Global peace has significantly declined over the past 15 years, with the 2023 Global Peace Index highlighting a notable erosion of peace since 2008, affecting 95 out of 163 countries. The impacts of conflict disproportionately affect the poorest and most vulnerable groups, threatening to roll...

Internet surveys may never replace in-person surveys as a gold standard, but they remain important tools for rapid, remote, and low-cost data collection. The West Bank and Gaza Poverty and Equity team had a unique opportunity to compare a Facebook survey with an in-person survey covering...

The changing nature of work, accelerated by the experience of the COVID-19 pandemic, has resulted in several fundamental shifts in the terms and conditions of work. Along with the clear trend of increased nonstandard employment, including through the gig economy and platform work, this poses...

The rise of "gig" or digital platform work globally has led to both enthusiasm for its potential to create lucrative employment for large numbers of people, as well as concern about its implications for worker protection that is often provided in more standard employment. While gig work...

The pickup in economic activity in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region is expected to continue in 2018 and 2019. MENA's oil exporters and oil importers both are benefitting from improved global growth; increased trade with trading partners in Europe and Asia; more stabilized commodity...

This policy note aims to take stock of regional experiences in the area of targeting, both in the context of government systems and the World Bank's operational work, in South Asia. The main objectives are to review targeting systems and practices in the context of government programs; to...

This paper examines the relationship between violent conflict and the willingness of potential migrants to accept lower skilled work (occupational downgrading). The paper develops a theoretical model of migration decisions and tests it using an innovative survey module administered to...

This paper provides conceptual definitions and distinctions between formalization, worker protection and productivity enhancement, and examines the impact of social protection and labor market policies in achieving these inter-related yet distinct policy goals. Focusing on empirical evidence...

This report aims to narrow the knowledge gap on informal employment in Malaysia, with the ultimate objective of suggesting policy recommendations to strengthen the protection and productivity of informally employed workers. Using a working definition of informal employment based on coverage by a...

This paper conducts a correspondence study to assess demand for soft skills in the context of hiring discrimination in Malaysia. No evidence of gender-based discrimination is found, including in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics occupations. However, in line with previous studies...