Evidence-based policy making

IZA World of Labor is an online platform that provides policy analysts, journalists, academics and society generally with relevant and concise information on labor market issues. Based on the latest research, it provides current thinking on labor markets worldwide in a clear and accessible style. IZA World of Labor aims to support evidence-based policy making and increase awareness of labor market issues, including current concerns like the impact of Covid-19, and longer-term problems like inequality.

 

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Smart policy toward high-skill emigrants
Many proposed policies on skilled migration do little to improve skill stocks or development outcomes, but promising options exist

Immigration officials in rich countries are being asked to become overseas development officials, charged with preventing skilled workers from leaving poor countries, where their skills are needed. Some advocates urge restrictions or taxes on the emigration of doctors and engineers from developing countries. Others urge incentives to encourage skilled workers to remain or return home or policies to facilitate their interactions with home countries. Regulations often reflect compassionate and political sentiments without clear evidence that the regulations achieve the desired development goals and avoid pernicious side effects.

  • The effects of minimum wages on youth employment, unemployment, and income Updated

    Minimum wages reduce entry-level jobs, training, and lifetime income

    Charlene Marie Kalenkoski , December 2024
    Policymakers often propose a minimum wage as a means of  raising incomes and lifting workers out of poverty. However, improvements in some young workers’ incomes due to a minimum wage come at a cost to others. Minimum wages reduce employment opportunities for youths and create unemployment. Workers miss out on on-the-job training opportunities that would have been paid for by reduced wages upfront but would have resulted in higher wages later. Youths who cannot find jobs must be supported by their families or by the social welfare system. Delayed entry into the labor market reduces the lifetime income stream of young unskilled workers.
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  • Promoting internal whistleblowing in organizations

    Internal whistleblowing results in reduced fraud, a better brand image, and a higher overall performance

    Internal whistleblowing refers to the decision of an employee observing a misconduct in a firm to report it through an internal channel, i.e. via a hotline or directly to an identified ombudsman. Whistleblowing is highly beneficial to firms in various ways. However, employees may be reluctant to blow the whistle, both for moral reasons and due to a fear of retaliation. Consequently, a firm aiming at encouraging whistleblowing in order to save judicial or reputation costs, fines, and to spare its reputation should consider a wide range of possible measures in addition to developing a global ethical culture.
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  • Fertility decisions and alternative types of childcare Updated

    Relative costs and family characteristics determine the effectiveness of different forms of childcare

    Increasing population age and low fertility rates, which characterize most modern societies, compromise the balance between people who can participate in the labor market and people who need care. This is a demographic and social issue that is likely to grow in importance for future generations. It is therefore crucial to understand what factors can positively influence fertility decisions. Policies related to the availability and costs of different kinds of childcare (e.g. formal care, grandparents, childminders) should be considered after an evaluation of their effects on the probability of women having children.
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  • The shadow economy in industrial countries Updated

    Reducing the size of the shadow economy requires reducing its attractiveness while improving official institutions

    Dominik H. Enste , October 2024
    The shadow (underground) economy has a major impact on society and economy in many countries. People evade taxes and regulations by working in the shadow economy or by employing people illegally. On the one hand, this unregulated economic activity can result in reduced tax revenue and fewer public goods and services, lower tax morale and less tax compliance, higher control costs, and lower economic growth rates. But on the other hand, the shadow economy can be a powerful force fostering institutional change and boosting the overall production of goods and services in an economy. The shadow economy has implications on the political order and institutional change.
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  • Entrepreneurs and their impact on jobs and economic growth Updated

    Productive entrepreneurs can invigorate the economy by creating jobs and new technologies, and increasing productivity

    Alexander S. Kritikos , October 2024

    Entrepreneurs, creators of new firms, are a rare species. Even in innovation-driven economies, only 1–2% of the work force starts a business in any given year. Yet entrepreneurs, particularly innovative entrepreneurs, are vital to the competitiveness of the economy and may establish new jobs. The gains of entrepreneurship are only realized, however, if the business environment is receptive to innovation. In addition, policymakers need to prepare for the potential job losses that can occur in the medium term through “creative destruction” as entrepreneurs strive for increased productivity.

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  • Using instrumental variables to establish causality Updated

    Even with observational data, causality can be recovered with the help of instrumental variables estimation

    Randomized control trials are often considered the gold standard to establish causality. However, in many policy-relevant situations, these trials are not possible. Instrumental variables affect the outcome only via a specific treatment; as such, they allow for the estimation of a causal effect. However, finding valid instruments is difficult. Moreover, instrumental variables (IV) estimates recover a causal effect only for a specific part of the population. While those limitations are important, the objective of establishing causality remains; and instrumental variables are an important econometric tool to achieve this objective.
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  • Estimating the return to schooling using the Mincer equation Updated

    The Mincer equation gives comparable estimates of the average monetary Returns of one additional year of education

    Harry Anthony Patrinos , August 2024
    The Mincer equation—arguably the most widely used in empirical work—can be used to explain a host of economic, and even non-economic, phenomena. One such application involves explaining (and estimating) employment earnings as a function of schooling and labor market experience. The Mincer equation provides estimates of the average monetary returns of one additional year of education. This information is important for policymakers who must decide on education spending, prioritization of schooling levels, and education financing programs such as student loans.
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  • Does increasing the minimum wage reduce poverty in developing countries? Updated

    Whether raising minimum wages reduces—or increases—poverty depends on the characteristics of the labor market and Households

    T. H. Gindling , August 2024
    Raising the minimum wage in developing countries could increase or decrease poverty, depending on labor market characteristics. Minimum wages target formal sector workers—a minority in most developing countries—many of whom do not live in poor households. Whether raising minimum wages reduces poverty depends not only on whether formal sector workers lose jobs as a result, but also on whether low-wage workers live in poor households, how widely minimum wages are enforced, how minimum wages affect informal workers, and whether social safety nets are in place.
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