This paper presents empirical evidence on the determinants of industry-level multifactor productivity growth. It focus on traditional factors, including the process of technological catch up, human capital and R&D as well as institutional factors affecting labor adjustment costs. The link...

Institutions matter in the design, and implementation of social programs in general, and for social safety net programs in particular. This paper argues that what matters most for the success of programs, are the incentives that are provided to stakeholders, and actors through institutions., The...

The paper outlines a forward-looking role of social protection against the background of increasing concerns about risk, and vulnerability, exemplified by the recent East Asian crisis, the concerns of the World Development Report (WDR) 2000, the need for a better understanding of poverty...

This paper examines one type of program that is used by many OECD and CEEC countries (Central and Eastern European countries) to ease the pain of structural adjustment and create jobs, namely Public Service Employment (PSE). Such programs are characterized by the employment of unemployed...

The Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper (PRSP) approach offers an opportunity for civil society organizations, to join governments in the development, and implementation of poverty reduction strategies. Trade unions have been encouraged to participate. This report notes that most unions have been...

This paper argues that it is important to take into account unfunded public pension liabilities as part of an assessment of the overall fiscal situation, including the fiscal positions of pension schemes pre and post reforms. It examines the concept of the implicit pension debt (IPD) and...

The purpose of this paper is to review what has been learnt from the growing volume of applied research on child labor and to indicate directions for future research. We start by looking at research by the World Bank, which has played a fairly pioneering role in this area in data collection and,...

This paper is aimed at identifying the sources of income insecurity and vulnerability among workers in the informal sector in developing countries and examines alternative approaches to social protection for the informal sector. This is followed by a discussion on the challenges of developing a...

The authors present a non-altruistic model of demand for children, in the presence of uncertainty about children's survival. Children are seen as assets, as they provide help during old age. If certain conditions are met, both the financial market, and the family network are used to transfer...

Using household level panel data from Nicaragua, this paper explores the impact of the recent coffee crisis on rural households engaged in coffee production, and coffee labor work. Taking advantage of the panel structure of the data, a number of findings emerge: a) while overall growth between...