Large regional disparities in labor market indicators exist in Central Europe and the Baltic region. Such disparities appear to be persistent over time indicating, in part, a lack of flexibility in the prevailing adjustment mechanisms. Internal labor mobility is often seen as an important instrument to reduce adjustment costs when other mechanisms fail. Drawing from a variety of data sources and utilizing a common empirical framework and estimation strategy, this study identifies patterns and statistical profiles of geographical mobility. It finds internal migration to be generalily low and...

There is one asset that poor people have in abundance: labor. Thus, what distinguishes the poor from the non-poor in low income countries is, simply, their ability to sell labor at a good price. It should be of little surprise, then, that enhancing the poor's access to employment is increasingly recognized as key to development. But while the creation of 'good' jobs for the poor has become a policy priority for many developing countries, the mechanisms by which employment stimulates growth and reduces poverty have, until now, not been well understood. This book aims to help fill that gap....

Launched in 2007, the Results-Based Initiatives (RBI) aimed to provide comprehensive, coherent, and rigorous evidence on effective interventions that foster the economic empowerment of women. The RBIs comprised five small pilots with a built-in impact evaluation designed to identify the best method to promote better outcomes for women as entrepreneurs, wage earners, or farmers--under different country contexts. The program was an innovative experiment in an important policy area. Although there is a clear rationale for policy interventions to help remove constraints to women's economic...

Gender equality is a core development objective in its own right and also smart development policy and business practice. No society can develop sustainably without giving men and women equal power to shape their own lives and contribute to their families, communities, and countries. And yet, critical gender gaps continue to exist in all countries and across multiple dimensions. The gender module of the World Bank s ADePT software platform produces a comprehensive set of tables and graphs using household surveys to help diagnose and analyze the prevailing gender inequalities at the country...