The informal sector represents an important part of the economy and the labor market in many countries, especially developing countries. Measurements of the informal sector are of intrinsic interest in their own right and contribute toward exhaustive measures of gross domestic product (GDP)....

We investigate the characteristics of manufacturing firms in India that generate better quality employment and the relationship between quality employment and firm performance using multiple measures of employment quality. Larger firms tend to generally provide better quality employment...

Using unique survey data from Georgia, Mongolia, and the Philippines, we examine gender gaps in entrepreneurship. The overall incidence of entrepreneurship is highest in Cavite, Philippines, while the gender gap in ownership is highest in Mongolia. On average, enterprises operated by men have...

The paper discusses key challenges faced throughout the Asia and the Pacific region as a number of its developing economies graduate from low-income status to middle-income status at the same time as the region remains home to the majority of the world's poor people and a number of fragile...

Since the implementation of the Millennium Development Goals, significant global progress has been achieved in promoting gender equality in education and health. However, progress has not been as remarkable in advancing women's rights on asset ownership and control, which is critical for...

We study the interaction between transit improvements and land use policies in the context of Bengaluru, one of India's largest cities. The city inaugurated a metro system in 2011. Yet it has low building heights even near metro stations, reflecting low floor-area ratio limits. We construct a...

We examine the role of trade liberalization in accounting for increasing wage inequality in the Philippines from 1994 to 2000 - a period over which trade protection declined and inequality increased dramatically. Using the approach of Ferreira, Leite, and Wai-Poi (2007), we find that...

Analysis of labor force survey data from 1994 to 2007 reveals that the structure of the Philippines labor force has been changing in several important ways. One is the movement from self-employment, the most predominant form of employment, to wage employment across a wide range of production...

"We use a recently constructed cross-country data set on absolute poverty to examine whether there is regional and sectoral variation in the relationship between poverty and economic growth. We find that the povertygrowth linkage is strongest in East Asia and that this linkage is essentially...

In this paper, we study the effects of institutions and policies on economic growth and poverty, paying close attention to institutions and policies that relate to the overall climate and regulations under which the private sector operates. We find that good governance, as measured by a strong...