The Institute of Public Policy and Administration of the University of Central Asia (UCA), the Leibniz Institute of Vegetable and Ornamental Crops (IGZ), and ISDC – International Security and Development Center invite submission of proposals for sessions and individual research papers for the 7th Annual ‘Life in Kyrgyzstan’ Conference, to be held online during October 26-28, 2021. The conference […]
Simon Voß
Simon Voß is a Research Assistant at ISDC. His research interests include labor and housing markets, inequality, and impact evaluation. Previously, he worked as a teaching assistant at Freie Universität Berlin. In addition, he completed several internships, among others at DIW Econ GmbH. Simon holds a B.A. in Modern and Contemporary History and Economics from […]
Analysing the Role of Employment Programmes in Building Peace and Stability
When it comes to considering whether or not employment programmes can build stability, there are three things that it is important to bring to any debate. First, not only is any virtuous circle a nice idea in and of itself but there are really good reasons, theoretically, to believe that jobs interventions can build stability. […]
Can Jobs Programs Build Peace?
In the last decade, well over $10 billion has been spent on employment programs designed to contribute to peace and stability. Despite the outlay, whether these programs perform, and how they do so, remain open questions. This study conducts three reviews to derive the status quo of knowledge. First, it draws on academic literature on […]
New Report: Life with Corona – Shared Global Sentiments and Stark Generational Divides
Six findings from six months of Life with Corona, a global research project to collect real-time data on the social and economic impacts of COVID-19. Key findings of the report include: Young adults actively perform many behaviours to counter the pandemic. Stress on families during the pandemic fall disproportionately on women who live with more […]
The Micro-level Analysis of the Impact of Violent Conflict on Lives and Livelihoods in the MENA Region
The MENA region is characterized by several interrelated socio-economic trends including rapidly growing populations, on average high degrees of (youth) unemployment, strong gender differences in terms of labor market participation, and political radicalization. The countries in the region often have weak and/or authoritarian central government institutions, declining public revenues from natural resources except in a […]
Rebecca Wolfe
Dr. Rebecca J. Wolfe is a Research Affiliate at ISDC. She is a lecturer at the Harris School for Public Policy at the University of Chicago, where she is an associate at the Pearson Institute for the Study and Resolution of Global Conflicts. She is a leading expert on political violence, conflict and violent extremism. […]
ADB Country Diagnostic Study: Kyrgyz Republic: Improving Growth Potential
This study presents an in-depth analysis of the sector reforms needed to enable the Kyrgyz Republic to achieve higher and more sustainable economic growth. Dr Damir Esenaliev of ISDC has co-authored the chapter titled on Human Resources for Inclusive Growth.
Return Migration and Self Employment: Evidence from Kyrgyzstan
A common finding of the migration literature is that migrants are more likely to choose self-employment upon return to their origin countries than non-migrants. This has led to the belief that return migration stimulates entrepreneurship in source countries and hence supports economic development. In this paper, we test these assertions, drawing on the Life in […]
New Publication on Gender Earnings Inequality and Wage Policy in Kyrgyzstan published in Comparative Economic Studies
New paper by Damir Esenaliev and Kathryn H. Anderson on gender earnings inequality and wage policy in Kyrgyzstan has been published in Comparative Economic Studies. The findings show that the policy reform conducted in 2011 to increase the wages for teachers, health and social workers not only reduced wage gap in these sectors compared to non-reformed sectors, but also had a pronounced gender gap narrowing effect in the reform sectors and economy-wide.
Gender Earnings Inequality and Wage Policy: Teachers, Health Care, and Social Workers in Central Asia
The policy reform conducted in 2011 in Kyrgyzstan to increase the wages for teachers, health and social workers not only reduced wage gap in these sectors compared to non-reformed sectors, but also had a pronounced gender gap narrowing effect in the reform sectors and economy-wide.
Can employment build peace? A pseudo-meta-analysis of employment programmes in Africa
We link employment to stability in five African countries to test if standard interventions influence complex outcomes. We show positive impacts on some indicators but negative externalities also arise. There are, thus, grounds for optimism but further work is required.
Call for Sessions and Papers: 5th Annual ‘Life in Kyrgyzstan’ Conference
Call for Papers and Sessions is open for the 5th Annual ‘Life in Kyrgyzstan’ Conference that will be held in Bishkek on 23-24 October 2019. The deadline is 16 June 2019.
Wim Naudé
Wim Naudé is Research Affiliate at ISDC, Visiting Professor at RWTH Aachen University and Research Fellow at the IZA Institute of Labor Economics, in Germany. He is also a Fellow at the Africa Study Centre at the University of Leiden, and a Full Professor atthe Maastricht School of Management, both in the Netherlands. His research […]
Can Jobs Programs Build Peace
Over $10bn has been spent on programmes that assume that building employment also builds peace. We show that while there are good reasons to think this money is not spent fruitlessly, there remains a structural lack of empirical confirmation of these theories.
Damir Esenaliev joins ISDC
Dr Damir Esenaliev joined ISDC as a Senior Researcher in January 2019. He brings topical expertise on peace-building, social cohesion, human development, labor markets, inequality, and rural development, and regional expertise in Central Asian and transition economies. Damir also has extensive experience designing and conducting panel data collection and impact evaluations. He will continue his […]
Analysis, Design, Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning (ADMEL): Designing a Process for Learning from Employment for Stability Programming
Often, development organisations engage in “big push” ex post impact evaluations, where significant amounts of bespoke data are collected at the end of the programme. In this short paper, we argue that such funds can be used better by integrated an on-going learning component into standard ADME.
Jobs Aid Peace: Review of the Theory and Practice of the Impact of Employment Programmes on Peace in Fragile and Conflict-affected Countries
Over $10bn has been spent on programmes that assume that building employment also builds peace. We show that while there are good reasons to think this money is not spent fruitlessly, there remains a structural lack of empirical confirmation of these theories.
The Impact of Job Quality on Wellbeing: Evidence from Kyrgyzstan
The theories that explain relationships between welfare and work do not provide clear insight for developing countries. In this paper, we confirm that hours worked and income are insufficient to explain the relationship between jobs and wellbeing in a developing country.
Impact Evaluation of UNHCR’s Engagement in Humanitarian-Development Cooperation
This project provides quantitative estimates of the impact of humanitarian-development cooperation on refugees and host communities in Ethiopia and Jordan.