8th IZA/World Bank Conference on Employment and Development

While most research in labor economics focuses on advanced economies, the majority of the world’s population and particularly of the poor live in countries where labor markets often work quite differently. To stimulate and promote research on employment and labor economics in low and middle income countries, the World Bank and IZA initiated in 2006 a work program on “Employment and Development”. Since 2006, the annual conference on Employment and Development provides a platform for researchers and policy experts to discuss new research findings and identify areas where further analytical and policy oriented work is needed.

In addition to the regular sessions in all fields of labor economics and development, special sessions on the political economy of labor market reforms will be featured. Over the past two decades, a number of developing and emerging economies, as well as several advanced economies, have undertaken substantial labor market reforms, often accompanied by reforms of social policy, aimed at improving the adaptability of the labor market and the matching process between supply and demand, while at the same time strengthening the protection provided to workers. Moreover, the global economic crisis of 2008-09 and its often deep consequences on the labor market spurred a new wave of reforms. Designing labor and social policy reforms is difficult in all countries, but especially so in developing countries, where large fractions of the workforce are in the informal/unregulated sector. Moreover, it is even more difficult to implement these reforms to achieve the desired results, given the often limited administrative capacity and enforcement tools in developing countries. This conference will provide an opportunity to review successful as well as unsuccessful episodes of labor and social policy reforms in developing and emerging economies. What were the main economic and social considerations behind the reform? How did government seek to build consensus on the reform? What were the hurdles in implementing the reform? And what were the outcomes and how have they been assessed? These are only some of the key questions that the conference will try to address with the active participation of researchers and policy makers directly involved in the reform process.

Thursday, August 22:

09:00	-	09:30		Registration
09:30	-	10:00		Welcome Address and Opening Remarks
				Arup Banerji (World Bank and IZA ) Klaus F. Zimmermann (IZA and University of Bonn)
10:00	-	11:00		Keynote Address I
				Chair: Stefano Scarpetta (OECD and IZA)
				Elsa Fornero (Former Minister of Labor and Welfare, Italy and University of Turin)
				"Reforming the Labor Market: Reflections of an Economist Who (Unexpectedly) Became a Minister"
11:00	-	11:30		Coffee Break
11:30	-	13:00		Parallel Session A
				Special World Bank Session A.1 Technical, Cognitive and Non-Cognitive Skills and Labor Market Outcomes
				Chair: Mattias Lundberg (World Bank)
11:30	-	12:00		Maria Laura Sanchez Puerta (World Bank and IZA)
				"Skills Towards Employment and Productivity"
12:00	-	12:30		Ximena V Del Carpio (World Bank)
				"Skills for Quality Jobs and Development in Lao PDR"
12:30	-	13:00		Mattias Lundberg (World Bank)
				"Girl Power: The Benefits of Skills Training for Adolescent Girls"
				Session A.2 Cash Transfers and Social Assistance
				Chair: Rita Ginja (Uppsala University)
11:30	-	12:00		Marcello Sartarelli (Universidad de Alicante), Miguel Angel Borrella Mas (University of Alicante)
				"Does a Cash Transfer Affect Elderly Labour Supply? Evidence from Age Discontinuities in Bolivia"
12:00	-	12:30		Rita Ginja (Uppsala University), Pedro Carneiro (University College London, IFS, CEMMAP), Emanuela Galasso (World Bank)
				"Tackling Social Exclusion: Evidence from Chile"
				Session A.3 Climate Change, Poverty and Migration
				Chair: Luigi Minale (University College London)
11:30	-	12:00		Ani Silwal (University of Sussex)
				"Dig in or branch out: Rainfall variability and activity choice of Tanzanian households"
12:00	-	12:30		Jason Gagnon (OECD and Paris School of Economics)
				"Natural Disaster, Emigration and Household Labour Behaviour in Honduras"
12:30	-	13:00		Luigi Minale (University College London)
				"Weather Shocks and Village Labour Markets"
				Session A.4 Education, Informality and Inequality
				Chair: Rulof Burger (Stellenbosch University)
11:30	-	12:00		Vipul Bhatt (James Madison University), Suraj Jacob (James Madison University)
				"Convergence in Education Infrastructure in India: Evidence from District Level Data"
12:00	-	12:30		Murray Leibbrandt (University of Cape Town and IZA), David Lam (University of Michigan), Nicola Branson (University of Cape Town), Julia Garlick (Yale University )
				"Education and Inequality: The South African Case"
12:30	-	13:00		Rulof Burger (Stellenbosch University), Servaas van der Berg (University of Stellenbosch), Dieter von Fintel (University of Stellenbosch)
				"The Unintended Consequences of Education Policies on South African Participation and Unemployment"
13:00	-	14:30		Lunch
14:30	-	16:00		Parallel Session B
				Special World Bank Session B.1 Social Insurance and Labor Markets
				Chair: David A. Robalino (World Bank and IZA)
14:30	-	15:00		David Kaplan (Inter-American Development Bank and IZA)
				"Evidence on Effects on Labor Markets"
15:00	-	15:30		Robert Holzmann (University of Malaya and IZA)
				"Behaviors and Redistribution"
15:30	-	16:00		David A. Robalino (World Bank and IZA)
				"Financing and Other Policy Recommendations"
				Session B.2 Education and Labor Markets
				Chair: Kaveh Majlesi (Lund University)
14:30	-	15:00		Francisco Perez-Arce (RAND)
				"Is a Dream Deferred a Dream Denied? College Enrollment and Time-Varying Opportunity Costs"
15:00	-	15:30		Kaveh Majlesi (Lund University)
				"Parental Response to Changes in Return to Education for Children: The Case of Mexico"
				Session B.3 Labor Market Programs and Employment
				Chair: Debayan Pakrashi (University of Queensland)
14:30	-	15:00		Esther Gehrke (German Development Institute)
				"Does the Indian Employment Guarantee Reduce Households’ Risk Exposure? Assessing the Effects of the Nrega on Crop Choice"
15:00	-	15:30		Kalyani Raghunathan (Cornell University), Gary S. Fields (Cornell University and IZA)
				"For Better or For Worse? The Effects of an Employment Guarantee in a Seasonal Agricultural Market"
15:30	-	16:00		Debayan Pakrashi (University of Queensland), Asadul Islam (Monash University)
				"The Microfinance Puzzle: Intrahousehold Distribution and Seasonality in Labour Supply"
				Session B.4 Health, Participation and Remittances
				Chair: Stephan Klasen (University of Göttingen and IZA)
14:30	-	15:00		Monica Parra Torrado (World Bank)
				"It Does not Make us Lazy: Evidence Against the Moral Hazard Effect of Remittances"
15:00	-	15:30		Kai Liu (Norwegian School of Economics)
				"Health Insurance Coverage for Low-income Households: Consumption Smoothing, Investment and Private Transfers"
15:30	-	16:00		Stephan Klasen (University of Göttingen and IZA), Janneke Pieters (IZA)
				"Push or pull? Drivers of Female Labor Force Participation During India’s Economic Boom"
				Session B.5 Welfare and Social Effects of Disasters
				Chair: Melanie Khamis (Wesleyan University and IZA)
14:30	-	15:00		Marta Menendez (Université Paris-Dauphine), Jérémie Gignoux (Paris School of Economics)
				"Short and Long Run Effects of Earthquakes on Household Welfare in Indonesia"
15:00	-	15:30		Melanie Khamis (Wesleyan University and IZA), Mevlude Akbulut Yuksel (Dalhousie University and IZA), Mutlu Yuksel (Dalhousie University and IZA)
				"For Better or for Worse: The Long-Term Effects of Postwar Reconstruction on Family Formation"
16:00	-	16:30		Coffee Break
16:30	-	18:00		Parallel Session C
				Special IZA/DFID Session C.1 Growth and Labor Markets in Low Income Countries
				Chair: David Lam (University of Michigan and IZA)
16:30	-	17:00		Damir Esenaliev (SIPRI), Tilman Brück (SIPRI and IZA), Susan Steiner (Leibniz University Hannover), Antje Kroeger, Alma Kudebaeva (KIMEP University), Bakhrom Mirkasimov (Humboldt University Berlin)
				"Household Survey Data for Research on Well-Being and Behavior in Central Asia"
17:00	-	17:30		David E. Sahn (Cornell University), Catalina Herrera Almanza (Cornell University)
				"The Impact of Early Childbearing on Schooling and Cognitive Skills among Young Women In Madagascar"
17:30	-	18:00		Isaac M. Mbiti (Southern Methodist University)
				"Start-up Capital for Youth: Assessing the Potential of Small Business Grants and Vocational Training in Kenya"
				Session C.2 Informality and Wages
				Chair: Aytekin Guven (Abant Izzet Baysal University)
16:30	-	17:00		Aysit Tansel (Middle East Technical University and IZA), Elif Oznur Kan Acar (Cankaya University)
				"The Formal/Informal Employment Earnings Gap: Evidence From Turkey"
17:00	-	17:30		Semih Tumen (Central Bank of Turkey)
				"Informality as a Stepping Stone: A Search-Theoretical Assessment of Informal Sector and Government Policy"
17:30	-	18:00		Aytekin Guven (Abant Izzet Baysal University), Aysit Tansel (Middle East Technical University and IZA), Basak Dalgic (Hacettepe University)
				"Wage Inequality and Wage Mobility in Turkey"
				Session C.3 Entrepreneurship and Employment
				Chair: Arnab K. Basu (Cornell University and IZA)
16:30	-	17:00		Michael Grimm (University of Passau and IZA), Anna Luisa Paffhausen (University of Passau)
				"Interventions for Employment Creation in Micro, Small and Medium- Sized Enterprises in Low- and Middle-Income Countries. A Systematic Review"
17:00	-	17:30		Yusuf Soner Baskaya (Central Bank of Turkey)
				"Evaluating the Impact of 2008 Employment Subsidy Program In Turkey"
17:30	-	18:00		Arnab K. Basu (Cornell University and IZA), Nancy H. Chau (Cornell University and IZA), Gary S. Fields (Cornell University and IZA), Ravi S. Kanbur (Cornell University and IZA)
				"A Multi-Sector Labor Market Model for Developing Economies"
				Session C.4 Job Search and Wage Rigidity
				Chair: Renata Narita (World Bank)
16:30	-	17:00		Gustavo Adolfo Garcia (Autonomous University of Barcelona), Catia Nicodemo (University of Oxford and IZA)
				"Job Search Channels, Neighborhood Effects and Wages Inequality in Developing Countries: The Colombian Case"
17:00	-	17:30		Supreet Kaur (Columbia University)
				"Nominal Wage Rigidity in Village Labor Markets"
17:30	-	18:00		Renata Narita (World Bank)
				"Self Employment in Developing Countries: A Search-Equilibrium Approach"
19:00				Guided Tour "Cleopatra Exhibition" and Dinner at "Kunst- und Ausstellungshalle der Bundesrepublik Deutschland"

Friday, August 23:

09:00	-	10:00		Keynote Address II
				Chair: David A. Robalino (World Bank and IZA)
				Selim El Sayegh (Former Minister of Social Affairs, Lebanon)
				"The Social Policy Reform and the Dynamic of the Labor Market"
10:00	-	10:30		Coffee Break
10:30	-	12:00		Parallel Session D
				Special OECD Session D.1 Labor Market Dynamics and Job Quality
				Chair: Stefano Scarpetta (OECD and IZA)
10:30	-	11:00		Ana Llena-Nozal (OECD), Michael Förster (OECD), Wen-Hao Chen (OECD)
				"Non-Standard Work: Alternative Pathways to Employment?"
11:00	-	11:30		Judit Vall-Castello (Universitat de Girona and IZA), José Garcia Perez (Universidad Pablo De Olavide), Ioana Marinescu (University Of Chicago)
				"Can Fixed-Term Contracts Put Low Skilled Youth On A Better Career Path? Evidence From Spain"
11:30	-	12:00		Julián Messina (World Bank and IZA)
				"Economic Mobility and the Rise of the Latin American Middle Class"
				Session D.2 Incentives, Human Capital and Formalization
				Chair: Corrado Giulietti (IZA)
10:30	-	11:00		Axel Demenet (IRD, DIAL, Paris), Mireille Razafindrakoto (IRD, DIAL, Paris), François Roubaud (IRD, DIAL, Paris)
				"Do informal businesses gain from registration? Panel data evidence from Vietnam"
11:00	-	11:30		Italo Lopez Garcia (University College London)
				"Human Capital and Labor Informalit in Developing Countries: A Structural Dynamic Approach"
11:30	-	12:00		Corrado Giulietti (IZA), Costanza Biavaschi (IZA), Klaus F. Zimmermann (IZA and University of Bonn)
				"Sibling Influence on the Human Capital of the Left Behind"
				Session D.3 Informality and Labor Market Regulations
				Chair: Hartmut Lehmann (University of Bologna and IZA)
10:30	-	11:00		Paula Herrera-Idarraga (University of Barcelona), Enrique López-Bazo (University of Barcelona), Elisabet Motellón (Universitat Oberta de Catalunya and University of Barcelona)
				"Double Penalty in Returns to Education: Informality and Educational Mismatch in the Colombian Labor market. "
11:00	-	11:30		Mustafa Ulus (Galatasaray University), Olivier Charlot (THEMA, University of Cergy-Pontoise), Franck Malherbet (CREST, Ecole Polytechnique, IZA and fRDB)
				"Unemployment Compensation and the Allocation of Labor in Developing Countries"
11:30	-	12:00		Anzelika Zaiceva (University of Modena and Reggio Emilia and IZA), Hartmut Lehmann (University of Bologna and IZA)
				"Informal Employment in Russia: Extent, Incidence, Determinants and Labor Market Segmentation"
				Session D.4 Recessions, Wages and Unemployment Insurance
				Chair: Yi Fan (London School of Economics)
10:30	-	11:00		Nicholas Giannakopoulos (University of Patras), Joan Daouli (University of Patras), Michael Demoussis (University of Patras), Ioannis Laliotis (University of Patras)
				"The Wage Curve During the Great Depression in Greece"
11:00	-	11:30		Paula Nagler (Maastricht University)
				"How Unemployment Insurance Savings Accounts Affect Employment Duration: Evidence from Chile"
11:30	-	12:00		Yi Fan (London School of Economics)
				"Adolescent Shock, Resilience, and Long-Run Effects on Income and Consumption"
12:00	-	13:30		Lunch
13:30	-	15:00		Parallel Session E
				Special ILO Session E.1 The Labor Markets of Emerging Economies: Has Growth Translated Into More and Better Jobs?
				Chair: Arnab K. Basu (Cornell University and IZA)
13:30	-	13:55		Sandrine Cazes (ILO International Labour Organization)
				"Labor Markets in Emerging Countries: Challenges for Policies and Institutions"
13:55	-	14:20		Sher Verick (ILO International Labour Organization and IZA)
				"Education and the Labor Market in Four Emerging Economies"
14:20	-	14:40		Discussant Gary S. Fields (Cornell University and IZA)
14:40	-	15:00		General Discussion
				Session E.2 Minimum Wages and Informality
				Chair: Daniel Haanwinckel (Pontifical Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro (PUC-Rio))
13:30	-	14:00		Vidhya Soundararajan (Cornell University)
				"Minimum Wages and Enforcement in India Inverted U-shaped Employment Effects"
14:00	-	14:30		Carla Canelas (University of Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne)
				"Minimum Wage, Informality, and Poverty: To What Extend Are They Interrelated. An Application to Ecuadorian Data."
14:30	-	15:00		Daniel Haanwinckel (Pontifical Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro (PUC-Rio)), Rodrigo Soares (Pontifical Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro (PUC-Rio) and IZA)
				"A Compensating Differentials Theory of Informal Labor Markets: Quantitative Model and Implications for a Developing Country"
				Session E.3 Female Employment, Fertility and Education
				Chair: Linguère Mously Mbaye (IZA)
13:30	-	14:00		Janneke Pieters (IZA), Isis Gaddis (University of Goettingen and World Bank)
				"Trade Liberalization and Female Labor Force Participation: Evidence from Brazil"
14:00	-	14:30		Yoon Y. Cho (World Bank and IZA), Davie Kalomba (National AIDS Commission in Malawi), Mushfiq Mobarak (Yale University), Victor Orozco (World Bank)
				"Differential Effects of Vocational Training on Men and Women and the Bias from Program Drop-Outs"
14:30	-	15:00		Linguère Mously Mbaye (IZA), Natascha Wagner (ISS)
				"Bride Price and Fertility Decisions: Evidence from Rural Senegal"
				Session E.4 Productivity and Job Creation
				Chair: Bob Rijkers (World Bank)
13:30	-	14:00		Carlos Lamarche (University of Kentucky and IZA)
				"Industry-Wide Work Rules and Productivity: Evidence From Argentine Union Contract Data"
14:00	-	14:30		Angel Calderón-Madrid (El Colegio de México)
				"Small Firms’ Productivity and Survival Performance in Mexico: An Analysis Based on Economic Census Micro Datasets"
14:30	-	15:00		Bob Rijkers (World Bank), Hassen Arrouri (Institut National de La Statistique, Tunisia), Caroline Freund (World Bank), Antonio Nucifora (World Bank)
				"Structural Stagnation: Firm-Level Evidence on Job Creation in Tunisia"
15:00	-	16:30		Parallel Session F
				Special Session F.1 Global Wage Indicator Data: New Opportunities for Employment and Development Research
				Chair: Martin Kahanec (Central European University and IZA)
15:00	-	15:10		Paulien Osse (WageIndicator)
				"WageIndicator in 70 Countries"
15:10	-	15:20		Martin Guzi (IZA), Kea G. Tijdens (AIAS, University of Amsterdam)
				"The WageIndicator Dataset: Global Scale, Local Foci, Personalized Tools"
15:20	-	15:30		Godius Kahyayara (University of Dar es Salaam)
				"Offline Data Collection in East and West Africa"
15:30	-	16:00		Kea Tijdens (University of Amsterdam), Janna Besamusca (University of Amsterdam), Maarten van Klaveren (University of Amsterdam)
				"Who Has an Informal Job and How is the Job Paid? A Job-based Informality Index for Nine Sub-Saharan African Countries"
16:00	-	16:30		Pablo de Pedraza (Universidad de Salamanca), Martin Guzi (IZA)
				"Studying Life Satisfaction Determinants of Brazilian Workers Using Wageindicator Data"
				Session F.2 Youth Education and Youth Employment
				Chair: Asmus Zoch (Stellenbosch University)
15:00	-	15:30		Carlos Henrique Corseuil (Institute for Applied Economic Research (IPEA), Brazil), Miguel Foguel (IPEA), Gustavo Gonzaga (PUC-Rio), Eduardo Pontual Ribeiro (UFRJ)
				"Youth Labor Market In Brazil Through The Lens Of The Flow Approach"
15:30	-	16:00		Asmus Zoch (Stellenbosch University)
				"Understanding the Underlying Dynamics of the Reservation Wage for South African’s Youth"
				Session F.3 Labor Market Policies and Job Security
				Chair: Stefano Scarpetta (OECD and IZA)
15:00	-	15:30		Alexander Krauss (World Bank)
				"Job creation across East Asia Pacific"
15:30	-	16:00		Thomas Bernhardt (The New School)
				"Developing Countries in the Global Apparel Value Chain: A Tale of Upgrading and Downgrading Experiences"
16:00	-	16:30		Stefano Scarpetta (OECD and IZA), Alexander Hijzen (OECD), Leopoldo Mondauto (Italia Lavoro and IMT Lucca)
				"The Perverse Effects of Job-Security Provisions on Job Security in Italy: Results from a Regression Discontinuity Design"
				Session F.4 Labor and Income Mobility
				Chair: Yang Song (Renmin University of China)
15:00	-	15:30		Anda David (IRD, DIAL, Paris), Mohamed Al Marouani (University of Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne)
				"The Impact of Labor Mobility on Unemployment: A Comparison Between Jordan and Tunisia"
15:30	-	16:00		Gary S. Fields (Cornell University and IZA), Guillermo Cruces (CEDLAS-CONICET and IZA), Mariana Viollaz (CEDLAS-CONICET)
				"Can the Limitations of Panel Datasets be Overcome by Using Pseudo-Panels to Estimate Income Mobility?"
16:00	-	16:30		Yang Song (Renmin University of China), Gary S. Fields (Cornell University and IZA)
				"A Theoretical Model of the Chinese Labor Market"
16:30	-	17:00		Coffee Break
17:00	-	18:00		Closing Panel Discussion
				Chair: Arup Banerji (World Bank and IZA)
				Robert Holzmann (University of Malaya and IZA) Tan Mei Ling (Pemandu) Selim El Sayegh (Former Minister of Social Affairs, Lebanon) Klaus F. Zimmermann (IZA and University of Bonn)