Morocco has steered significant resources towards large investments in economic sectors identified as strategic to growth, and for increased productivity and value addition. Despite Morocco's strikingly high investment rate, one of the highest in the world at an average of thirty-four percent of...

While the Philippines has achieved remarkable progress in raising the education level of its labor force, the standard proxy for educational attainment, years of formal schooling, is increasingly inadequate as a measure of workforce skills. About one-third of employer's report being unable to...

Indonesia has been an independent nation for only 70 years, yet it has already reached middle-income status and aims to reach high-income status by 2045. While high levels of economic growth have facilitated impressive development, key gaps have emerged in human capital. To address these gaps,...

This note analyzes whether and how the country's rising urbanization levels (measured primarily by population density) are associated with nonfarm job creation and poverty reduction. By focusing on Rwanda's 416 geographic sectors for the decade from 2002 and 2012, the analysis shows that,...

The main objective of this policy note is to assess key social protection and labor (SPL) policies, program expenditures and institutional arrangements in Cote d'Ivoire. The note aims to identify policy options for improving allocative and technical efficiency for key programs, including how to...

Demand-driven training (DDT) and results-based contracting (RBC) are two mechanisms used to enhance the effectiveness and impact of skill training programs. DDT links skills development explicitly with the job market, typically through employer engagement. Private sector employers define what...

Situated in a fertile low-lying river delta, Bangladesh combines high vulnerability to floods, tropical cyclones, earthquakes, and climate change with one of the world's highest population densities, with around 159 million people living in less than 150,000 sq. km. With the world's second...

The labor market of the Turkish Cypriot community (TCc) is characterized by low participation and low employment rates, especially among youth. A series of World Bank reports on the Turkish Cypriot (TC) labor market and higher education sector between 2016 and 2019 found a mismatch between the...

Tunisia is expected to enter a recession in 2020 as a result of the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, the slowdown in production due to no demand, and decline in tourism. Gross domestic product (GDP) growth averaged only 1.8 percent per year in 2011-2018 compared to 4 percent in 2001-2005 and...

This report provides an assessment of constraints and opportunities for the creation of more and better quality jobs for Lebanese in the more fragile and conflict-affected regions. The geographical focus is North Lebanon, including Tripoli. This analysis, accompanied by further dialogue with the...