During the Covid-19 crisis, most OECD countries used short-time work (subsidized reductions in working hours) to preserve employment. This paper documents that short-time work affects the behavior of firms (supply) and households (demand). First, using household survey data from Germany, we show...

Accurate poverty measurement relies on household consumption data, but such data are often inadequate, outdated or display inconsistencies over time in poorer countries. To address these data challenges, we employ survey-to-survey imputation to produce estimates for several poverty indicators...

In this paper, we examine reforms that alleviate large employment disincentives induced by child-related transfers for married mothers. We develop a life-cycle model where married couples face labor market, child care and fertility risk, and make joint labor supply and consumption-saving...

Individuals' socio-emotional skills (SES), and their perceptions of their skill levels, matter for labor market outcomes and other welfare outcomes. Men appear to have higher levels of SES than women, but this gender gap is typically documented in self-reported measures. Few studies use measures...

While the concept of social sustainability is growing in salience, there is little consensus on how to measure it. This lack of an accepted measure makes it harder to monitor progress toward sustainable development goals, honor political commitments to leave no one behind, and design effective...

In some developing countries, women's labor force participation remains persistently low. This gives rise to questions regarding what types of employment opportunities or interventions can draw women into work in such contexts. In this study in urban Djibouti, with restrictive gender norms and...

Casual observation suggests that intra-national trade costs remain high in low- and middle-income countries. Precisely estimating them is crucial for guiding policies aimed at optimizing economic efficiency within a country's borders. This paper estimates intra-national trade costs for six low-...

Consumption data from household surveys continue to be the main source for poverty and inequality statistics in low- and middle-income countries. Although recent research has demonstrated that the choice of diary- versus recall-based methods for consumption data collection can directly impact...

Poverty maps are a useful tool for the targeting of social programs on areas with high concentrations of poverty. However, a static focus on poverty ignores the temporal dimension of poverty. Thus, current nonpoor households still face substantial welfare volatility and are at risk of becoming...

This study explores the factors shaping the aspirations of youths in Ethiopia, Malawi, and Nigeria, specifically focusing on their academic goals; science, technology, engineering, or mathematics career interests; and migration intentions. The study draws on a robust dataset comprising 2,725...