Using population-level administrative data, we study labor market externalities stemming from age-specific employment protection legislation (EPL) targeted towards older workers. Our results show no economically meaningful overall effects of the EPL on employment or earnings of either men or...

Social cohesion and a sustainable labour market remain the aims of sustainable development policy. However, income inequalities and labour market policies are more often separately analysed. To fill the identified research gap, our article presents the results of an analysis of interactions...

Many countries use job-retention schemes, such as short-time work (STW), to stabilize the labor market during economic downturns. While these schemes might prevent unemployment (UE) and its adverse effects on workers, STW could also deter workers from moving to more productive firms, thereby...

This paper evaluates EU Cohesion Policy interventions during 2014-2020 using regression discontinuity design (RDD), exploiting funding thresholds at 75 and 90 percent of EU average GDP per capita across 281 NUTS-2 regions. The analysis examines nominal and real GDP per capita growth, GDP per...

Can employer-side wage subsidies increase hiring women in low female labor force participation settings? This paper tests this using a randomized experiment with 1,227 Pakistani firms on a national jobs platform. Treatment firms were offered a six-month wage subsidy determined via the...

This paper studies how employment subsidies for start-ups shape their performance. We exploit an unexpected policy reform in Belgium that permanently exempted start-ups hiring their first employee from payroll taxes for that employee. Using firm-level administrative data and a...

This paper studies how employment subsidies for start-ups shape their performance. We exploit an unexpected policy reform in Belgium that permanently exempted start-ups hiring their first employee from payroll taxes for that employee. Using firm-level administrative data and a...

This paper studies the causal impact of language skills on human capital accumulation, labor market outcomes, and job characteristics of childhood immigrants across European countries. Using PIAAC data, we adopt an instrumental variable strategy based on the critical age hypothesis and...

One of the main arguments for implementing public works programmes (PWPs) instead of other social protection schemes such as cash transfers is that the assets created through these programmes themselves can generate medium- to long-term benefits. This is particularly important as the costs for...

Colombia has a complex legal framework meant to protect the population against basic risks through a combination of contributory and non-contributory social insurance. The population is almost perfectly split between them, with eligibility to participate in the latter determined by poverty....

Integration agreements (IA) outline the efforts the jobseeker should undertake to find employment and specify the services that the caseworker would provide to assist them in their job search. The agreements include a declaration of legal consequences, and punitive benefit sanctions could be...

This paper examines the welfare implications of job retention schemes, where governments subsidize employers to preserve jobs during downturns. Using EU microdata from 2003 to 2018, we show that such schemes are associated with lower job separation rates, especially among lower-productivity...

The demand and supply of new skills—especially in IT and AI—are reshaping labor markets, impacting wages and hiring. About one in ten job vacancies in advanced economies demands at least one new skill, often appearing first in the United States. The incidence is about half in emerging...

Long-term unemployment among older workers is particularly difficult to overcome. We study the impacts of a large-scale job guarantee program that offered up to two years of fully subsidized employment to long-term unemployed individuals aged 50 and above. Using a sharp age-based discontinuity...

We find a substantial and long-lasting positive effect of the introduction of regional minimum wages on training incidence and intensity. We apply a stacked difference-in-differences estimation to identify the dynamic effect of high minimum wages introduced in several Swiss cantons between 2018...

This study provides an assessment of Ukraine’s transport workforce and skills landscape during a period of profound change. As maritime and air routes remain suspended, road freight, road passenger, and urban public transport have become the backbone of domestic and international mobility, and...

This paper studies how employment subsidies for start-ups shape their performance. We exploit an unexpected policy reform in Belgium that permanently exempted start-ups hiring their first employee from payroll taxes for that employee. Using firm-level administrative data and a...

Evolving from post-independence emergency relief to a diverse range of programmes addressing poverty, food insecurity, and lifecycle vulnerabilities, Bangladesh has made significant progress in social protection provision over the years. This paper critically examines the evolution, coverage,...

The job guarantee (JG) has long been theorized as a cyclical stabilizer, a buffer stock of publicly employed workers that expands in downturns and contracts in booms. That framing was useful but is no longer sufficient. This paper reframes the JG as a permanent structural reform - a new labor...

The European Commission declared 2022 the "European Year of Youth." Apart from the obvious aim to enhance its visibility and political legitimacy, the Commission responded to the fact that COVID-19 badly affected especially young people, manifested in the rise of youth unemployment and of youth...

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...

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...

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....

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...

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 or based on skill profiles assessed at study enrolment. We find that, on...

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...

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....

Summer Youth Employment Programs are known to have significant impacts on youth outcomes based on lotteries from oversubscribed programs. But most cities cannot use a lottery design due to heterogeneity across youth and jobs. How can programs achieve efficiency and equity under alternative...

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...