April 2021
15Apr

Financial Inclusion Through Fintech in the Digital Economy

By Eunsook Seo, Kyeong-Won Yoo Since the 2008 global financial crisis, including the recent COVID 19 pandemic, low interest rates and low economic growth have continued around the world. In spite of this low interest rate trend, as the economic downturn prolongs, there is a situation of concern called the “new normal” of low interest rates and low economic growth, and low prices. In this new normal economic structure, the rapid progress of aging is increasing the necessity and desire...

April 15, 2021
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08Apr

The pandemic has shown that workers in the informal economy need a safety net, too

The coronavirus pandemic has hit the developing world’s informal economy hard. Existing on the margins, with no access to social safety nets such as unemployment insurance and pensions, many of the 2 billion informal workers around the world were already barely keeping their heads above water before the lockdowns. One analysis estimated that 1.6 billion informal sector workers worldwide would suffer a 62 percent decline in income in the first few months of the crisis alone, with workers in...

April 8, 2021
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01Apr

Informal Sector in GDP: A Panel Estimation Method

By Nitesh Kansara, Gopal K. Basak, Pranab Kumar Das Estimation of the activities of the informal sector in an economy poses a serious problem for obtaining a correct estimate of GDP. This happens to be so because of the fact that informal sector activities are not registered. The literature has tried to solve the problem of estimation of the informal sector using the method of latent variables. The standard approach is generally aims to estimate for a single point. The present...

April 1, 2021
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March 2021
25Mar

Managing the Employment Impacts of the COVID-19 Crisis: Policy Options for Relief and Restructuring

By Eliana Carranza, Thomas Farole, Ugo Gentilini, Matteo Morgandi, Truman Packard, Indhira Santos, and Michael Weber This note discusses policy options for managing the employment impacts of the COVID-19 crisis aimed at relief and restructuring. The relief phase corresponds to an initial COVID-19 phase when the health emergency dominates, lockdowns are common, and the focus is on saving lives, providing support to workers and households to manage the income shock and to firms to say afloat and, often retain workers;...

March 25, 2021
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17Mar

Uber Grants Vacation Pay, Pensions to U.K. Drivers in Change of Job Status

Uber Technologies Inc. said it will grant its U.K. drivers an employment status entitling them to vacation pay and pension contributions, a costly shift in one of its largest overseas markets amid a global debate over the treatment of gig-economy workers. Read also UK. Pension longevity risk transfers reach record-breaking £55.8bn in 2020 The changes may presage legal wrangling, however, because the ride-hailing company says it will guarantee its drivers the U.K.’s minimum wage only after they have accepted a trip—not...

March 17, 2021
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11Mar

Shoring Up Shortfalls: Women, Retirement and the Growing Gigsupp Economy

By Caroline Bruckner, Jonathan Barry Forman In recent years, high-profile Silicon Valley firms have engineered billion-dollar IPOs through developing online and app-based platforms that connect service providers and sellers with customers and process their payments (the “online platform economy”). Today, millions of Americans earn income using platforms developed by Uber, Etsy, and Airbnb; and research has identified the limitations of existing federal tax rules to facilitate tax compliance of these workers and considered the consequences of their failure to pay...

March 11, 2021
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05Mar

Society, Economy and Development During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Lesson for Emerging Economies

By Lovelina Little Flower FX, Sigamani Panneer, Hilaria Soundari, Lekha Bhat, Tresa Sugirtha J, Santhosh JS, Mhadeno Y Humtsoe, Vigneshwaran S A, Jeya Baskaran S and Samuel Paul Raj The unprecedented COVID-19 pandemic impacted with multidimensional crisis has disrupted the functioning of the society, devastated global economy and has debilitated development. The appalling implications varied from country to country depending on their economy, health infrastructure, and socio-political factors. This in turn has also reflected on their responses to the pandemic...

March 5, 2021
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05Mar

Labour Market and Technological Development in Central Asia

By Roman Mogilevskii This paper discusses the current situation in the labour markets of the economies of Central Asia and considers the options available to use labour market policies to support the technological development of these economies. It analyses contemporary issues in the labour markets of these countries including the labour migration, informality, inequality, and financing of pensions through the taxation of labour. The paper provides recommendations for the modification of labour market policies to promote the economic diversification and...

March 5, 2021
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February 2021
26Feb

Protecting people working through platforms: Commission launches a first-stage consultation of the social partners

Today, the Commission launches the first-stage consultation of European social partners on how to improve the working conditions for people working through digital labour platforms. Platform work is developing rapidly in the EU across a growing number of business sectors. It can offer increased flexibility, job opportunities and additional revenue, including for people who might find it more difficult to enter the traditional labour market. However, certain types of platform work are also associated with precarious working conditions, reflected...

February 26, 2021
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11Feb

Opportunities for extending social security coverage in Jordan

By ILO The report aims to support Jordanian policymakers in the extension of social security to informal workers. It formulates typologies for informal workers outside the social security system, analyses the main constraints to coverage and outlines a range of policy approaches for the extension of coverage. The Jordanian government has been working to expand social security coverage of its workforce. In the context of the National Social Protection Strategy, the Cabinet has committed to developing an action plan to reduce...

February 11, 2021
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