Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/99028 
Year of Publication: 
2014
Series/Report no.: 
IZA Discussion Papers No. 8193
Publisher: 
Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA), Bonn
Abstract: 
Worldwide 600 million jobs are needed over the next 15 years to keep employment rates at their current level. Governments, non-governmental organizations and donors spend on targeted programs and broader policies to enhance employment creation and the creation of new firms. Because most employment in low and middle income countries is in micro, small and medium-sized enterprises, these firms are especially targeted by such interventions. Despite these efforts, not much is known about which of these interventions are really effective and under which conditions particular interventions work. This systematic review synthesizes the existing evidence on the impact of these programs. Overall the review shows that creating employment is a very complex challenge. Many conditions have to be met before interventions in favor of individual enterprises do not only improve business practices and performance but also lead to additional jobs. A striking finding is that the study design matters for the impacts found; randomized controlled trials find systematically smaller effects than quasi-experimental studies. A significant shortcoming of the literature is that almost nothing is known about long term effects and cost effectiveness.
Subjects: 
employment
active labor market policy
firm creation
micro
small and medium sized firms
impact evaluations
systematic review
JEL: 
D22
G21
J21
O10
Document Type: 
Working Paper

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