"This paper investigates how enforcement of labor regulation affects the firm's use of informal employment and its impact on firm performance. Using firm level data on informal employment and firm performance, and administrative data on enforcement of regulation at the city level, the authors...

"Pierre and Scarpetta present evidence on how employers perceive labor regulations and react when these are perceived to constrain the operation of their firm. They draw from harmonized surveys of (up to) 17,000 firms around the world and compare employers' responses with actual labor...

The objective of this technical report and the accompanying skills profiles report is twofold. First, the technical report explains the methodology used to transform job postings text into OV data and in turn, illustrates how to use those data to produce labor market intelligence valuable to...

The past two decades have witnessed a fundamental transformation in the structure of government across East Asia. Prior to 1990 most East Asian countries were highly centralized; today, decentralization is ubiquitous throughout the region. From China to Thailand, sub-national governments are now...

This report, which is a product of the World Bank's Recurso program - reviews Peru's recent advances in health sector policy and performance and discusses upcoming challenges. Using the 'accountability triangle' approach developed in the 2004 World Development Report (WDR 2004), it focuses on...

With its economy disrupted by the global economic crisis, the Serbian government faces tight budget constraints for several years to come. The Government has already responded by freezing wages and pension benefits and making cuts in capital works and other discretionary spending. These...