The World Bank's “Employing Workers” index: Findings and critiques – A review of recent evidence |
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| Authors: | Sangheon Lee Deirdre McCann Nina Torm |
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| Affiliation: | 1. Senior Researchers, Conditions of Work and Employment Programme, International Labour Office, Switzerland. A research network on Regulating for Decent Work has been established to develop alternative perspectives on labour market regulations. Interested researchers can obtain further details by email from lees@ilo.org or mccann@ilo.org.;2. Researcher, Development Economics Research Group (DERG), University of Copenhagen, Denmark. |
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| Abstract: | This note provides an update on the ongoing debate over the World Bank's Doing Business project with a particular focus on its “Employing Workers” index, which is intended to measure difficulty of hiring, rigidity of working hours and difficulty of firing. The authors review the findings of studies that have used this index or been influenced by it and of those that inspired its construction. They go on to examine criticisms of this instrument, highlighting both conceptual and empirical problems. Their paper concludes with suggestions for alternative approaches and future research. |
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| Keywords: | labour flexibility labour law employment employment security measurement role of World Bank |
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