Does Public-Sector Employment Fully Crowd Out Private-Sector Employment?


Book Description

We quantify the extent to which public-sector employment crowds out private-sector employment using specially assembled datasets for a large cross-section of developing and advanced countries, and discuss the implications for countries in the Middle East, North Africa, Caucasus and Central Asia. These countries simultaneously display high unemployment rates, low private-sector employment rates and high proportions of government-sector employment. Regressions of either private-sector employment rates or unemployment rates on two measures of public-sector employment point to full crowding out. This means that high rates of public employment, which incur substantial fiscal costs, have a large negative impact on private employment rates and do not reduce overall unemployment rates.




Does Public-Sector Employment Fully Crowd Out Private-Sector Employment?


Book Description

Employment matters for development because it can raise household income, lower inequality, promote economic growth, and contribute to political stability. Many countries have high rates of public employment, but what effect does this have on overall employment and unemployment rates? This paper investigates if and to what extent public-sector employment crowds out (reduces) private-sector employment. In particular, we estimate regressions of unemployment or private-sector employment on two measures of public-sector employment. The study uses an especially assembled dataset, which is novel for its coverage of a large sample of developing countries as part of a panel of rich and poor countries. Our results point to full or just about full crowding-out for the entire sample. Unlike previous cross-country studies, which were restricted to advanced economies, we are able to show that these results also apply to developing countries, although crowding-out may not be quite as high as in advanced economies. The results mean that high rates of public employment have an offsetting large negative impact on private employment rates and do not reduce overall unemployment rates. With the qualifier that government activities may help the economy in other ways, our results imply that, rather than creating public-sector jobs, scarce fiscal resources could be better spent on other developmental needs.




Managing Government Compensation and Employment - Institutions, Policies, and Reform Challenges


Book Description

Government compensation and employment policies are important for the efficient delivery of public services which are crucial for the functioning of economies and the general prosperity of societies. On average, spending on the wage bill absorbs around one-fifth of total spending. Cross-country variation in wage spending reflects, in part, national choices about the government’s role in priority sectors, as well as variations in the level of economic development and resource constraints.




The Job Guarantee


Book Description

This timely collection will be the first of its kind to focus on the practical application of the government job guarantee (JG) for both developed and developing economies. Global case studies include: United States, China, Ghana, Argentina, Ireland, Iceland, and India.




Private Government


Book Description

Why our workplaces are authoritarian private governments—and why we can’t see it One in four American workers says their workplace is a “dictatorship.” Yet that number almost certainly would be higher if we recognized employers for what they are—private governments with sweeping authoritarian power over our lives. Many employers minutely regulate workers’ speech, clothing, and manners on the job, and employers often extend their authority to the off-duty lives of workers, who can be fired for their political speech, recreational activities, diet, and almost anything else employers care to govern. In this compelling book, Elizabeth Anderson examines why, despite all this, we continue to talk as if free markets make workers free, and she proposes a better way to think about the workplace, opening up space for discovering how workers can enjoy real freedom.




The Government Analytics Handbook


Book Description

The Government Analytics Handbook presents frontier evidence and practitioner insights on how to leverage data to strengthen public administration. Covering a range of microdata sources—such as administrative data and public servant surveys—as well as tools and resources for undertaking the analytics, it transforms the ability of governments to take a data-informed approach to diagnose and improve how public organizations work. Readers can order the book as a single volume in print or digital formats, or visit worldbank.org/governmentanalytics for modular access and additional hands-on tools. The Handbook is a must-have for practitioners, policy makers, academics, and government agencies. “Governments have long been assessed using aggregate governance indicators, giving us little insight into their diversity and how they can practically be improved. This pioneering handbook shows how microdata can be used to give scholars and practitioners granular and real insights into how states work, and practical guidance on the process of state-building.†? —Francis Fukuyama, Stanford University, author of State-Building: Governance and World Order in the 21st Century “The Government Analytics Handbook is the most comprehensive work on practically building government administration I have ever seen, helping practitioners to change public administration for the better.†? —Francisco Gaetani, Special Secretary for State Transformation, Government of Brazil “The machinery of the state is central to a country’s prosperity. This handbook provides insights and methodological tools for creating a better shared understanding of the realities of a state, to support the redesign of institutions, and improve the quality of public administration.†? —James Robinson, University of Chicago, coauthor of Why Nations Fail







The Macroeconomics of the Arab States of the Gulf


Book Description

The economies of the Arab states of the Gulf have gone through considerable changes in the last decade, spurred by high oil prices and ambitious diversification plans. Large-scale immigration provided the labour force while capital inflows and financial development leveraged oil wealth to finance diversification. The collapse in real estate prices around the world followed by the global crisis slowed growth and raised questions on the appropriateness of what has been dubbed the 'GCC model'. The Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries have thus far managed to leverage their large natural resource wealth to achieve economic prosperity and finance social advances, and the region also emerged as an important source of funds for the other countries in the Middle East. Nevertheless, the GCC face several challenges. Productivity growth must increase to fully reap the benefits of investment. Jobs must be created for the nationals and the growing youth population. State intervention (which is prevalent, given that oil revenues accrue to the government) must become efficient and be used to diversify and modernize the economy. In addition, the recent crisis highlighted the importance of fiscal, monetary, and financial stability policies to manage macroeconomic cycles. This book analyses these issues and combines data and econometric analysis with theoretical discussions. It concludes with a discussion of the importance of the GCC for the wider region.




Botswana


Book Description

This Selected Issues paper examines fiscal policy implications for labor market and economic diversification in Botswana. The IMF report analyzes that large public employment significantly affect labor market outcomes in middle-income countries, including Botswana. It is noted that reforms aimed at reducing the rents and the size of the public sector is likely to significantly improve market outcomes in Botswana. As part of efforts to find new engines of growth and support sustainable long-term and broad-based growth, Botswana has over the years also vigorously pursued policies to diversify the economy.




Comparing the Employment-Output Elasticities of Expatriates and Nationals in the Gulf Cooperation Council


Book Description

We estimate the elasticity of private-sector employment to non-oil GDP in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) for GCC nationals and expatriates using a Seemingly Unrelated Error Correction (SUREC) model. Our results indicate that the employment response is lower for nationals, who have an estimated short-run elasticity of only 0.15 and a long-run response of 0.7 or less. The elasticity is almost unity for expatriates in the long run and 0.35 in the short run. We interpret low elasticities as indirect evidence of labor market adjustment costs, which could include hiring and firing rigidities, skills mismatches, and reluctance to accept private sector jobs. Forecasts suggest that, absent measures to reduce adjustment costs, the private sector will only be able to absorb a small portion of nationals entering the labor force.