Institutions, policies, and labor market outcomes

  • Worker displacement in transition economies and in China

    Knowing which workers are displaced in restructuring episodes helps governments devise the right equity- and efficiency-enhancing policies

    Hartmut Lehmann, May 2014
    Continuous enterprise restructuring is needed for the transition and emerging market economies to become and remain competitive. However, the beneficial effects of restructuring in the medium run are accompanied by large worker displacement. The costs of displacement can be large and long-lasting for some workers and for the economy. To devise the right policy interventions, governments need to fully understand which workers are displaced and what costs they bear.
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  • Formalization of jobs and firms in emerging market economies through registration reform

    Reforming registration might not be enough to persuade informal firms and workers to formalize—enforcement and other reforms may also be needed

    Melanie Khamis, May 2014
    Informal firms make up a major share of the economy in most developing countries. Expanding formalization could increase government tax revenues, boost firm profits and national income, and increase employee well-being by improving access to social security and health and workers’ benefits. Reforms to encourage firms to register include simplifying procedures, reducing the cost and time to register, and making more information available on registration procedures. Reforms might not result in higher registration and formalization. In some cases, better enforcement and wider development policies might be needed as well.
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  • Employment protection legislation in transition and emerging markets

    Although market failures mean employment protection is necessary, excessive protection can be counterproductive

    Alexander Muravyev, September 2014
    Employment protection legislation aims to shield employees against unfair dismissal and earning reductions at the time of job loss. Theory suggests that employment protection stabilizes employment over cyclical upturns and downturns without necessarily increasing general unemployment. However, recent evidence from transition and emerging economies shows that employment protection legislation tends to raise unemployment among disadvantaged groups, particularly youth, and may increase informal work. Employment protection policies thus require careful consideration of their unintended effects.
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  • Flat-rate tax systems and their effect on labor markets

    Despite their theoretical benefits, flat taxes have been tried only in a few formerly socialist countries

    Andreas Peichl, October 2014
    The potential economic outcomes resulting from a flat rate of income tax have been the subject of an ongoing academic and political debate. Many observers have suggested that the introduction of a flat tax would be beneficial for a country’s economy, having a positive influence on the labor market and the gross domestic product by enhancing incentives to work, save, invest, and take risks. A flat tax also significantly simplifies income taxation which increases tax compliance and reduces tax planning, avoidance, and evasion. However, despite flat taxes being on the political agenda in many countries, in practice their implementation has mostly been restricted to the transition economy countries of Eastern Europe. There is no one single flat tax system in place in these countries though; one rate does not fit all.
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  • Latent entrepreneurship in transition economies

    Some entrepreneurs and would-be entrepreneurs face financial and bureaucratic barriers to starting a business

    Hilal Atasoy, June 2015
    Because entrepreneurial activity can stimulate job creation and long-term economic growth, promoting entrepreneurship is an important goal. However, many financial, bureaucratic, and social barriers can short-circuit the process of actually starting a business, especially in transition economies that lack established institutional systems and markets. The main obstacles are underdeveloped financial markets, perceptions of administrative complexity, political and economic instability, and lack of trust in institutions. Gender disparities in the labor market are also reflected in less entrepreneurial activity among women than men.
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  • Pensions, informality, and the emerging middle class

    Getting the incentives right for firms and workers should be the priority in the labor formalization agenda

    Angel Melguizo, July 2015
    A large share of the population in emerging market economies has no pension coverage, exposing them to the economic risks arising from socio-economic and individual shocks. This problem, which arises from having large informal (unregulated) sectors, affects not only poor workers, but as many as half the newly or nearly middle class in some emerging market economies. With very little social protection coverage today, these workers will also be vulnerable in the future unless tax, labor, and social policies change to encourage formalization. While formalization would require substantial resources in the short-term, it seems financially sustainable.
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