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1. Why Morocco’s Youth Employment Policies Continue to Fail

Author:
Ismail Ait Bassou
Publication Date:
02-2023
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Arab Reform Initiative (ARI)
Abstract:
Although Morocco has launched several programs designed to provide job opportunities for young people, youth unemployment rates remain high. This paper argues these programs have proven ineffective and are compounded by an unsustainable business environment, and presents some recommendations to ensure the planned reforms in the youth employment sector deliver on what they promise.
Topic:
Labor Issues, Employment, Youth, and Job Creation
Political Geography:
Africa and Morocco

2. Climate Adaptation and Job Creation: Addressing the Climate and Livelihoods Crises in India

Author:
Anjana Thampi
Publication Date:
11-2023
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Political Economy Research Institute (PERI), University of Massachusetts Amherst
Abstract:
India was seventh in a list of the ten most affected countries due to extreme weather events in 2019. A sharp increase in the frequency and intensity of such events in the country by the end of the twenty-first century is projected. At the same time, relatively high economic growth rates have not resulted in secure and sustainable employment opportunities in the Indian economy. The loss of millions of jobs due to climate hazards in the country is also projected. In this context, I raise two key questions. First, are livelihoods in certain regions within India more vulnerable to climatic changes? The priority regions for adaptation planning and intervention are identified by constructing a livelihoods vulnerability index. Second, can institutional climate adaptation activities simultaneously address the climate and livelihoods crises in the country? The job creation estimates through five representative adaptation activities support the need for increased spending in a climate adaptation programme. Spending 1.5 percent of the GDP on a climate adaptation programme could create jobs to the extent of 1.3 percent of the labour force as of 2017-18. Investing 3 percent of the GDP on a combined climate adaptation and mitigation programme over the same amount spent instead on a fossil fuel-based programme would lead to net employment gains of around 2 percent of the labour force. This paper argues that investing in climate adaptation activities can secure livelihoods while improving mechanisms to build resilience to climate hazards. Such activities, if planned and implemented in accordance with the geographies, vulnerabilities, and socio-economic patterns of each region, could be transformational.
Topic:
Climate Change, Economic Growth, Job Creation, Adaptation, and Livelihoods
Political Geography:
South Asia and India

3. Rural Vulnerability, Employment and Social Safety Programmes in Egypt: How Far Could State Initiatives Go?

Author:
Hussein Suleiman
Publication Date:
04-2023
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
IEMed/EuroMeSCo
Abstract:
This paper aims to assess the Haya Karima initiative, launched by the Egyptian government in 2019, which targets rural communities to achieve inclusive development and eliminate poverty. The paper examines the goals, interventions, and scale of the initiative and uses official data to provide indicators of its operations. Additionally, the paper analyzes rural vulnerability and poverty in Egypt, with a focus on employment opportunities and quality. Hussein Suleiman argues that while the initiative has been scaled up significantly, it has been inadequately planned and disproportionately focuses on infrastructure interventions that are unlikely to eliminate poverty. The paper proposes institutional reform as a necessary route to inclusive development and job creation in rural and urban Egypt, and recommends policy changes to address vulnerability and poverty in the country.
Topic:
Development, Poverty, Reform, Job Creation, and Economic Inclusion
Political Geography:
Middle East, North Africa, and Egypt

4. Profile and determinants of lived poverty in Benin

Author:
Romaric Samson and Richard Houessou
Publication Date:
10-2022
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Afrobarometer
Abstract:
The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, launched in 2015, outlines global aspirations and priorities through the end of this decade. Prominently, the first two Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) call for ending poverty “in all its forms everywhere” and for “zero hunger” (United Nations, 2021a). The proportion of the world’s population living in extreme poverty decreased from 36% in 1990 to 16% in 2010 and to 10% in 2015, but the COVID-19 pandemic is likely to have reversed this trend (Sumner, Hoy, & Ortiz-Juarez, 2020). Benin has had one of the fastest-growing economies in sub-Saharan Africa in recent years (Adegoke, 2019), with per-capita gross domestic product (GDP) growth averaging 3.6% between 2017 and 2019 (World Bank, 2020). But the most recent household survey led by the Institut National de la Statistique et de l’Analyse Economique (2018) estimated that 38.5% of citizens still live in poverty. Are GDP gains translating into better lives for ordinary Beninese? According to Afrobarometer survey findings, “lived poverty” – the experience of going without basic life necessities – has worsened significantly over the past decade in Benin. More than three out of four Beninese face moderate or high levels of lived poverty. Many of these citizens continue to have limited access to the electricity grid, water and sanitation services, and other essential development infrastructure. Most importantly, our analysis shows they often lack the education and employment needed to break the poverty cycle.
Topic:
Education, Poverty, Infrastructure, Inequality, and Job Creation
Political Geography:
Africa and Benin

5. A Model Comprehensive MSME Policy for Indian States

Author:
Richard M. Rossow
Publication Date:
11-2022
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS)
Abstract:
Small businesses are the job-creating engines of any healthy economy. Having a supportive policy environment can help high-potential businesses accelerate. Creating such an environment is a shared responsibility of both the central government and India’s 28 states. Many state governments in India have piecemeal policies and programs to support micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs). About one-third of India’s states have worked to craft multifaceted and supportive policies and practices to encourage MSME growth. This paper reviews the ideas already enacted in different Indian states, as well as in national and subnational governments around the world. Developing a single comprehensive MSME policy is an effective approach for a state-level government to consider. It allows small firms to find policy incentives and programs in a single place, and perhaps most importantly, it allows a state to directly consider a range of intertwined incentives that can work together. This will maximize the positive impact to small firms that are poised for growth. Facilitating the growth of MSMEs will have a much wider impact on India’s job growth overall. The large multinational manufacturers that India hopes to lure to invest through programs like Make in India require a diverse and efficient network of suppliers. Supporting MSME growth can create a multiplier effect—driving new investment and employment generation by larger firms. The central government has affirmed a 25 percent target of gross domestic product (GDP) for manufacturing, up from around 14 percent today. This white paper provides leading international examples in the promotion of small businesses, while also enumerating best practices from Indian states’ MSME policies. The final section lays out the 30 elements commonly utilized by Indian states to offer targeted assistance to MSMEs as a roadmap for other states that want to provide best-in-class policy interventions.
Topic:
Development, Economics, Business, and Job Creation
Political Geography:
India and Asia

6. Assessing the Job Creation Potential of the Social Economy in the MENA Region

Author:
Philippe Adair, Vladimir Hlasny, Kareem Sharabi Rosshandler, and Mariem Omrani
Publication Date:
07-2022
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
IEMed/EuroMeSCo
Abstract:
The role of the Social and Solidarity Economy (SSE) in the process of job creation and formalisation of the informal economy has been understudied. This policy study aims to examine the issue of widespread youth employment in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region and the mismatch between labour supply and demand to promote the creation of start-up businesses to formalise these enterprises. To do so, the authors of this paper analyse this issue in the context of six countries, three in North Africa – Egypt, Morocco and Tunisia – and three in the Middle East – Jordan, Lebanon and Palestine. They do so by using figures of informal employment, a database compilation and interviews with experts on this subject. The study comprises four different sections that tackle different aspects of the job creation potential of the social economy. The first chapter compiles microdata from four Labour Market Panel Surveys and Economic Research Forum COVID-19 MENA Monitor Surveys to assess employment statuses by age group and gender. The second part identifies the hybrid components of the SSE including for-profit and not-for-profit entities. The third section uses extensive desk research, including data collection and in-depth interviews with key informants to come up with an overview of the major funding sources of the SSEs in the examined countries and the obstacles they face when accessing credit and tailored financial services. The last chapter analyses the formalisation policies that aim to tackle the informality of the economy. Overall, the study argues that formalising informality benefits employment by bringing to light activities performed at home or without premises. It provides evidence of the potential of the SSE in enhancing job creation in specific fields and providing citizens with dignified conditions that allow their better performance. In order to untap such potential, this policy study includes extensive recommendations aimed at different stakeholders.
Topic:
Labor Issues, Job Creation, Informal Economy, and Social Economy
Political Geography:
Middle East and North Africa