Across the world, governments use minimum wages, employment protection legislation, and other labor regulations that define the legal boundaries of employment to manage potential labor market imperfections. These imperfections include information asymmetry, uneven market power between employers...

The global sanitation workforce bridges the gap between sanitation infrastructure and the provision of sanitation services. Sanitation workers provide an essential public service but often at the cost of their dignity, safety, health, and living conditions. They are some of the most vulnerable...

The Country Opinion Survey in Haiti assists the World Bank Group (WBG) in gaining a better understanding of how stakeholders in Haiti perceive the WBG. It provides the WBG with systematic feedback from national and local governments, multilateral/bilateral agencies, media, academia, the private...

Informal employment remains a salient and persistent feature of the Sri Lanka labor market, with around 70 percent of the work force informally employed. There are generally three reasons to be concerned about high informality: poverty, productivity and public finance. This report focuses on the...

The report identifies the need for reforms in five complementary areas to boost recovery, productivity, and economic transformation: 1) business regulatory environment; 2) foreign direct investment (FDI); 3) access to productive finance; 4) innovation and entrepreneurship; and 5) participation in...

Disability-inclusive development directly responds to the World Bank's twin goals of ending extreme poverty and promoting shared prosperity. Disability and poverty are inherently linked, with persons with disabilities having poorer health outcomes; lower education achievements; less economic...

Western Balkan countries face significant labor market challenges. Fostering job creation (more generally), increasing skills, and expanding access to formal jobs, especially for socially vulnerable groups, is of critical importance for the Western Balkans. The objectives of public employment...

The report identifies the need for reforms in five complementary areas to boost recovery, productivity, and economic transformation: 1) business regulatory environment; 2) foreign direct investment (FDI); 3) access to productive finance; 4) innovation and entrepreneurship; and 5) participation in...

The current downturn in commodity prices provides an opportunity for Indonesia to shift away from its dependence on commodity-driven growth towards higher value-added activities in manufacturing and services. However, Indonesia faces both global and structural challenges in making this...

The Iran Economic Monitor provides an update on key economic developments and policies over the past six months. It examines these economic developments and policies in a longer-term and global context, and assesses their implications for the outlook for the country. Its coverage has ranged from...