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This paper analyzes recent trends in Swedens labor market regulations in relation to comparator economies and examines the relationship between labor market regulations and outcomes. The paper finds that the Swedish labor market responded more rapidly to the recent global financial crisis than the majority of the European Union economies, which helped Sweden to recover quickly. Swedens hiring regulations are more flexible than those of many comparator economies, however, fixed-term contracts of short duration might have adverse consequences for the economy. In addition, Swedens regulations on work during the weekly holidays and mandatory paid annual leave are stricter than those of the majority of comparator economies. Moreover, among the economies of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, Sweden has one of the largest differences in employment protection between permanent and temporary employees, which could lead to a segmented labor market, where insiders enjoy high job security and outsiders are largely marginalized. This could be cause for concern, given that Sweden has a higher share of involuntary temporary workers among youth and involuntary part-time workers than both the Nordic and European Union averages. While protecting employees is important, excessive protection, particularly if it differs across different types of employment contracts, has been shown to have adverse effects on welfare and economic performance.

Using data from a national survey of Chinese manufacturing firms conducted in 2009, the authors analyze the impact of implementation of China's 2008 labor contract law on the employment of production workers. The authors found that cities with lax prior enforcement of labor regulations experienced a greater increase in enforcement after 2008 and slower employment growth, and that this finding is robust to inclusion of a rich set of city-level controls and the use of alternative measures of enforcement effort. Although firms affected by the global economic crisis did not report less strict enforcement of the new law, there is evidence that their employment adjustment was less sensitive to enforcement of labor regulations than firms not affected by the crisis.

Almost four years since the onset of the global financial and economic crisis, unemployment and underemployment remain stubbornly high in many G20 countries, and many workers remain trapped in low paid, often informal, jobs with little social protection. Job creation has been anemic in many countries, too slow to fully reabsorb the mass of unemployed and underemployed or, particularly in some emerging market economies, to keep pace with labour force growth and the pressures of rural-urban migration. This raises concerns about the long-term negative effects on human capital, growing inequality and lower future output growth. The political pressures are high, and the risk of a drift towards protectionist measures aimed at 'keeping jobs at home' cannot be ignored. While there is substantial variation in national contexts, G20 countries can help minimize these risks through collective and collaborative work aimed at identifying and implementing credible policy reforms that will boost job creation, employment and the quality of jobs. The report aims at providing a preliminary review of countries' experiences against the backdrop of an evolving economic outlook and could form the basis of a more in-depth analysis, should Ministers request it. Improving labour market outcomes involves several challenges relating to both the quantity and quality aspects of job creation. There is a need in all countries to harness growth to generate labour market opportunities that correspond to labour force growth.

The paper examines severance pay programs around the world by providing the first ever overview of existing programs, examining their historic development, assessing their economic rationale and describing current reform attempts. While a significant part of the paper is devoted to a comprehensive 183 cross country review of existing severance arrangements and their characteristics, the paper goes beyond a mere description. It develops and empirically tests three hypotheses about the economic rationale of the program, namely severance pay being: (i) a primitive income protection program, (ii) an efficiency enhancing human resource instrument, and (iii) a job protection instrument. The paper also reviews the recent reforms of Austria, Chile, Italy, and Korea.

This note provides a general background of the main features of labor regulation in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) and benchmarks them against international best practices. The note compiles information on available labor laws and other legal acts concerning employment protection regulation. Within the broader scope of labor regulation, and in order to assure regional comparability, information collected focuses on key issues in the labor law associated with commencing or terminating employment and during the period of employment (including maternity benefits). The main sources the data are the World Bank doing business 2010 and International Labour Organisation (ILO) databank. This note is a tool to provide policymakers and international organizations with a regional diagnose of how labor regulation affects labor market outcomes in MENA and inform client governments about strategic approaches to employment creation through labor policy and reform. This activity comes as a response to regional priorities in the context of the Arab World Initiative (AWI). One of the six strategic themes of the AWI focuses explicitly on employment creation as a top priority. Part of the World Bank's mandate under the AWI is to inform client governments about strategic approaches to employment creation through labor policy and reform.

Mounting evidence suggests that excessive job protection reduces employment and labor market flows, hinders technological innovations, pushes workers into the informal sector, and hurts vulnerable groups by depriving them of job opportunities. Flexible labor markets stimulate job creation, investment, and growth, but they create job insecurity and displace some workers. How can the costs of such insecurity and displacements be minimized while ensuring that the labor market remains flexible? Each of the main unemployment income support systems (unemployment insurance, unemployment assistance, unemployment insurance savings accounts, severance pay, and public works) has strengths and weaknesses. Country-specific conditions, chief among them labor market and other institutions, the capacity to administer each type of system, and the size of the informal sector, determine which system is best suited to developing and transition countries.