Evidence-based policy making
IZA World of Labor is an online platform that provides policy analysts, journalists, academics and society generally with relevant and concise information on labor market issues. Based on the latest research, it provides current thinking on labor markets worldwide in a clear and accessible style. IZA World of Labor aims to support evidence-based policy making and increase awareness of labor market issues, including current concerns like the impact of Covid-19, and longer-term problems like inequality.
View our content on Covid-19—Pandemics and the labor market
Do guest worker programs give firms too much power?
Guest worker programs requiring employer sponsorship can expand global opportunity—and grant employers market power
Guest worker programs allow migrants to work abroad legally, and offer benefits to workers, firms, and nations. Guest workers are typically authorized to work only in specific labor markets, and are sponsored by, and must work for, a specific firm, making it difficult for guest workers to switch employers. Critics argue that the programs harm host country citizens and permanent residents (“existing workers”), and allow employers to exploit and abuse vulnerable foreign-born workers. Labor market institutions, competitive pressures, and firm strategy contribute to the effects of migration that occur through guest worker programs.
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Firm age and job creation in the US
New businesses are essential to keep unemployment low, but start-ups need loans in order to create jobs
Henry R. Hyatt, November 2022Entrepreneurship is essential for a healthy labor market. Recent evidence shows that young businesses (at most ten years old) have, on average, accounted for all of US employment growth over the past few decades. New businesses are especially important for youth employment. However, these businesses tend to borrow a lot, and the credit constraints they face limit their ability to create jobs. Historically, much of the discussion regarding the economic importance of entrepreneurship has focused on small businesses. Empirical evidence increasingly suggests that, among small businesses, those that are young create the most jobs.MoreLess -
The labor market in Canada, 2000–2021Updated
Covid-19 ended 20 years of stability and good labor market performance, aided in part by a strong resource boom
W. Craig Riddell, November 2022From 2000 to 2019, Canada's economy and labor market performed well. Important in this success was a strong resource boom from the late 1990s to 2014. After the boom the economy and labor market adjusted relatively smoothly, with labor and other resources exiting resource-rich regions and moving elsewhere. Strong growth in major export markets (Asia and the US) aided the adjustment. The Covid-19 downturn resulted in an unprecedented decline in employment, and a steep rise in unemployment and non-participation. Despite the severity of the Covid-19 shock, by December 2021 most key measures of labor market activity had returned to pre-pandemic levels.MoreLess -
The labor market consequences of impatienceUpdated
Some people would be happier if they were required to stay in school longer or search harder for a job while unemployed
Brian C. Cadena Benjamin J. Keys, October 2022Standard economic theory suggests that individuals know best how to make themselves happy. Thus, policies designed to encourage more forward-looking behaviors will only reduce people's happiness. Recently, however, economists have explored the role of impatience, especially difficulties with delaying gratification, in several important economic choices. There is strong evidence that some people have trouble following through on investments that best serve their long-term interests. These findings open the door to policies encouraging or requiring more patient behaviors, which would allow people to enjoy the eventual payoff from higher initial investment.MoreLess -
Gender differences in risk attitudesUpdated
Belief in the existence of gender differences in risk attitudes is stronger than the evidence supporting them
Antonio Filippin, October 2022Many experimental studies and surveys have shown that women consistently display more risk-averse behavior than men when confronted with decisions involving risk. These differences in risk preferences, when combined with gender differences in other behavioral traits, such as fondness for competition, have been used to explain important phenomena in labor and financial markets. Recent evidence has challenged this consensus, however, finding gender differences in risk attitudes to be smaller than previously thought and showing greater variation of results depending on the method used to measure risk aversion.MoreLess -
Income-contingent loans in higher education financingUpdated
Internationally, there has been a student financing revolution toward income-contingent loans
Bruce Chapman Lorraine Dearden, October 2022Around ten countries currently use a variant of a national income-contingent loans (ICL) scheme for higher education tuition. Increased international interest in ICL validates an examination of its costs and benefits relative to the traditional financing system, time-based repayment loans (TBRLs). TBRLs exhibit poor economic characteristics for borrowers: namely high repayment burdens (loan repayments as a proportion of income) for the disadvantaged and default. The latter both damages credit reputations and can be associated with high taxpayer subsidies through continuing unpaid debts. ICLs avoid these problems as repayment burdens are capped by design, eliminating default.MoreLess -
Gender differences in corporate hierarchiesUpdated
How and why do the careers of men and women differ? What policies could reduce the differences?
Antti Kauhanen, October 2022性别工资差距很大程度上是由于男人和女人n holding different kinds of jobs. This job segregation is partly driven by gender differences in careers in corporate hierarchies. Research has shown that the careers of men and women begin to diverge immediately upon entry into the labor market and that subsequent career progress exacerbates the divergence. This divergence of career progress explains a large part of the gender wage gap. Understanding how and why the careers of men and women differ is necessary to design effective policies that can reduce the gender differences in hierarchies.MoreLess -
Offshoring and labor markets in developing countries
Lessons learned and questions remaining about offshoring and labor markets in developing countries
Arnab K. Basu Nancy H. Chau, September 2022Developing countries are often seen as unquestionable beneficiaries in the phenomenal rise of global value chains in international trade. Offshoring—the cross-border trade in intermediate goods and services which facilitate country-level specialization in subsets of production tasks—enables an early start in global trade integration even when the requisite technology and knowhow for cost-effective production from scratch to finish are not yet acquired. A growing economics literature suggests a more nuanced view, however. Policymakers should be mindful of issues related to inequality across firms and wages, labor standards, and effects of trade policy.MoreLess -
Digital leadership: Motivating online workers
Which leadership techniques and tools should digital leaders use to communicate effectively with remote teams and gig workers?
Petra Nieken, September 2022Remote work and digital collaborations are prevalent in the business world and many employees use digital communication tools routinely in their jobs. Communication shifts from face-to-face meetings to asynchronous formats using text, audio, or video messages. This shift leads to a reduction of information and signals leaders can send and receive. Do classical leadership and communication techniques such as transformational or charismatic leadership signaling still work in those online settings or do leaders have to rely on transactional leadership techniques such as contingent reward and punishment tools in the remote setting?MoreLess -
How is new technology changing job design?Updated
Machines’ ability to perform cognitive, physical, and social tasks is advancing, dramatically changing jobs and labor markets
Michael Gibbs Sergei Bazylik, August 2022The IT revolution has had dramatic effects on jobs and the labor market. Many routine manual and cognitive tasks have been automated, replacing workers. By contrast, new technologies complement and create new non-routine cognitive and social tasks, making work in such tasks more productive, and creating new jobs. This has polarized labor markets: while low-skill jobs stagnated, there are fewer and lower-paid jobs for middle-skill workers, and higher pay for high-skill workers, increasing wage inequality. Advances in AI may accelerate computers’ ability to perform cognitive tasks, heightening concerns about future automation of even high-skill jobs.MoreLess -
- Migration and ethnicity
- Labor markets and institutions
- Education and human capital
- Country labor markets
The labor market in New Zealand, 2000−2021Updated
Employment has grown steadily, unemployment is low, and the gender gap and skill premiums have fallen
David C. Maré, August 2022New Zealand is a small open economy, with large international labor flows and skilled immigrants. After the global financial crisis (GFC) employment took four years to recover, while unemployment took more than a decade to return to pre-crisis levels. Māori, Pasifika, and young workers were worst affected. The Covid-19 pandemic saw employment decline and unemployment rise but this was reversed within a few quarters. However, the long-term impact of the pandemic remains uncertain.MoreLess -
Demographic and economic determinants of migrationUpdated
Push and pull factors drive the decision to stay or move
妮可·B。Simpson, July 2022There are a myriad of economic and non-economic forces behind the decision to migrate. Migrants can be “pushed” out of their home countries due to deteriorating economic conditions or political unrest. Conversely, migrants are often “pulled” into destinations that offer high wages, good health care, strong educational systems, or linguistic proximity. In making their decision, individuals compare the net benefits of migration to the costs. By better understanding what forces affect specific migrant flows (e.g. demographic characteristics, migrant networks, and economic conditions), policymakers can set policy to target (or reduce) certain types of migrants.MoreLess -
The gender gap in time allocation
Gender inequalities in daily time allocation may have detrimental effects on earnings and well-being
Jose Ignacio Gimenez-Nadal 何塞•阿尔贝托·莫利纳, July 2022Many countries experience gender differences, of various magnitudes, in the time devoted to paid work (e.g. market work time) and unpaid work (e.g. housework and childcare). Since household responsibilities influence the participation of women, especially mothers, in the labor market, the unequal sharing of unpaid work, with women bearing the brunt of housework and childcare, is one of the main drivers of gender inequality in the labor market. Understanding the factors behind these gender inequalities is crucial for constructing policies aimed at promoting gender equality and combating gender-based discrimination.MoreLess
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Nov 08, 2022
Scotland pledges more money for the loss and damage of climate change; Rise in UK state pension could cause informal care shortage
Today’s global news summary brings news affecting the world, the UK, and the Dominican Republic and discusses issues as diverse as climate change and pensions. -
Oct 25, 2022
Covid-19 devastated US children’s education; Australia promises overseas development assistance for Pacific
Today’s global news summary brings news affecting the USA, Australia, and Portugal and discusses issues as diverse as educational achievement, climate aid, and the minimum wage. -
Oct 11, 2022
UK risks brain drain; Female staff suffer sexual harassment in Antarctica
Today’s global news summary brings news affecting the UK, Antarctica, and the world and discusses issues as diverse as brain drain, sexual harassment, and economic growth. -
One in five urban youth are unemployed in China; France’s pension eligibility age is set to rise
Today’s global news summary brings news from China, France, and the globe and discusses issues as diverse as youth unemployment, retirement, and gender inequality. -
Sep 13, 2022
50 million people trapped in “modern slavery”; Argentinian hydrogen project threatens indigenous rights and the environment
Today’s global news summary brings news affecting the globe, Argentina, and Africa and discusses issues as diverse as modern slavery, green energy, and supporting women in business. -
Aug 30, 2022
Child victims of Boko Haram enroll in school; India’s female university students are locked in for their “protection”
Today’s global news summary brings news affecting Nigeria, India, and Pakistan and discusses issues as diverse as schooling, discrimination, and the climate crisis. -
Aug 23, 2022
Four million UK pensioners are forced to bail out family members; Unemployment for Chinese 16-24-year-olds reaches almost 20%
Today’s global news summary brings news from the UK and China, and discusses issues as diverse as higher education, youth unemployment, and unemployment for over 50s.
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Nov 15, 2022 - Nov 17, 2022
IEA-UNDP-WB Conference: Understanding the Gender and Climate Change Nexus
Online
The conference provides an opportunity for researchers to present the results of their research at the intersection of gender and climate change. This event also aims to serve as a platform for evidence-based policy dialogue on strategies that might help alleviate the impacts of climate change while being gender-sensitive.
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Dec 14, 2022 - Dec 15, 2022
6th IZA/World Bank/NJD/UNU-WIDER Jobs and Development Conference: The Challenge of Creating Better Jobs in Developing Countries
Cape Town, South Africa
The event will focus on policy-relevant research, applicable to identifying solutions to jobs challenges in low- and middle-income countries.
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Dec 20, 2022
Call for submissions: Research in Labor Economics (RLE)
Online
Research in Labor Economics (RLE)is planning to publish a volume highlighting research using big data for labor market research. The editors encourage the submission of work using new types of data (job ads, social media, printed texts, etc) and/or data analysis tools such as text analysis or machine learning.
IZA World of Labor discussion on labor market evaluation
IZA World of Labor discussion on the economics of education
IZA World of Labor discussion on labor market institutions
Working from home around the world
Job loss during Covid-19 in sub-Saharan Africa
Pass-through and consumer responses to alcohol tax increases