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Europe > Iceland

You are looking at 1 - 3 of 3 items for :

  • Type: Journal Issue x
  • Staff Discussion Notes x
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Cover Staff Discussion Notes
A Post-Pandemic Assessment of the Sustainable Development Goals
Ms. Dora Benedek
,
Mr. Edward R Gemayel
,
Mr. Abdelhak S Senhadji
, and
Alexander F. Tieman
The COVID-19 pandemic hit countries’ development agendas hard. The ensuing recession has pushed millions into extreme poverty and has shrunk government resources available for spending on achieving the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). This Staff Discussion Note assesses the current state of play on funding SDGs in five key development areas: education, health, roads, electricity, and water and sanitation, using a newly developed dynamic macroeconomic framework.
Keywords:
Sustainable Development Goals, Development, Fiscal Policy, Structural Reform; policy option; composite index; case study countries' SDG spending; financing gap; SDG performance; analysis of development strategy; Sustainable Development Goals (SDG); COVID-19; Human capital; Emerging and frontier financial markets; Infrastructure; Sub-Saharan Africa; Global
Cover Staff Discussion Notes
Insolvency Prospects Among Small-and-Medium-Sized Enterprises in Advanced Economies: Assessment and Policy Options
Mr. Federico J Diez
,
Mr. Romain A Duval
,
Jiayue Fan
,
Jose M Garrido
,
Sebnem Kalemli-Ozcan
,
Chiara Maggi
,
Mr. Maria Soledad Martinez Peria
, and
Mr. Nicola Pierri
The COVID-19 pandemic has increased insolvency risks, especially among small and medium enterprises (SMEs), which are vastly overrepresented in hard-hit sectors. Without government intervention, even firms that are viable a priori could end up being liquidated—particularly in sectors characterized by labor-intensive technologies, threatening both macroeconomic and social stability. This staff discussion note assesses the impact of the pandemic on SME insolvency risks and policy options to address them. It quantifies the impact of weaker aggregate demand, changes in sectoral consumption patterns, and lockdowns on firm balance sheets and estimates the impact of a range of policy options, for a large sample of SMEs in (mostly) advanced economies.
Keywords:
Insolvency; Bankruptcy; “Quasi” Equity Injections; Small- and medium-size enterprises; COVID-19; insolvent firm; cash position; equity injection; illiquid firm; firm exit; cash flow; Solvency; Small and medium enterprises; Stocks; Financial statements; Southern Europe; Asia and Pacific
Cover Staff Discussion Notes
Economic Gains From Gender Inclusion: New Mechanisms, New Evidence
Mr. Jonathan David Ostry
,
Mr. Jorge A Alvarez
,
Mr. Raphael A Espinoza
, and
Mr. Chris Papageorgiou
While progress has been made in increasing female labor force participation (FLFP) in the last 20 years, large gaps remain. The latest Fund research shows that improving gender diversity can result in larger economic gains than previously thought. Indeed, gender diversity brings benefits all its own. Women bring new skills to the workplace. This may reflect social norms and their impact on upbringing and social interactions, or underlying differences in risk preference and response to incentives for example. As such, there is an economic benefit from diversity, that is from bringing women into the labor force, over and above the benefit resulting from more (male) workers. The study finds that male and female labor are imperfect substitutes in production, and therefore gender differences in the labor force matter. The results also imply that standard models, which ignore such differences, understate the favorable impact of gender inclusion on growth, and misattribute to technology a part of growth that is actually caused by women’s participation. The study further suggests that narrowing gender gaps benefits both men and women, because of a boost to male wages from higher FLFP. The paper also examines the role of women in the process of sectoral reallocation from traditional agriculture to services and the resulting effect on productivity and growth. Because FLFP is relatively high in services, sectoral reallocation along development paths serves to boost gender parity and productivity.
Keywords:
SDN; labor force; capital stock; comparative advantage; Gender diversity; female labor force participation; production function; structural transformation; FLFP barrier; labor force participation; male-to-female employment ratio; employment growth; services employment share; Women; Gender inequality; Employment; South Asia; Middle East; North Africa; Central Asia; Sub-Saharan Africa