Youth employment challenges are always a critical concern for policymakers. There is recurring and mounting evidence that labour market challenges, such as unemployment, informality, lack of social protection and inactivity, disproportionately affect youths. This complex decision-making process...

In recent years, China's labour market has seen a significant rise of the new forms of employment, which differs in scale, type, and function compared to the developed economies. This study focuses on four emerging forms of the new employment patterns in China, including app-based gig work,...

Concerns about widening inequality have increased attention on the topic of equality of opportunities and intergenerational mobility. We use data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth to analyse how educational and income mobility has evolved in the United States of America. We show...

This working paper studies the complex relationship between technology adoption and infor­mality, leveraging recent cross-country data to analyse the effects of mobile phone subscrip­tions, internet access, automation and e-government on informal employment, vulnerable em­ployment, and the...

Disability benefits are costly and tend to reduce labor supply. While costs can be reduced by careful targeting, correcting past eligibility rules or assessment procedures may entail welfare costs. We study a major reform in Hungary that reassessed the health and working capacity of a large...

This note discusses how human capital is a job connector and driver of entrepreneurship. It first presents ideas on how to unlock the barriers to accessing productive employment, with particular attention to the challenges facing women and youth. It then discusses human capital as a job creator,...

Digitization has spurred interest in the potential of statistical profiling to improve the targeting of active labor market policies. Despite growing adoption, empirical evidence on the effectiveness of such profiling in program allocation is scarce. We evaluate a semi-automated statistical...

As the amended ECDC Founding Regulation and the Regulation on serious cross-border threats to health (SCBTH Regulation) came into force in December 2022, the ECDC long-term Strategy 2021-2027 has been adapted to incorporate new and extended tasks of the Centre's strengthened mandate. 2025 will...

This report contains a case study for the Study supporting the Impact assessment of the future European Social Fund proposal. Achieving structural change: conditions for success in the areas of ESF intervention. The reform under assessment examines the development of active labour market...

The Joint Employment Report (JER) by the European Commission and the Council monitors the employment situation in the Union and the implementation of the Employment Guidelines, in line with Article 148 of the TFEU. The report provides an annual overview of key employment and social developments...

This report contains a case study for the Study supporting the Impact assessment of the future European Social Fund proposal. Achieving structural change: conditions for success in the areas of ESF intervention. The reform under assessment examines the policies for improving employability of...

This report contains a case study for the Study supporting the Impact assessment of the future European Social Fund proposal. Achieving structural change: conditions for success in the areas of ESF intervention. The reform under evaluation in the current case study focuses on ensuring the...

This report presents a case study for the Study supporting the Impact assessment of the future European Social Fund proposal. Achieving structural change: conditions for success in the areas of ESF intervention. The reform under assessment focuses on tackling youth unemployment in Italy in the...

While agriculture remains a key source of livelihoods in rural Africa, employment in other economic sectors is gaining in importance. However, details of the labor conditions are under-researched. Here, we examine labor conditions in different sectors of the rural economy using survey data from...

This paper explores a development strategy for peripheral economies by advocating for a paradigm shift from traditional economic models that rely on accumulating foreign reserves. It proposes the job guarantee (JG) policy, an automatic stabilizer based on a reserve pool of employed individuals,...

There are considerable differences in minimum wage growth between EU member states with national minimum wages. Potential sources for these differences are discrepancies in economic fundamentals and institutional differences in how minimum wages are adjusted. Using a novel dataset based on...

Short-time work (STW) has been widely used, both during the Great Recession and the COVID crisis, to preserve jobs. In most European countries, the implementation of STW schemes is often the result of bargaining between trade unions and employers, yet very little is known about the role of...

This paper exploits that the Covid-19 pandemic came as an unexpected shock that temporarily reduced the ratio of vacancies to seekers. We use this unique setting to understand the importance of job opportunities for the impact of unemployment on workers’ careers. Compared to individuals who...

The World Bank has been working closely with the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Development (MHRSD) in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) to develop a system-level skills strategy. The MHRSD first started by establishing a Skills and Training Deputyship andallocated resources to start...

This paper proposes a dynamic regulatory framework that adapts to the evolving structural transformation of economies across sectoral, spatial, occupational, and organizational dimensions. It highlights how well-designed and appropriately enforced labor and product market regulations (LMRs and...

People with disabilities represent a significant portion of the global population, and their exclusion from employment and education perpetuates cycles of poverty and inequality, undermining economic development efforts. The analytical report on disability inclusive employment and education in...

Public works programmes (PWPs) are widely used social protection instruments in low- and middle-income countries. Participants carry out temporary, labour-intensive works in exchange for cash or in-kind compensation. The available empirical evidence indicates that these programmes are usually...

The Venezuelan migration crisis has led to large-scale displacement, with over 2.5 million Venezuelans seeking refuge in Colombia. This study assesses the impact of the PEP on labor market outcomes for Venezuelan migrants. Using data from the EPM survey and a difference-in-differences...

Using a unique combination of Austrian administrative data, we show that start-ups' search and hiring decisions matter for their business success. Firms that report vacancies to the Public Employment Service in the early stage of their existence stay longer in the market and grow stronger....

In 2005, displaced workers in Finland with at least three years of work history were given the option to enroll in a Re-employment Program. Participants met with a caseworker at the beginning of their unemployment and drafted an employment plan. In return, they became eligible for higher...

This paper explores post-pandemic developments and analyses post-COVID matching dynamics in the Nordic labour markets. It also discusses the role of institutions and the policies implemented to address labour market mismatch in the region. The COVID-19 pandemic brought about a recession, with a...

We partner with a Public Employment Service to examine whether jobseekers can be encouraged to reskill for shortage occupations. In a large-scale field experiment involving 100,000 recently unemployed individuals, we provide information on shortage occupations and related training opportunities....

Inequality is a dynamic phenomenon, and the relative and absolute positions of individuals are subject to frequent shocks. It is important to know if preventive interventions mitigate adverse inequality effects of labor market shocks. We consider individuals up to three months before the...

This paper evaluates a hiring subsidy for lower-educated youths in Flanders (Belgium) that reduced labour costs by approximately 13% for a period of two years, starting in 2016. Using a donut Regression Discontinuity Design, we find no evidence that the subsidy improved the job finding rate of...

Searching for jobs is challenging, and online platforms now often offer tailored job recommendations. In a randomized controlled trial with over 1,250 participants, we evaluate recommendations based on prior experience and based on skill profiles assessed at study enrolment, respectively. We...