Stefanie Brodmann

Jobs for Shared Prosperity : Time for Action in the Middle East and North Africa

Jobs are crucial for individual well-being. They provide a livelihood and, equally important, a sense of dignity. They are also crucial for collective well-being and economic growth. However, the rules and incentives that govern labor markets in Middle East and North Africa (MENA) countries have led to in efficient and inequitable outcomes, both individually and collectively. Several underlying distortions prevent a more productive use of human capital and have led to a widespread sense of unfairness and exclusion, of which the Arab Spring was a powerful expression. The Middle East and North Africa has a large reservoir of untapped human resources, with the worlds highest unemployment rate among youth and the lowest participation of females in the labor force. Desirable jobs, defined as high paying or formal jobs, are few, and private employment is overwhelmingly of low added value. Overall, the regions labor markets can be characterized as being in efficient, inequitable, and locked in low productivity equilibrium.

Non-public provision of active labor market programs in Arab- Mediterranean countries : an inventory of youth programs

This note presents and analyzes the main design features of an inventory of non-publicly provided Active Labor Market Programs (ALMPs) in Arab-Mediterranean Countries (AMCs), with a specific focus on programs targeted at youth. Despite considerable international evidence, there is little systematic analysis on the effectiveness of ALMPs in AMCs as most programs and investments remain largely un-assessed. Since most AMCs lack unemployment insurance systems or other safety nets for the unemployed, ALMPs constitute a relevant instrument to address the consequences of labor market frictions, such as high unemployment and slow school-to-work transition. Programs from nine countries are included in the inventory: Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Egypt, Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, West Bank and Gaza, and Yemen. Benchmarked against international best practices, assessment of the programs covered in the inventory reveals that the majority lack the necessary mix of design features that make programs effective. These findings call for urgent reforms in program design and delivery, especially given the sizeable financial investments in programs and the urgency to improve labor market outcomes among youth. This policy note constitutes a first step towards understanding and assessing provision of ALMPs in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region and intends to provide policy makers and financiers with options for reform to enhance efficiency of existing programs and improve the design of future interventions. In addition to specific aspects of program design and implementation, stakeholder coordination needs to be strengthened and put at the forefront of ALMP reform.

Djibouti: Subsidies, Tax Exemptions and Welfare

Universal tax exemptions were introduced in Djibouti in response to the food crisis and to shield the population from price shocks on essential food products. Djibouti depends massively on imports to meet its food needs and a large fraction of the population faces food insecurity. This paper examines the distributional effects of those untargeted subsidies in both food and fuel products. And then looks at the different reform options focusing on better targeted policies aiming at reducing poverty. Savings from a possible tax reform on fuel products and other funding resources could be rechanneled toward the poor and vulnerable. We look at the creation of a social registry of poor and vulnerable households, which will be used to target the poor and serve as a single platform used by all social assistance programs.