Information asymmetry and frictions in the labour market are considered great obstacles to efficiency and are sources of unemployment as well as underemployment. For instance, information regarding a job seeker’s work ethic is difficult to observe for employers during an interview. It is extremely difficult for a job seeker to signal his/her true ability, especially…
Gender and Employment in Central Asia
Three working papers investigating different dimensions of female labour supply in central Asia are now available on our website. Women Left Behind in Tajikistan The consequent changes following the migration of the main income provider of a household could bring impacts on other household members’ economic decisions. It is observed that when men migrate, female…
Labour Market Segmentation in Low-Income Countries
Traditional dual sector model postulates that labour market consists of two different sectors. The model improves our collective understanding of labour market and explains the economic phenomenon in which different groups of people act as if these individuals participate in different segments of one labour market and receive different wages. Yet, economic theory provides little…
Growth and Formality: The Case of Bangladesh
The informal sector plays a significant role in many, if not all, low-income countries. Traditionally, as an economy grows, there would be a shift of informal workers to formal wage jobs. Yet, in recent years, many low-income countries have experienced substantial economic growth without dramatic formalisation of informal jobs. To better understand the relationship between…
The Financial Times Writes About Foreign Aids and Emigration
The Financial Times cited a GLM|LIC Synthesis Paper in an article about EU policies, foreign aids and migration. The study dismantles the myth that by addressing the “root causes” of migration, high-income countries could deter future migration from low-income countries. Instead, authors Michael Clemens (CGD and IZA) and Hannah Postel (Princeton University) show that foreign…
IZA/DFID Short Course 2017
Capacity building has been central to the GLM|LIC Programme. Every year, we actively hold short courses for participants from low-income countries. This year, 48 participants, among 582 applicants, were selected and sponsored by IZA/DFID through the GLM|LIC Programme to participate in the conference and the short course in Abidjan, Ivory Coast. We thank instructors Marco…
Labour Markets in Western Africa
The GLM|LIC Programme has co-sponsored a two-day conference “Labour Markets in Western Africa: Evidence and Policy Lesson” in Abidjan, Ivory Coast. Researchers from all over the world shared their findings on labour market issues from policy evaluation, to youth labour, to human capital, to empowerment, and to demography. The study of growth and labour markets…
Are Labor Costs in Africa too High?
The puzzling and counter-intuitive findings of the project “Are Labor Costs in Africa too High?” gained widespread media coverage worldwide, including news agencies from Kenya, South Africa, Germany, the United Kingdom as well as the United States. The Economist, for example, discusses the diminishing role of African countries in global production and cites that one of…
Introducing a New GLM|LIC Project
We are happy to introduce a new GLM|LIC project “Are Labor Costs in Africa too High?” led by Principal Investigator Dr. Vijaya Ramachandran (Center for Global Development). This project aims to anaylse one of the most important issues that many African countries face today: the higher wages relative to productivity and the future of manufacturing…
3rd GLM|LIC Research Network Conference in D.C.
October 2017 has been an important month to the GLM|LIC Programme as we organized the 3rd GLM|LIC Research Network Conference at the World Bank in Washington, D.C. The annual conference serves as a platform to promote and motivate interesting and inspiring talks and discussions among researchers as well as relevant stakeholders. Several videos of researchers…