Job Creation in Latin America and the Caribbean Recent Trends and Policy Challenges

by UK, Palgrave Macmillan; Pagés, Carmen; Pierre, Gaëlle Le Borgne; Scarpetta, Stefano

• ISBN13: 9780821376881
• ISBN10: 0821376888
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2009-06-16
• Publisher: World Bank Publications

Summary

Throughout the Latin American and Caribbean region, unemployment and job creation have become central issues in public debates and governement policy. This book provides a thorough examination of the labor market trends over the past decades and assesses the role that labor demand and labor supply factors have played in shaping these outcomes.

Author Biography

CARMEN PAGS is Principal Research Economist at the Research Department of the Inter-American Development Bank.

GALLE PIERRE is a Consultant in the Poverty Reduction and Economic Management group of the Africa Region, World Bank.

STEFANO SCARPETTA is Head of Division and Editor of the OECD Employment Outlook, Directorate for Employment, Labour and Social Affairs, Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments	p. xxv
Abbreviations	p. xxvii
Overview	p. 1
"Jobless Growth" or "Growthless Jobs"? Long-Term Growth and Employment Performance in the Region	p. 2
Supply-Side Effects	p. 6
Structural Changes Across and Within Sectors: Shedding Light on the Sources of Low Productivity Growth	p. 9
Addressing the Constraints to Productive Job Creation: Improving the Investment Climate	p. 17
Improving Regulation: Shifting to Protecting Workers Rather Than Jobs	p. 21
Rethinking Social Security	p. 24
Addressing the Needs of Vulnerable Workers by Increasing the Effectiveness of Active Labor Market Policies	p. 26
Improving the Administrative and Enforcement Capacity of Labor Authorities	p. 28
Summary and Directions for Further Analysis	p. 30
Notes	p. 31
References	p. 33
Employment Dynamics In Latin America and The Caribbean	p. 37
Jobless Growth or Growthless Jobs?	p. 39
Growth Performance in Latin America and the Caribbean since the 1970s	p. 40
Drivers of Growth	p. 44
Drivers of Productivity	p. 48
Dynamics of Employment	p. 55
Dynamics of Labor Supply	p. 67
Conclusions	p. 81
Selection of Comparator Countries	p. 82
Selection of Analysis Time Frame	p. 86
Labor Input Growth Adjusted for Different Levels of Education	p. 86
Estimation of Employment and Real Wage Elasticities	p. 88
Notes	p. 93
References	p. 94
Skills, Gender, and Age Dimensions of Job Creation	p. 97
Declining Demand for Unskilled Labor	p. 97
Large Increase in Female Participation	p. 110
Youths and the Labor Market	p. 130
Conclusions	p. 138
Selection of Analysis Time Frame	p. 139
Notes	p. 140
References	p. 141
Structural Changes, Employment, and Productivity Growth: Main Patterns	p. 143
Role of Structural Changes for Employment and Productivity Growth	p. 147
Structural Changes in the Region	p. 147
Sectoral Reallocation and Productivity	p. 172
Role of Policy in the Process of Reallocation	p. 188
Conclusions	p. 191
Employment and GDP by Sector Data Sources	p. 193
Differences among Labor Productivity Computations	p. 193
Sensitivity Analysis of Labor Productivity Growth	p. 196
Data on GDP and Employment Shares, by Sector	p. 196
Lilien Index	p. 207
Balassa Index	p. 207
Classification of Sectors by Input Intensity	p. 207
Classification of Sectors by Productivity	p. 207
Notes	p. 218
References	p. 220
Creative Destruction, Productivity, and Job Creation	p. 225
What Is the Role of Firm Restructuring and the Entry and Exit of Firms in Job Creation?	p. 226
Firms' Characteristics and the Process of Firm Entry, Postentry Growth, and Exit	p. 244
Summing Up: The Need for Entry Conditions and Incentives to Create Jobs	p. 267
Notes	p. 268
References	p. 269
Policies to Foster the Creation of Good Jobs and Help Workers through Labor Market Transitions	p. 271
The Business Environment	p. 275
Role of the Investment Climate in Explaining Labor Market Performance in the Region	p. 279
Main Obstacles Faced by Firms in the Region	p. 280
Strong Constraints to Firm Expansion Curbing the Potential for Job Creation	p. 305
Costs as the Main Obstacles for Firms in Productive Sectors	p. 311
The Relative Role of Labor Regulations	p. 314
Summing Up: Further Improvements to the Investment Climate	p. 316
Results from Estimations of Base Model	p. 318
Investment Climate Constraints and Employment Growth	p. 320
Hiring and Firing Regulations and Labor Market Outcomes	p. 325
Explanatory Notes and Data Sources for Investment Climate Indexes	p. 329
Notes	p. 330
References	p. 331
Improving Protection against the Risk of Unemployment	p. 335
The Risk of Unemployment	p. 335
Role of Publicly Provided Income-Support Mechanisms	p. 337
Regulating Hiring and Firing to Lower the Risk of Unemployment	p. 338
Toward Better Ways of Protecting Workers against Unemployment Risk	p. 349
Extending Income Support to All Workers	p. 358
Summing Up: A Set of Proposals for the Countries of the Region	p. 365
Notes	p. 368
References	p. 369
Active Labor Market Programs	p. 375
Job Intermediation	p. 375
Training for the Unemployed	p. 383
Direct Job Creation	p. 386
Conclusion	p. 390
Notes	p. 392
References	p. 393
Improving the Quality of Jobs	p. 397
Regulating Working Conditions: Adding Flexibility, Improving Enforcement, and Protecting Workers	p. 398
Making Social Security Contributions a Value for the Money	p. 401
Improving Working Conditions through Collective Bargaining	p. 408
Applying Wage Floors	p. 410
Improving Workers' Skills	p. 412
Improving Enforcement of Labor Regulations and Policies	p. 415
Conclusion	p. 422
Notes	p. 423
References	p. 424
Index	p. 429
Table of Contents provided by Ingram. All Rights Reserved.

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