The paper analyzes the link between firm characteristics and labor market regulation in five Asian economies — Bangladesh, Indonesia, Pakistan, the Philippines, and Viet Nam. Labor market policies and labor standards do not only affects workers, but also influence firms' investment and...

Social networks have a profound impact on individual labor market outcomes. This paper establishes a theoretical framework where firms, workers, and applicants are linked through a social network of friendships and family links, which can be used by firms to reduce information asymmetries and...

The April 2022 update to the newly launched Poverty and Inequality Platform (PIP) involves several changes to the data underlying the global poverty estimates. Some welfare aggregates have been changed for improved harmonization, and the CPI, national accounts, and population input data have...

The overall objective of this study is to assess the impact of the fiscal system on poverty and inequality in The Gambia as of 2015. The study presents the first empirical evidence on the distributional impacts of taxes and social spending on households in The Gambia. Furthermore, it also...

Pakistan's urban areas face a looming housing crisis: forty-seven percent of households live in over-crowded housing units in informal settlements (katchi abadis) with inadequate infrastructure and services. In response to the growing housing shortage, the Government of Pakistan launched the...