This publication examines job creation and the work of the IDB from two supporting policy perspectives: (i) policies and programs to improve the business climate and investment for private sector-driven growth; and, (ii) labor market policies and programs. For each of these two pillars, the...

In this paper, the authors examine levels and trends of labor market outcomes for women in the 1990's using household survey data for 18 Latin American countries covering several years per country. The outcomes analyzed include labor force participation rates, the distribution of employment of...

The main purpose of this paper is to measure the contributions of the changes in the labor market to the increase in inequality experienced by Mexico after the 1985 trade and financial liberalization. To do so, the paper uses data from Mexican household surveys (Encuesta Nacional de Ingreso...

The objective of this paper is to identify whether the prevailing Brazilian labor market regulations, largely the result of the 1988 constitutional change, have any impact on labor market performance. To reach this objective the authors explore alternative methodologies, sources of information...

There are few Latin American countries that produced such a remarkable turnaround in policies and outcomes as Argentina did in the 1990s. The large number of reforms yielded surprisingly strong growth and the near-disappearance of inflation. Perhaps the most striking change took place in the...

This paper considers the main institutional features of the Uruguayan labor market and its recent evolution, with a focus on unemployment. The main policies aimed at protecting workers against unemployment are analyzed. Using administrative data from social security records, the paper studies...

Stolper-Samuelson (SS) and Specific-Factors (SF) versions make opposite predictions about the correlation between prices and wages of certain types of workers (specific factors in industries) when they are not used intensively. The analysis in this paper provides evidence that may allow one to...

One of the major economic challenges facing the Caribbean is the generation of employment opportunities to reduce the high levels of unemployment experienced primarily among the young and female segments of the workforce. An analysis of unemployment requires an examination of both the supply and...

This paper exploits a rich collection of household surveys to investigate the wage differential between the public and private sectors in 17 Latin American countries during the 1980s and 1990s. The paper also studies how the sector of employment affects the gender wage gap. The paper finds very...

Unemployment pressures among nationals are emerging in the Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf (GCC). 2 At a time when a rapidly growing number of young nationals are entering the labor force and governments are no longer able to act as employers of first and last resort, the...