"Regulation is purportedly enacted to serve specific social purposes. In reality, however, it follows a more complex political economy process, where legitimate social goals are mixed with the objectives of particular interest groups. Whatever its justification and objectives, regulation can...

"Despite sustained output growth since 1997, low-income Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) countries (CIS-7) have not experienced growth in employment, a phenomenon observed elsewhere in transitional economies and labeled as "jobless growth." The author addresses the causes of this...

Unemployment, especially youth unemployment, is a serious problem for the Republic of Congo. Despite the economic recovery and political stabilization in the last decade, insufficient employment has been created, leading to high unemployment rates, especially for the young population in urban...

Fourteen years of civil conflict (1989-2003) have destroyed Liberia's social and economic infrastructure and brought the economy nearly to a halt. Workers who came of age during the conflict are largely unskilled, and the supply of workers exceeds demand by a substantial margin. The negative...

Since 1999, Nigeria has made significant progress in economic reform. Sound macroeconomic policies, combined with structural reforms aimed at increasing the supply responsiveness of the economy, ushered in sustained high growth, driven by the non-oil economy. The goal of this book is to shed...

Poor people derive most of their income from work; however, there is insufficient understanding of the role of employment and earnings as a linkage between growth and poverty reduction, especially in low income countries. With the objective of providing inputs into the policy discussion on how...