Jamele Rigolini – författare

Most countries implement social protection programs to help individuals manage risks such as unemployment, disability, illness, longevity or death. In many middle income countries, these are often based on a 'Bismarckian model' (named after Otto von Bismarck), where benefits are financed by contributions levied on salaried employment. In countries with a large informal sector, however, only a fraction of the population is covered by this system and non-contributory programs have been added or are planned to increase coverage. This can create distortions in the labor market, and the book is about policies to expand the coverage of social insurance programs to all workers, without reducing incentives to job creation and formal work.While few would argue against the need and social merits of social insurance and social assistance programs there are growing concerns about their unintended consequences on labor markets because of poor design. The programs can distort incentives and individual behaviors in ways that either reduce employment levels and/or promote informality, ultimately affecting productivity and economic performance. For instance, high social security contribution rates can reduce formal employment; badly designed unemployment benefits can reduce incentives to keep, search, and take jobs; and fragmented social assistance programs can become a tax on formal labor and encourage informality.The book reviews the evidence regarding the effects of social insurance and social assistance programs on labor market outcomes and discusses options to improve their design and implementation. The book focuses particularly on middle income countries in Latin America and Asia with a large informal sector and suggests ways to reduce these distortions and better manage and finance the subsidies to make coverage universal, while creating good jobs. The book compiles expert papers from the joint conferences of the World Bank (WB), the Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA) and the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) on Employment and Development.

Entrepreneurship—manifested in the entry of new firms or products into new markets, or substantial improvements in technological capacity or process innovation by incumbent firms—is widely considered to be an important ingredient for long term economic development. Entrepreneurship in Latin America and the Caribbean argues that entrepreneurship is also a source of employment generation, export growth, and resilience during economic downturns.Although the conventional wisdom suggests that Latin American and Caribbean countries underperform relative to China and other emerging markets in terms of its entrepreneurial dynamism, this report provides evidence suggesting that the region is characterised by substantial entrepreneurship. The main challenge in the region is not a lack of entrepreneurs, but rather their relatively low level of innovation and the slow growth of incumbent firms. The report discusses the nature of new entrants into markets and the factors that might help stimulate private-sector innovation after firms have survived the initial test of market competition.

Chronic poverty raises perhaps the most complex and difficult challenge for governments around the world. Chronic poverty refers to those people that persistently live in low levels of welfare over long periods, as opposed to vulnerable populations that may get in and out of poverty due to shocks. Within generations, this manifests itself by the weak link between economic growth and the income generation capabilities that hinder individuals ability to integrate productively in society. Left Behind: Chronic Poverty in Latin America and the Caribbean is motivated by three questions: How many people live in chronic poverty in Latin America and the Caribbean? Who are they and how effective has been the policy toolkit in the region to address chronic poverty? This publication reviews the evolution of chronic poverty between 2004 and 2012 in Latin America and the Caribbean. From an inter-generational perspective, chronic poverty is associated with the long-term structural constraints that persist from one generation to the other, and can be framed as a problem of fairness or equality of opportunity. In addition to its links to the fairness of the social system and the capacity to move out of poverty, the chronicity or persistence of poverty also results from the lack of voice of some population groups and the lack of responsiveness of the political system to their needs. The nature and extent of chronic poverty are therefore multidimensional. Addressing chronic poverty thus requires a multi-layer, cross-sectoral policy approach that is tailored to specific manifestations of chronic poverty in a given context.

Universal Basic Income (UBI) is one of the most hotly-debated ideas in development and social protection. Drawing from global evidence and experiences, this volume provides a compass to help navigate key issues and trade-offs, as well as offering new data and insights to better inform choices around the appropriateness and feasibility of UBI in different contexts. Structured around seven chapters and based on one of the most comprehensive reviews of the literature available, the book provides a framework to understand the interplay between objectives, design, incentives, micro-simulations, financing, political economy, and implementation of UBI as well as of social assistance more generally.