Labor Market Reform and Job Creation: The Unfinished Agenda in Latin American and Caribbean Countries

' ... the relationship between employment growth and output growth ... is greatly affected by the functioning, efficiency and institutional structure of the labor market.'
- Joseph Stiglitz, Chief Economist, World Bank

Despite the resumption of economic growth in most LAC countries since the late 1980s, improvements on the employment/unemployment front have been sluggish at best, with a few notable exceptions. In many countries, renewed growth in LAC in the 1990s has so far failed to generate adequate new jobs in place of those lost during the adjustment, and to restore wages to pre-crisis levels. The focus of this book is on:

* the performance of labor markets in the LAC region since the beginning of significant structural reforms most countries in the region have undertaken;
* the structure of labor markets, institutions, and incentive structures;
* the effects of that structure on employment, earnings, income distribution, and poverty levels;
* the role of labor market institutions in labor market trends;
* the options for reform and the benefits of comprehensive labor reforms, as evidenced inside and outside the region;
* labor policy reforms to improve in a sustainable way the employment/unemployment outlook.