This paper builds on the existing literature assessing retrospectively the quantitative effects of natural disasters on different dimensions of household welfare, to make progress toward the ex ante identification of households that are vulnerable to poverty due to natural disasters, especially...

Most evaluations of public works programs in developing countries study their effects on poverty reduction and other labor market outcomes (job creation, earnings, and participation). However, very few look at other collateral effects, such as the incidence of violence. Between 2009 and 2014, El...

Rising youth unemployment rates have been increasingly recognized as a serious challenge in developing and advanced economies, as the trend indicates a potential skills gap between the demands of the workforce and recent graduates. Effective dual education programs utilizing a combination of...

This paper estimates the long-term effects on human capital accumulation and subsequent labor market outcomes of in utero and early childhood exposure to the civil war in El Salvador (1980-92), the second longest and deadliest civil conflict in Central America. Identification is obtained from...

Around the globe, there is an unending cycle of producing innovative policies that are relevantand responsive to today's complex problems of disaster risk reduction and mitigation. A lot ofevidence is pointing to the shifting paradigm in responding to emergencies. Foremost amongthem is the...

This is the fourth benefit incidence analysis of the Philippines' conditional cash transfer program that uses standard measures to assess the implementation performance of the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program. The analysis shows that despite the program's rapid expansion since it was piloted...

In 2015, the World Bank embarked on a collaborative effort to understand and address the jobs challenge in Mindanao through the Mindanao Jobs Report (MJR). Good jobs - jobs that raise real income and lift people out of poverty - were needed for more than two million Mindanawons who were either...

The Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (Pantawid Pamilya) has rapidly expanded to become the largest social protection and human development program in the Philippines. Over the last decade, the evolution of the Pantawid Pamilya was not only about its size and coverage, but also related to the...

Central America has come a long way both in terms of economic and political stability. Increasingly the region is focusing on implementing productivity-enhancing reforms as well as supporting reductions in poverty and inequality. This report analyzes recent trends in public social spending in...

This paper examines the relationship between individuals' skills and labor market outcomes for the working-age population of Colombia's urban areas. Using a 2012 unique household survey, the paper finds that cognitive skills (aptitudes to perform mental tasks such as comprehension or reasoning)...