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dc.titleMaking Labor Markets Work: Improving Productivity and Workers Welfare in Latin America and the Caribbean
dc.contributor.authorGonzález-Velosa, Carolina
dc.contributor.authorKaplan, David S.
dc.contributor.authorMinaya, Auri Melissa
dc.contributor.authorSilva Porto, María Teresa
dc.contributor.orgunitSocial Protection and Labor Markets Division
dc.coverageLatin America
dc.coverageThe Caribbean
dc.date.available2026-07-31T16:07:00
dc.date.issue2026-07-31T00:07:00
dc.description.abstractMaking labor markets work, for both productivity and worker welfare, is among the most important and most neglected levers available to Latin America and the Caribbean. The region's labor market combines decades of stagnant productivity with a structure dominated by excessive levels of self-employment and employment in micro-enterprises, where most workers lack social security coverage and capture only a fraction of the value they produce. Drawing on three decades of harmonized household survey data, institutional analysis, empirical evidence, and country case studies, this book analyzes how labor market institutions shape productivity, employment, wages and formality across the region. It also shows that modernizing employment regulation, delinking the financing of social protection from formal jobs, strengthening enforcement, and investing in skills and active labor market policies can raise productivity while ensuring workers' share in its gains, contribute to expand social protection and improve labor market outcomes.
dc.format.extent425
dc.identifier.doihttp://dx.doi.org/10.18235/0014415
dc.identifier.isbn9781597826129
dc.identifier.isbn9781597826112
dc.identifier.urlhttps://publications.iadb.org/publications/english/document/Making-Labor-Markets-Work-Improving-Productivity-and-Workers-Welfare-in-Latin-America-and-the-Caribbean.pdf
dc.identifier.urlhttps://publications.iadb.org/publications/spanish/document/Hacer-que-los-mercados-laborales-funcionen-mejorar-la-productividad-y-el-bienestar-de-los-trabajadores-en-America-Latina-y-el-Caribe.pdf
dc.language.isoen
dc.publisherInter-American Development Bank
dc.subjectLabor
dc.subjectLabor Force
dc.subjectProductivity Growth
dc.subjectMinimum Wage
dc.subjectWage
dc.subjectLabor Market
dc.subjectSocial Security
dc.subjectSkills System
dc.subjectSkills
dc.subjectSmall Business
dc.subjectRegulation
dc.subjectGender Equality and Women's Empowerment
dc.subjectEquality of Opportunity
dc.subjectPension Systems
dc.subject.jelcodeJ08 - Labor Economics Policies
dc.subject.jelcodeJ21 - Labor Force and Employment, Size, and Structure
dc.subject.jelcodeJ24 - Human Capital • Skills • Occupational Choice • Labor Productivity
dc.subject.jelcodeJ32 - Nonwage Labor Costs and Benefits • Retirement Plans • Private Pensions
dc.subject.jelcodeJ38 - Public Policy
dc.subject.jelcodeJ46 - Informal Labor Markets
dc.subject.jelcodeJ65 - Unemployment Insurance • Severance Pay • Plant Closings
dc.subject.jelcodeO54 - Latin America • Caribbean
dc.subject.keywordslabor market;labor force;Productivity;Informality;public administration;labor policy;Workforce and Employment
dc.typeBooks
idb.identifier.pubnumberIDB-BK-00281
idb.operationRG-E1948
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