Informality And Inclusive Growth In The Middle East And North Africa

Author : Gladys Lopez-Acevedo
Publisher : World Bank Publications
ISBN 13 : 1464819890
Total Pages : 281 pages
Book Rating : 4.96/5 ( download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!

Download or read book Informality and Inclusive Growth in the Middle East and North Africa written by Gladys Lopez-Acevedo and published by World Bank Publications. This book was released on 2023-06-30 with total page 281 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The long-standing informality debate in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) Region has taken on a new urgency as it looks for a pathway to more socially inclusive growth that is less reliant on fossil fuels. This is occurring against a backdrop of subpar labor market outcomes, further growth setbacks, and deteriorating fiscal and current account deficits in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic--and in the wake of high inflation and supply chain disruptions triggered by the Russian Federation-Ukraine war. 'Informality and Inclusive Growth in the Middle East and North Africa' aims to better understand the characteristics and incentive structure that have led to the prevalence of informal employment in three MENA countries--the Arab Republic of Egypt, Morocco, and Tunisia. The report breaks new ground by adopting a comprehensive perspective to focus on the features of, and interrelationships among, different aspects of these countries' institutional landscapes to make sense of the complex incentive structure that workers and firms face when deciding between formal and informal options. Specifically, the report groups these issues in three broad realms: (1) entrepreneur-worker relations, (2) taxes and transfers, and (3) market conditions. 'This report is an extremely welcome addition to the literature on MENA labor markets. By analyzing the incentive structure and institutional factors that have led to the prevalence of informal employment in Egypt, Morocco, and Tunisia, it points the way to policy actions that can be taken to reduce informality and increase social protection for workers. It is a must-read for anyone who cares about greater economic inclusion in MENA.' --Ragui Assaad, Professor, Hubert H. Humphrey School of Public Affairs, University of Minnesota 'A compelling account of the implications of informality in the workforce and how economies of MENA can design appropriate policy responses. This timely report comes amid multiple social reforms in MENA and is a must-read for policy practitioners and economists in the region.' --Karim El Aynaoui, Executive President, Policy Center for the New South 'This report is particularly timely given the negative impact the COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent crises have had on living standards and poverty rates around the world and especially in MENA countries. While the focus on boosting growth and achieving the Sustainable Development Goals has revolved around financing, the report sheds new light on the benefits that tackling informality through institutional, regulatory, and policy changes could present to achieving these goals.' --Mahmoud Mohieldin, Executive Director, International Monetary Fund

Author : Roberta Gatti
Publisher : World Bank Publications
ISBN 13 : 082139536X
Total Pages : 355 pages
Book Rating : 4.63/5 ( download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!

Download or read book Striving for Better Jobs written by Roberta Gatti and published by World Bank Publications. This book was released on 2014-09-12 with total page 355 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: While economic growth has been sustained for a number of years in many countries in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region, this has not resulted in the creation of an adequate number of jobs and has succeeded, at best, in generating low-quality, informal jobs. While there is a great deal of heterogeneity across countries, informality in MENA is widespread, and some countries in the region are amongst the most informal economies in the world. The book looks at informality through a human development angle and focuses specifically on informal employment. In line with this approach, the working definition for informality adopted in the book is “lack of social security coverage” (usually understood as pensions, or if a pension system does not exist, as health insurance), which captures well the vulnerability associated with informal employment. Informal workers in MENA are generally engaged in low productivity jobs - more so than in comparator countries -, are paid less for otherwise similar work in the formal sector, and self-report low levels of satisfaction at work. Also, informal workers in MENA face important mobility barriers into formal employment and thus lack of social security coverage against health, unemployment, and old-age risks. Formal employment in the MENA region is strongly associated with public sector employment. Opportunities for formal employment in the private sector in the region remain very limited. The book identifies 5 strategic directions to promote long-term inclusive growth and formality, namely: (i) fostering competition; (ii) realigning incentives in the public sector; (iii) moving towards labor regulations that promote labor mobility and provide support to workers in periods of transition; (iv) enhancing the productivity of informal workers through training and skills upgrading; and (v) reforming existing social insurance systems and introduce new instruments for coverage extension. This book is addressed to policy makers, academics, and practitioners who wish to understand the phenomenon of informal employment, and policy options for promoting more inclusive and productive labor market opportunities.

Author : Roberta Gatti
Publisher :
ISBN 13 :
Total Pages : 355 pages
Book Rating : 4.45/5 ( download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!

Download or read book Striving for Better Jobs written by Roberta Gatti and published by . This book was released on 2014 with total page 355 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: While economic growth has been sustained for a number of years in many countries in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region, this has not resulted in the creation of an adequate number of jobs and has succeeded, at best, in generating low-quality, informal jobs. While there is a great deal of heterogeneity across countries, informality in MENA is widespread, and some countries in the region are amongst the most informal economies in the world. The book looks at informality through a human development angle and focuses specifically on informal employment. In line with this approach, the.

Author : Mr. Roberto Cardarelli
Publisher : International Monetary Fund
ISBN 13 : 1513591770
Total Pages : 90 pages
Book Rating : 4.73/5 ( download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!

Download or read book Informality, Development, and the Business Cycle in North Africa written by Mr. Roberto Cardarelli and published by International Monetary Fund. This book was released on 2022-06-09 with total page 90 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: North African economies are characterized by a significant share of informal activity and employment. About two-thirds of workers in North Africa operate without any formal arrangement and social protection, and about 30 percent of GDP is estimated to be produced by informal workers and firms. This paper finds that while a few key structural characteristics could explain “normal” informality in North Africa, policy distortions explain a large share of excess informality. Among the structural factors that can lead to high informality, the relatively lower level of human capital and younger population help explain the high informality in the region, as low-skilled and young people generally find it more difficult to operate in the formal sector. At the same time, gaps in a set of policy indicators also explain the relatively high informality in North Africa. In particular, this paper finds that gaps in the quality of governance explain about half of the excess informality experienced in North Africa compared with advanced economies. In this context, the expansion of the informal sector in Algeria and Tunisia from the mid-2000s partially reflects the deterioration in a few indicators of their governance and regulatory frameworks. In contrast, the decline in informality observed in Egypt, Mauritania, and Morocco over this period also reflects improved business regulations, governance, and tax systems, in addition to continued progress in economic development. While informality has traditionally buffered regional labor markets against the impact of recessions, the COVID-19 crisis has been different. North African economies have generally exhibited relatively stable unemployment rates, including during recessions, largely owing to their high levels of informality. However, informal employment has fallen significantly in North Africa during the pandemic, as lockdown measures have particularly affected high-informality service sectors. As the pandemic subsides and the lockdown measures are removed, the recovery of regional labor markets could exhibit a stronger-than-usual rebound of informal employment. Ensuring an inclusive recovery from the pandemic would call for renewed efforts to construct more modern (digitalized), more efficient, and fairer systems of social protection, building on the progress achieved in the region during the pandemic in extending safety nets to informal workers.

Author : Franziska Ohnsorge
Publisher : World Bank Publications
ISBN 13 : 1464817545
Total Pages : 397 pages
Book Rating : 4.40/5 ( download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!

Download or read book The Long Shadow of Informality written by Franziska Ohnsorge and published by World Bank Publications. This book was released on 2022-02-09 with total page 397 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A large percentage of workers and firms operate in the informal economy, outside the line of sight of governments in emerging market and developing economies. This may hold back the recovery in these economies from the deep recessions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic--unless governments adopt a broad set of policies to address the challenges of widespread informality. This study is the first comprehensive analysis of the extent of informality and its implications for a durable economic recovery and for long-term development. It finds that pervasive informality is associated with significantly weaker economic outcomes--including lower government resources to combat recessions, lower per capita incomes, greater poverty, less financial development, and weaker investment and productivity.

Author : Johannes G. Hoogeveen
Publisher : World Bank Publications
ISBN 13 : 1464817774
Total Pages : 292 pages
Book Rating : 4.79/5 ( download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!

Download or read book Distributional Impacts of COVID-19 in the Middle East and North Africa Region written by Johannes G. Hoogeveen and published by World Bank Publications. This book was released on 2021-12-20 with total page 292 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: COVID-19 is one of multiple crises to have hit the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region in the decade following the Arab Spring. War, oil price declines, economic slowdowns, and now a pandemic are tearing at the social fabric of a region characterized by high rates of unemployment, high levels of informality, and low annual economic growth. The economic costs of the pandemic are estimated at about US$227 billion, and fiscal support packages across MENA are averaging 2.7 percent of GDP, putting pressure on already weak fiscal balances and making a quick recovery challenging. Even before the COVID-19 pandemic, MENA was the only region in the world experiencing increases in poverty and declines in life satisfaction. Distributional Impacts of COVID-19 in the Middle East and North Africa Region investigates how COVID-19 changed the welfare of individuals and households in the region. It does so by relying on phone surveys implemented across the region and complements these with microsimulation exercises to assess the impact of COVID-19 on jobs, income, poverty, and inequality. The two approaches complement and corroborate each other's results, thereby making the findings more robust and richer. This report's results show that, in the short run, poverty rates in MENA will increase significantly and inequality will widen. A group of 'new poor' is likely to emerge that may have difficulty recovering from the economic consequences of COVID-19. The report adds value by analyzing newly gathered primary data, along with projections based on newly modeled micro- and macrosimulations, and by identifying key issues that policy makers should focus on to enable a quick, inclusive, and sustained economic recovery.

Author :
Publisher :
ISBN 13 :
Total Pages : pages
Book Rating : 4.02/5 ( download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!

Download or read book Towards a New Partnership for Inclusive Growth in the Middle East and North Africa written by and published by . This book was released on 2011 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Author : Aalia Cassim
Publisher :
ISBN 13 : 9781781183168
Total Pages : 71 pages
Book Rating : 4.63/5 ( download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!

Download or read book Informality and Inclusive Growth in Sub-Saharan Africa written by Aalia Cassim and published by . This book was released on 2016 with total page 71 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Despite relatively high growth rates, improvements in poverty and inequality have been constrained in many developing countries over the last decade, suggesting that economic growth has not been inclusive. In part, this relates to low levels of participation in the formal economy as well as high incidence of informality and unemployment in these countries. This research seeks to explore the relationship between informality and inclusive growth in sub-Saharan Africa, with a particular focus on South Africa. South Africans typically hold one of two opposing views on the informal sector. The first is that informality should be encouraged as an under-utilised source of new employment; the second is that it should be discouraged as an inferior source of employment. The central research question is therefore: 'Do informal labour markets promote or constrain inclusive growth?' In order to examine the hypotheses, we use three different methodologies. Firstly, we undertake a regional evidence synthesis examining literature and case studies from the sub-Saharan Africa region. Secondly, we expand on the South African case study and examine the nature of transitions within the labour market. Thirdly, we examine to what extent income shocks may impact the likelihood of engagement within the informal sector.

Author : Diego F. Angel-Urdinola
Publisher :
ISBN 13 :
Total Pages : pages
Book Rating : 4.83/5 ( download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!

Download or read book Micro-Determinants of Informal Employment in the Middle East and North Africa Region written by Diego F. Angel-Urdinola and published by . This book was released on 2012 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This note assesses the main micro?determinants of informal employment in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region from a human development stand point. It's main purpose is to quantify the patterns of labor informality (defined as the share of all employment with no access to social security) according to age, gender, education level, employment sector, profession, marital status, employment status, and geographic area in a selected group of countries in the region. Results indicate that the size of the public sector and the size of the agriculture sector are perhaps the main correlates of informality in the region. Countries where agricultural employment still constitutes a large share of overall employment (such as Morocco and Yemen) are associated with higher levels of overall informality. On the contrary, countries with larger public sectors and more urbanized such as Egypt, Syria, and Lebanon, display lower levels of overall informality. The existence of a large public sector, still associated with generous benefits and better employment quality, creates an important segmentation between public and private employment in many MENA countries. Informality rates are very high among youth between ages fifteen and twenty-four. After age twenty-four, informality decreases rapidly until individuals reach prime working age (forty to forty?five years). This rapid decrease in informality rates goes hand in hand with a rapid increase in public sector employment, suggesting that informal workers enter into public sector jobs as they move from youth into adulthood. Results also indicate that the average worker in the informal sector is disadvantaged versus the average worker in the formal sector, as they are uncovered against social risks and are generally employed in low-productivity/low pay jobs.

Author : OECD
Publisher : OECD Publishing
ISBN 13 : 9264473041
Total Pages : 253 pages
Book Rating : 4.41/5 ( download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!

Download or read book Middle East and North Africa Investment Policy Perspectives written by OECD and published by OECD Publishing. This book was released on 2021-03-30 with total page 253 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Middle East and North Africa Investment Policy Perspectives highlights the considerable progress in investment policies made by the region’s governments over the past decade. Yet, the reform momentum needs to be sustained and deepened for the benefits of investment to be shared with society at large and for growth to be sustainable, particularly in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic and resulting global economic upheaval.