Six years into the transition from planned to market economies in Central and Eastern Europe, high unemployment rates, including a growing proportion of the long-term unemployed, represent a serious challenge to social welfare systems and policymakers. This paper analyzes labor market...

Cities and towns are increasingly becoming the primary locus of poverty in many countries. Rural-urban migration and low urban mortality rates have contributed to the rapid population growth of cities in many parts of the world. With such rapid growth comes an increasing concentration of poverty...

This paper is the first joint country study conducted by the United Nations and the World Bank aimed at translating into practice the principles of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) Resolution 2250, through direct and local engagement with young people and their communities in one of...

Bhutan maintained solid growth and macroeconomic stability during 2016/17. The national poverty headcount rate fell from 12 percent in 2012 to 8 percent in 2017. However, the job challenges remained unaddressed. the youth unemployment rate increased from 10.7 percent in 2015 to 13.2 percent in...

The analysis presented in this study points to persistent and high numbers in Georgia and Armenia of youth who are jobless and/or economically inactive and with limited access to learning and/or training opportunities, and these figures are among the highest in the ECA region. As many as 31...

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...

Countries the world over have launched ambitious privatization programs to improve the efficiency of state enterprises, free up resources for social services, and mobilize capital for expansion and modernization. A universal concern in this process is the effect privatization has on labor. Many...

La forte croissance demographique, les compressions budgetaires et l'exode rural ont entraine une augmentation de la demande d'emplois en Afrique de l'Ouest. Cette demande ne peut pas etre satisfaite par les entreprises du secteur structure, et le secteur informel a absorbe une part considerable...

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...

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...