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October 2012

ADePT-Labor: A New Tool for Understanding Jobs, Poverty, and Inequality

Gladys Lopez-Acevedo's picture

Maize seed quality control at small seed company Bidasem, by CIMMYT, 2012

In light of growing evidence that much of the poverty reduction observed in the past decades has been facilitated by the dynamics of labor markets in developing countries, it is more important than ever to understand the links between labor markets and poverty and income inequality. In an effort to do just that, on October 18, 2012, World Bank researchers launched a revamped labor module for labor market diagnostics as part of its free software program – called ADePT (Automated DEC Poverty Tables) - that offers policy makers globally a helping hand in evidence-based decision making.

New Varieties of Orchids for Mexico

Dennis Szesko's picture

Dennis Szeszko's passion for exploration and discovery has yielded not only a venture-backed start-up company in Mexico but also new varieties of orchids for the international commercial flower market –  ones that are hybridized to be grown without soil. The JKP spoke with him about he created his business, the skills that are useful for being an entrepreneur, and how policymakers can encourage new firms, especially in agriculture, as farmers try to switch over to higher-value crops.

Making Jobs a Priority in Mexico

Constantino González's picture

As part of the search for new ideas on tackling the high global level of youth unemployment, we spoke with Constantino Gonzalez, a young political leader with the Nueva Alianza Party in Mexico. To break down the obstacles to political inaction on an agenda for creation, Gonzalez suggests that the initiative should come from the local level, with all stakeholders together building a common jobs agenda. He urges youth to explore entrepreneurship and politics to help shape their communities and country.

Getting Job Data to Tell a Story

Mary Hallward-Driemeier's picture

//datatopics.worldbank.org/jobs/

​The need for more and better data is a key message coming out of the new 2013 World Development Report on Jobs. Indeed, timely jobs data can inform policy areas as diverse as drafting fiscal policy, designing labor market and social protection policies, and targeting public expenditures. Yet for too many countries and years, data is incomplete, unavailable, or inaccessible.

Better Value Chains to Boost Rural Incomes

Grahame Dixie's picture

For developing countries, a major focus is raising rural incomes. One way to do this is by better linking farmers to markets and strengthening value chains. We spoke with Grahame Dixie—Head of the World Bank's Agribusiness Group in Agriculture and Rural Development—about the topic. He stressed the importance of getting people to discover how they can improve the efficiency of the value chain.

Don’t Forget Youth With "Jobs"

David Robalino's picture
Golden Rose Agrofarms Ltd | By ONE.org June 13, 2008.
 

In recent weeks, there has been a lot of talk about youth and jobs in the Washington, DC area. Making Cents held a conference on "Global Youth Economic Opportunities," The State Department hosted the launch of the Youth Livelihoods Alliance, And the African Development Bank discussed its 2012 Economic Outlook: Promoting Youth Employment at the World Bank. The proposed solutions to the problem are focused on creating good jobs and preparing youth to take them, but a far more challenging problem is how to help the millions of youth who are in fact working but in very low quality jobs (they cannot afford not to work) and those who are "idle" - neither studying, nor working, nor looking for a job

The Job Outlook for African Youth - Part II

Steve Kayizzi-Mugerwa's picture

Africa's youth population is not only growing rapidly, it is also getting better educated. Based on current trends, 59% of 20-24 year olds will have had secondary education in 2030, compared to 42% today, reports the new 2012 African Economic Outlook: Promoting Youth Employment. But to turn this rapid growth in human resources into an opportunity, the report says, Africa needs to tackle its very high level of youth unemployment. The JKP's David Robalino (Lead Economist - Labor and Youth Team Leader, World Bank) discussed the report's findings with the AfDB's Steve Kayizzi-Mugerwa and Agnes Soucat, along with the World Bank's Louise Fox.

The Job Outlook for African Youth - Part I

Steve Kayizzi-Mugerwa's picture

Africa's youth population is not only growing rapidly, it is also getting better educated. Based on current trends, 59% of 20-24 year olds will have had secondary education in 2030, compared to 42% today, reports the new 2012 African Economic Outlook: Promoting Youth Employment. But to turn this rapid growth in human resources into an opportunity, the report says, Africa needs to tackle its very high level of youth unemployment. The JKP's David Robalino (Lead Economist - Labor and Youth Team Leader, World Bank) discussed the report's findings with the AfDB's Steve Kayizzi-Mugerwa and Agnes Soucat, along with the World Bank's Louise Fox.

Jobs Center Stage: The WDR 2013

Martin Rama's picture

(This post was first published on "Let's Talk Development" and cross-posted on the Jobs Knowledge Platform.)

WDR 2013

When my team and I started working on the World Development Report 2013, slightly more than a year ago, we were puzzled. We had been asked to write about jobs, and started out looking at the problem as labor economists, soon discovered that this issue is far more complex with variables that go well beyond the labor market. As a result, over the past year we drifted away from a labor economics approach towards a development economics approach. We made jobs, not the labor market, the center of our analysis.