NEW ON-LINE RESOURCE ON LABOR ECONOMICS GOES LIVE ON INTERNATIONAL WORKERS’ DAY
NEW ON-LINE RESOURCE ON LABOR ECONOMICS GOES LIVE ON INTERNATIONAL WORKERS’ DAY
Each year May 1st marks International Workers’ Day and in 2014 in Washington DC it also marks the launch of IZA World of Labor, a project to offer a free, online resource aimed at decision makers worldwide who need access to concise empirical evidence on issues related to labor economics.
IZA World of Labor is aimed at policy makers and those working in government, NGOs and international organizations, employer associations and unions, but also caters to a wider audience including journalists, economics students and the interested public. Each article published on the site adheres to a specially-designed template that includes a compact one-page summary, pros and cons that provide a rounded point of view, the author’s policy recommendation and a list of related articles. The site offers relevant and succinct information on labor economics topics as varied as labor mobility and flexibility, minimum wage, the role of organized labor, internationalization of labor markets, migration, youth unemployment, employment protection, productivity growth, diversity, gender balance, development, education and the environment.
An initiative of the Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA) in partnership with Bloomsbury Publishing, IZA World of Labor combines the accessibility and immediacy of the Internet with rigorous academic research to provide a resource to policy makers. “I am delighted that this unique project will make evidence-based scholarly information available to a global audience, which is central to IZA’s mission. The complex interdependencies of an increasingly globalized world require a new form of analysis and explanation which the portal will provide.” says Klaus F. Zimmermann, Professor of Economics at University of Bonn, Director of IZA, and Editor-in-Chief, IZA World of Labor.
Nigel Newton, Founder and Chief Executive of Bloomsbury Publishing, says that “Bloomsbury is excited to be the publishing partner for IZA World of Labor. This knowledge hub provides a free flowing channel between a wealth of rigorous academic research on the one hand, and the increasing need for concise information on the other. It promises to become one of the great reference sources for policymakers in its field.”
IZA World of Labor will carry up to 250 articles in its first year, rising to a total of 500 by the end of 2016, authored by a global team of leading academics in the field of labor economics.
To visit the website from May 1st please go to www.wol.iza.org. The website presents evidence-based research for non-academic audiences. IZA World of Labor aims to become an indispensable tool for policy formulation and a global portal that allows easy public access to detailed information that sits behind policy decisions.
Note to Editors:
Established in 1998, the Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA, or in German, the Institut zur Zukunft der Arbeit / www.iza.org) is an independent economics research institute focused on the analysis of global labor markets. Based in Bonn, it operates an international network of 1,300 economists and researchers spanning more than 45 countries. Based on academic excellence and an ambitious publication strategy, IZA serves as a place of communication between academic science and political practice. The institute provides a wide array of publications and events, contributes its findings to public debates, and advises policy makers on labor market issues. Headed by Professor Klaus F. Zimmermann, IZA is a non-profit organization supported by the Deutsche Post Foundation.