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Research Insights

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Welcome to Research Insights, a knowledge space dedicated to collect, condense, and communicate policy-relevant findings from our team's research. Each edition offers concise and accessible summaries of the most impactful studies, ensuring that policymakers, practitioners, and stakeholders stay informed about the latest developments and evidence in the field. Our goal is to bridge the gap between complex research and practical application, fostering informed decision-making and effective policy design.

As World Bank President Ajay Banga has emphasized, jobs don’t exist in isolation—they require both prepared workers and accessible opportunities. This edition of Research Insights explores both sides of this challenge, examining supply-side policies that equip workers with skills while addressing barriers that constrain labor demand.

On the supply side, research on job training and search assistance highlights interventions that link job training to market demand, help workers credibly signal skills, and support job seekers in exploring opportunities beyond their immediate surroundings.

On the demand side, interventions that promote structural transformation can generate more and better jobs. In Sub-Saharan Africa, the dominance of small, informal firms limits productivity and formal job creation —underscoring the importance of reducing formalization costs and market distortions that prevent firms from growing. Meanwhile, in Vietnam’s poorest districts, efforts to expand nonfarm employment reveal the importance of connecting rural workers to markets and credit.

Macroeconomic stability is also essential. Research on Brazil’s economy following the 2008 financial crisis shows how job losses and wage reductions can persist for years, emphasizing the need for stronger income support and employment policies.

Together, these studies offer practical insights to support jobseekers, foster firm growth, and build resilience against economic shocks—critical steps toward ensuring a future with more and better jobs.

What Are the Most Promising Avenues for Government Involvement in Job Training and Job Search? 
Eliana Carranza (Social Protection and Jobs Unit) and David McKenzie (Development Research Group)

jobs sewing

© Dominic Chavez / World Bank

Government-led job training and job search assistance programs often have limited impact on overall employment levels, particularly in low- and middle-income countries. This study highlights innovative strategies where government interventions can play a meaningful role. Linking job training to market demand—by focusing on high-demand skills or using results-based funding models—has shown promise in improving employment outcomes. For job search, interventions that encourage jobseekers to explore new locations, provide targeted information to update labor market beliefs, and help them credibly signal skills through certifications have demonstrated potential. Job training and search policies are most effective when paired with broader demand-side strategies that foster job creation by increasing firm productivity and promoting economic growth. 
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Unpacking the "Missing Middle": How Informality Shapes Employment in Sub-Saharan Africa
Kaleb Abreha (Poverty and Inequality), Xavier Cirera (Trade, Investment, and Competitiveness Global Department), Elwyn Davies (Trade, Investment, and Competitiveness), Roberto N. Fattal-Jaef (Development Research Group), and Hibert Maemir (Development Economics Indicators)

jobs warehouse

© Dominic Chavez / World Bank

In Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Ghana, and Rwanda, the manufacturing sector is dominated by small informal firms and characterized by a scarcity of medium-sized formal firms (a phenomenon known as the ‘missing middle’). This structure leads to lower aggregate productivity and fewer opportunities for formal job creation. This study finds that the missing middle does not occur as a result of the size of firms that enter the market, but rather because of the inability of incumbent informal firms to grow. Policies that reduce the costs of formalization and strengthen enforcement are key but not sufficient. They need to go hand in hand with measures that reduce existing entry barriers and distortions that prevent firms from growing. 
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Temporary Shocks with Long Lasting Impacts: Evidence from the Workforce in Brazil
Ana Margarida Fernandes (Development Research Group), Joana Silva (Human Development Chief Economist Office)

jobs line

© K Lynch / World Bank

Nearly a decade after the 2008–2009 Global Financial Crisis hit Brazil, employment levels in the country had not fully recovered, and wages remained persistently lower. Firms facing severe foreign demand shocks due to that crisis responded by not renewing fixed-term contracts and reducing working hours and wages for incumbent workers. Low-skilled workers were disproportionately affected, deepening long-term inequality. While assistance programs such as unemployment insurance and cash transfers as well as the prevalence of informality in local labor markets provide some buffer, they could not fully mitigate these effects. This study highlights the enduring impacts of transitory shocks on labor markets, showing how firm scarring drives worker scarring, and underscores the need for more robust income support and strategies to address both firm and job scarring. 
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Shifting Employment Patterns in Vietnam’s 62 Poorest Districts
Hai-Anh H. Dang (Development Data Group), Klaus Deininger (Development Research Group), and Cuong Viet Nguyen

jobs vietnam

Photo: Tran Thi Hoa / World Bank

In Vietnam’s poorest and most remote areas, where agricultural productivity is limited, increasing nonfarm self-employment and wage job opportunities is critical for income growth. The 30A Program, a multifaceted poverty alleviation initiative targeting Vietnam’s 62 poorest districts, shifted rural employment patterns by improving access to microcredit and formal loans, enabling transitions from farm to nonfarm self-employment. Marginal improvements in rural infrastructure—a component of the 30A program—may have supported this shift by better connecting rural areas to local markets.
While the program did not achieve its intended impacts on income and poverty levels, this study underscores the importance of identifying and addressing rural constraints—such as credit access and infrastructure—through targeted, context-specific interventions. 
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    Welcome to the first edition of Research Insights – a space to bring you closer to our team’s cutting-edge studies and insights.

    In this issue, explore how India’s public works program, MNREGA, successfully reduced groundwater depletion, how a large-scale preschool construction initiative in Mozambique is boosting enrollment and educational outcomes, and how electoral turnover is improving service delivery in Indonesian villages.

    These three studies span very different topics in development, but together they highlight the importance of strengthening capacities and civil engagement at subnational levels to achieve meaningful impact at scale.

    Event materials, news and call for papers below. 

     

    Two Brids with One Stone? The Impact of MNREGA on Groundwater in India
    A. Patrick Behrer, Hemant Pullabhotla

    Image

    © John Isaac / World Bank

    Established in 2005, India’s MNREGA program is the largest public works program in the world. Its primary goal is the provision of rural employment, but it also has important secondary objectives such as the building of rural infrastructure. This research highlights how surface water infrastructure funded by MNREGA significantly improved groundwater recharge, particularly in states with robust implementation. By enhancing groundwater availability, MNREGA not only boosted irrigation during the dry season but also enabled farmers to shift to higher-value crops and increase their revenues. These findings highlight that public works programs can successfully achieve critical secondary objectives like reducing groundwater depletion while they ameliorate rural poverty and unemployment.

    Read more > 

    Investing in Early Childhood: A Model for Scalability and Sustainability in Mozambique
    Marina Bassi, Bruno Besbas, Lelys Dinarte-Diaz, Saravana Ravindran, Ana Reynoso

    Image

    © Farhat / World Bank

    In rural Mozambique, a large-scale preschool construction program, which included hiring local instructors and offering parenting education, had positive impacts on beneficiary communities. Children living in these communities were significantly more likely to be enrolled in preschool, progress to primary school, and report higher cognitive and socio-emotional skills, compared to children in non-beneficiary areas. For rural and underserved communities where access to early childhood education remains a challenge, this study shows that strategically placed schools, coupled with community-based solutions, can improve enrollment rates and educational outcomes at scale.

    Read more >

    New Village Leadership, New Bureaucratic Energy: How Electoral Turnover Impacts Performance
    Samuel Bazzi, Masyhur Hilny, Benjamin Marx, Mahvish Shaukat, Andreas Stegmann

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    © Nugroho Nurdikiawan Sunjoyo / World Bank

    Local authorities manage services that impact people’s daily lives, such as water access, garbage collection, and street lighting. Evidence from over 500 villages across Indonesia shows that turnover in local elections reshapes the bureaucracy by inducing staff reshuffling (hiring, demotions, and reallocations) and by reducing the prevalence of nepotistic networks. Bureaucrats under new leadership exert more effort and interact with citizens more frequently, leading to better alignment of citizen-bureaucrat beliefs and higher levels of service delivery. By analyzing the role of electoral turnover in strengthening local governance, this research shows the pathway through which citizen engagement can improve accountability in service provision.

    Read more >

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    Another focus of research is the school-to-work transition, exploring pathways for youth to successfully transition from education to employment. Understanding the skills and competencies needed in the labor market, as well as the role of vocational training and entrepreneurship programs, informs policies and initiatives aimed at facilitating smooth transitions and fostering youth empowerment.

    Informational Barriers to Female Employment in India: Experimental Evidence from Vocational Training Students
    S Anukriti, Catalina Herrera-Almanza, and Sophie Ochmann

    The Influence of COVID-19 on Young Women's Labor Market Aspirations and Expectations in India
    S Anukriti, Catalina Herrera-Almanza, and Sophie Ochmann

    Improving youth labor market outcomes in Sikkim: Impact Evaluation with a P4R operation in India
    S Anukriti

    Improving non-farm employment of women in Tamil Nadu: Impact Evaluation with a P4R operation in India
    S Anukriti

    Enhancing Apprenticeship Programs for Youth and Firms
    Oyebola Okunogbe

    Apprenticeships, Skills and the Transition to Work in Senegal
    Frédéric Aubery, John Giles, and David Sahn

    The Fast Track to New Skills: Short-Cycle Higher Education Programs in Latin America and the Caribbean
    M. M. FerreyraLelys Dinarte-Diaz, Sergio Urzua, and Marina Bassi

    Quality Determinants of Short-Cycle Higher Education Programs in Latin America and the Caribbean In "The Fast Track to New Skills...
    Lelys Dinarte-Diaz, and Marina Bassi, 2021

    What Makes a Program Good? Evidence from Short-Cycle Higher Education Programs in Five Developing Countries
    Lelys Dinarte-Diaz
    , M. M. Ferreyra, S. Urzua, and M. Bassi, World Development, 2023 | Working Paper Version

    The Value Added of Short-Cycle Higher Education Programs to Students' Outcomes: Evidence from Colombia
    Lelys Dinarte-Diaz,
     M. M. Ferreyra, T. Melguizo, and A. Sanchez | Working Paper Version

    Experts

    The World Bank

    Director, Development Research Group