA countries over 14 years-from 1988 to 2002. Recent literature on the labor market performance of the OECD countries argues that what matters for employment is the interaction between institutions and shocks. Accordingly, the explanatory variables used in the regression are the interactions between the transition shock suffered by the ECA countries and each of the business environment institutions previously defined. The author finds that access to finance is the most important institution across all ECA countries. The development of the financial sector can explain about 40 percent of private employment creation in the European transition economies according to the model. On the other hand, the poor access to finance in Bulgaria, Croatia, and above all, Romania, is the main factor behind their poor development of the private sector. Market regulation (credit and labor regulation), start-up costs, and the tax burden are all found to significantly affect employment as well.

Download or read book Business Environment and Labor Market Outcomes in Europe and Central Asia Countries written by Paloma Lopez-Garcia and published by . This book was released on 2012 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: New firm entry has been fundamental for job creation in the transition economies. Hence, the urge to reform the framework in which firms operate. This paper aims to improve our understanding of the business environment of the Europe and Central Asia (ECA) countries, as well as to assess which of the institutions that shape it are most important for labor market performance. To achieve that aim, the author groups the institutions into those affecting firm entry and those affecting business survival and growth, and proceeds to construct indicators to summarize them. Next, she analyzes the impact of the business environment institutions on the employment generated by the private sector of the countries, proxied by the service employment rate. The regression analysis uses an unbalanced panel of 28 ECA countries over 14 years-from 1988 to 2002. Recent literature on the labor market performance of the OECD countries argues that what matters for employment is the interaction between institutions and shocks. Accordingly, the explanatory variables used in the regression are the interactions between the transition shock suffered by the ECA countries and each of the business environment institutions previously defined. The author finds that access to finance is the most important institution across all ECA countries. The development of the financial sector can explain about 40 percent of private employment creation in the European transition economies according to the model. On the other hand, the poor access to finance in Bulgaria, Croatia, and above all, Romania, is the main factor behind their poor development of the private sector. Market regulation (credit and labor regulation), start-up costs, and the tax burden are all found to significantly affect employment as well.

Download or read book Labor Market Developments During Economic Transition written by Jan J. Rutkowski and published by World Bank Publications. This book was released on 2006 with total page 44 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "The paper reviews labor market developments in the transition economies of Europe and Central Asia. It argues that the scarcity of productive job opportunities and the growing labor market segmentation are the two main labor market problems facing the transition economies. In the European transition economies the lack of jobs has led to persistent open unemployment. In the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) it has led to hidden unemployment (underemployment and low productivity employment). Unemployment in the European transition economies is supported by the developed social safety net. In contrast, in the CIS for most workers unemployment is not an affordable option. They either stick to their old, unproductive jobs in unrestructured enterprises, or work in the informal sector, or resort to subsistence agriculture. Thus, underemployment in the CIS is a mirror image of unemployment in the European transition economies. Accordingly, the high employment-to-population ratios in many CIS countries do not necessarily signify favorable labor market performance. Instead they often indicate delayed enterprise restructuring, the maintenance of unsustainable jobs in uncompetitive firms, and the existence of a large informal sector as an employer of last resort. Labor market segmentation has been caused by a sharp increase in earnings differentials and the attendant increase in the incidence of low-paid jobs, by the polarization of regional labor market conditions, and finally by the growth of the informal sector offering casual, low-productivity jobs. Labor market segmentation and accompanying inequalities are more pronounced in the CIS than in the European transition economies. "--World Bank web site.

Download or read book Challenges to Enterprise Performance in the Face of the Financial Crisis written by World Bank and published by World Bank Publications. This book was released on 2011-06-10 with total page 149 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The report uses the results of the most recent Business Environment and Enterprise Performance Survey (BEEPS) to examine key drivers of firm performance: access to finance, infrastructure and labor in 29 Eastern European and Central Asian countries.

Download or read book Toward a New Social Contract written by Maurizio Bussolo and published by World Bank Publications. This book was released on 2018-10-24 with total page 366 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The growing economic fissures in the societies of Europe and Central Asia between generations, between insiders and outsiders in the labor market, between rural and urban communities, and between the super-rich and everyone else, are threatening the sustainability of the social contract. The institutions that helped achieving a remarkable degree of equity and prosperity over the course of several decades now face considerable difficulties in coping with the challenges presented by these emerging forms of inequality. Public surveys reveal rising concerns over inequality of opportunity, while electoral results show a marked shift to populist parties that offer radical solutions to voters dissatisfied with the status quo. There is no single solution to relieve these tensions, and attempts to address them will vary considerably across the region. However, this publication proposes three broad policy principles: (1) promote labor market flexibility while maintaining protection for all types of labor contracts; (2) seek universality in the provision of social assistance, social insurance, and basic quality services; and (3) expand the tax base by complementing progressive labor-income taxation with taxation of capital. These principles could guide the rethinking of the social contract and fulfil European citizens’ aspirations for growth and equity.

Download or read book Critical Connections written by David Michael Gould and published by World Bank Publications. This book was released on 2018-09-25 with total page 501 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Critical Connections examines how trade, investment, migration, and other linkages among countries drive economic growth in the Europe and Central Asia region. The study breaks new ground by using a multidimensional approach that recognizes how each connectivity channel for growth is likely to be affected by the strength of other channels. This multidimensional view makes it easier to see that diversity in country connections and balance in all channels of connectivity are critical for achieving the greatest impact on growth. Europe and Central Asia provides a great laboratory for observing the role of multidimensional connectivity in action. The region’s 30 countries vary widely in the openness of their economies. Its collective experience shows how the various elements of cross-border connectivity work together to accelerate progrowth knowledge transfers, which in turn boost productivity through participation in today’s global value chains. A country’s economic partner might be just as important as the type of connection. Being well connected to highly connected countries can provide benefits beyond being well connected to comparatively isolated countries. Although greater connectivity can expose countries to external shocks, the report presents fact-based argument for policies that seek to build deeper and more diverse connections within the Europe and Central Asia region and globally. The message is timely. Europe’s once-confident march toward economic integration has slowed over the past decade, with voices in many countries questioning the wisdom of opening to the global economy. Critical Connections serves as a reminder to citizens and policy makers that greater regional and global connectivity has been a tremendous “convergence machine,†? raising living standards of lower-income countries toward those of wealthier middle- to high-income countries.

Download or read book Back to Work written by Omar Arias and published by World Bank Publications. This book was released on 2014-01-15 with total page 443 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: What can be done to create more and better jobs in Europe and Central Asia? And should there be specific policies to help workers access those jobs? The authors of this book examine these questions through the lens of two contextual factors: the legacy of centralized planned economies and the mounting demographic pressures associated with rapid aging in some countries and soaring numbers of youth entering the workforce in others. The authors find the following: Market reforms pay off, albeit with a lag, in terms of jobs and productivity. A small fraction of superstar high-growth firms accounts for most of the new jobs created in the region. Skills gaps hinder employment prospects, especially of youth and older workers, because of the inadequate response by the education and training systems to changes in the demand for skills. Employment is hindered by high implicit taxes on formal work and barriers that affect especially women, minorities, youth, and older workers. Low internal labor mobility prevents labor relocation to places with greater job creation potential. Back to Work: Growing with Jobs in Europe and Central Asia asserts that to get more people back to work and to grow with jobs, countries, especially late reformers, need to regain the momentum for economic and institutional reforms that existed before the economic crisis. They should lay the fundamentals to create jobs for all workers, by pushing reforms to create the enabling environment for existing firms to grow, become more productive, or exit the market and let new firms emerge and succeed (or fail fast and cheap). They should also implement policies to support workers so that those workers are prepared to take on the new jobs being created, by having the right skills and incentives, unhindered access to work, and being ready to relocate.

Download or read book Global Economic Prospects January 2019 written by World Bank Group and published by World Bank Publications. This book was released on 2019-02-12 with total page 470 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The outlook for the global economy has darkened. Global financing conditions have tightened, industrial production has moderated, trade tensions have intensified, and some large emerging market and developing economies have experienced significant financial market stress. Faced with these headwinds, the recovery in emerging market and developing economies has lost momentum. Downside risks have become more acute and include the possibility of disorderly financial market movements and an escalation of trade disputes. Debt vulnerabilities in emerging market and developing economies, particularly low-income countries, have increased. More frequent severe weather events would raise the possibility of large swings in international food prices, which could deepen poverty. In this difficult environment, it is of paramount importance for emerging market and developing economies to rebuild policy buffers while laying a stronger foundation for future growth by boosting human capital, promoting trade integration, and addressing the challenges associated with informality,

Download or read book Skilling Up Vietnam written by Christian Bodewig and published by World Bank Publications. This book was released on 2014-07-02 with total page 193 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The demand for workforce skills is changing in Vietnam’s dynamic economy. In addition to job-specific skills, Vietnamese employers value cognitive skills, like problem solving, and behavioral skills, like team work. This book presents an agenda of change for Vietnam’s education system to prepare workers to succeed in Vietnam’s modernizing economy.

Download or read book Looking Beyond the Horizon written by William R. Sutton and published by World Bank Publications. This book was released on 2013-04-04 with total page 201 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The risks and opportunities of climate change for agriculture can be effectively dealt only by aligning policies, developing institutional capabilities, and investing in infrastructure and farms, as per the experiences of Albania, FYR Macedonia, Moldova, and Uzbekistan.

Download or read book Reaping Digital Dividends written by Tim Kelly and published by World Bank Publications. This book was released on 2017-04-14 with total page 386 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: From East to West, the economies of Europe and Central Asia (ECA) are not taking full advantage of the internet to foster economic growth and job creation. The residents of Central Asia and the South Caucasus pay some of the highest prices in the world for internet connections that are slow and unreliable. In contrast, Europe enjoys some of the world’s fastest and affordable internet services. However, its firms and individuals are not fully exploiting the internet to achieve higher productivity growth as well as more and better jobs. Reaping Digital Dividends investigates the barriers that are holding back the broader adoption of the internet in ECA. The report identifies the main bottlenecks and provides policy recommendations tailored to economies at varying levels of digital development. It concludes that policies to increase internet access are necessary but not sufficient. Policies to foster competition, international trade and skills supply, as well as adapting regulations to the changing business environment and labor markets, will also be necessary. In other words, Reaping Digital Dividends not only requires better connectivity, but also complementary factors that allow governments, firms and individuals to make the most out of it.

Download or read book Skills Not Just Diplomas written by Lars Sondergaard and published by World Bank Publications. This book was released on 2012 with total page 273 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Future growth in the countries in Eastern Europe and Central Asia (ECA) will increasingly depend on innovation. And innovation requires skills. This makes it important, as countries plan for recovery, to undertake reforms to reduce the skills shortages that the previous growth episode exposed. Education systems have a very important role to play in creating the right skills. But education systems in the region fall short of the demands of their economies in two major ways. The first is that despite high levels of enrollment they do not produce enough graduates with the right skills. Students graduate with diplomas, not with skills, because the quality of the education for many students is poor. In large part this is because education systems remain focused on providing an excellent education to a few at the expense of improving the quality of learning for the majority. Moreover, the systems are still making the transition from teaching the basics to inculcating higher order skills such as critical-thinking and problem solving. The second way in which education systems fall short is that outside of a few countries in the EU there are few opportunities for adults to retrain, or acquire new skills. This book argues that generating more of the right skills requires a fundamental change of approach in the education systems in the region so that they aim for, and deliver, higher quality education for the vast majority of students (“not just diplomas but skills”). To start with, education systems need to “turn the lights on” and take seriously the measurement of what students actually learn as opposed to measurement of the inputs into the education process on the implicit assumption that learning follows. Policy makers also need to move away from the focus on inputs and processes and increase the emphasis on incentives.

Download or read book The Long Shadow of Informality written by Franziska Ohnsorge and published by World Bank Publications. This book was released on 2022-02-09 with total page 397 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A large percentage of workers and firms operate in the informal economy, outside the line of sight of governments in emerging market and developing economies. This may hold back the recovery in these economies from the deep recessions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic--unless governments adopt a broad set of policies to address the challenges of widespread informality. This study is the first comprehensive analysis of the extent of informality and its implications for a durable economic recovery and for long-term development. It finds that pervasive informality is associated with significantly weaker economic outcomes--including lower government resources to combat recessions, lower per capita incomes, greater poverty, less financial development, and weaker investment and productivity.

Download or read book Global Economic Prospects June 2021 written by World Bank and published by World Bank Publications. This book was released on 2021-08-03 with total page 339 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The world economy is experiencing a very strong but uneven recovery, with many emerging market and developing economies facing obstacles to vaccination. The global outlook remains uncertain, with major risks around the path of the pandemic and the possibility of financial stress amid large debt loads. Policy makers face a difficult balancing act as they seek to nurture the recovery while safeguarding price stability and fiscal sustainability. A comprehensive set of policies will be required to promote a strong recovery that mitigates inequality and enhances environmental sustainability, ultimately putting economies on a path of green, resilient, and inclusive development. Prominent among the necessary policies are efforts to lower trade costs so that trade can once again become a robust engine of growth. This year marks the 30th anniversary of the Global Economic Prospects. The Global Economic Prospects is a World Bank Group Flagship Report that examines global economic developments and prospects, with a special focus on emerging market and developing economies, on a semiannual basis (in January and June). Each edition includes analytical pieces on topical policy challenges faced by these economies.

Download or read book Enhancing Job Opportunities written by and published by World Bank Publications. This book was released on 2005-01-01 with total page 294 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Annotation This title looks at ways governments can promote the creation of more and better jobs in the region. It addresses the question of why labour market outcomes have been disappointing during the transition, and suggests policy interventions to promote firms' investment, job creation and economic development.

Download or read book Youth in Africa s Labor Market written by Marito H. Garcia and published by World Bank Publications. This book was released on 2008-04-01 with total page 330 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The authors examine the challenges facing Africa's youth in their transition from school to working life, and propose a policy framework for meeting these challenges. Topics covered include the effect of education on employment and income, broadening employment opportunities, and enhancing youth capabilities. The book includes a CD-ROM of case studies of four countries and household data on 13 countries.

Download or read book Global Productivity written by Alistair Dieppe and published by World Bank Publications. This book was released on 2021-06-09 with total page 552 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The COVID-19 pandemic struck the global economy after a decade that featured a broad-based slowdown in productivity growth. Global Productivity: Trends, Drivers, and Policies presents the first comprehensive analysis of the evolution and drivers of productivity growth, examines the effects of COVID-19 on productivity, and discusses a wide range of policies needed to rekindle productivity growth. The book also provides a far-reaching data set of multiple measures of productivity for up to 164 advanced economies and emerging market and developing economies, and it introduces a new sectoral database of productivity. The World Bank has created an extraordinary book on productivity, covering a large group of countries and using a wide variety of data sources. There is an emphasis on emerging and developing economies, whereas the prior literature has concentrated on developed economies. The book seeks to understand growth patterns and quantify the role of (among other things) the reallocation of factors, technological change, and the impact of natural disasters, including the COVID-19 pandemic. This book is must-reading for specialists in emerging economies but also provides deep insights for anyone interested in economic growth and productivity. Martin Neil Baily Senior Fellow, The Brookings Institution Former Chair, U.S. President’s Council of Economic Advisers This is an important book at a critical time. As the book notes, global productivity growth had already been slowing prior to the COVID-19 pandemic and collapses with the pandemic. If we want an effective recovery, we have to understand what was driving these long-run trends. The book presents a novel global approach to examining the levels, growth rates, and drivers of productivity growth. For anyone wanting to understand or influence productivity growth, this is an essential read. Nicholas Bloom William D. Eberle Professor of Economics, Stanford University The COVID-19 pandemic hit a global economy that was already struggling with an adverse pre-existing condition—slow productivity growth. This extraordinarily valuable and timely book brings considerable new evidence that shows the broad-based, long-standing nature of the slowdown. It is comprehensive, with an exceptional focus on emerging market and developing economies. Importantly, it shows how severe disasters (of which COVID-19 is just the latest) typically harm productivity. There are no silver bullets, but the book suggests sensible strategies to improve growth prospects. John Fernald Schroders Chaired Professor of European Competitiveness and Reform and Professor of Economics, INSEAD