Employment impact assessments a review of methodologies

This series of project publications aims to capture the tools, methods, and processes developed under the EC and ILO joint project entitled “Strengthening the Impact on Employment of Sector and Trade Policies", as well as the findings from implementing these in the ten partner countries. The path to full employment with decent working conditions has been long and tortuous. Most of the individuals and their families who have escaped the grind of poverty in the last 400 years have done so without the help of aid or international organizations. Still, help in the “Great Escape” – the title of a recent book from the latest Nobel Prize laureate – from external sources in the latter part of the 20th century has not been insignificant, especially with respect to public health. The purpose of this study is to help sharpen the effort that can be made by the ILO in precisely this regard. How can technical experts, sitting in offices, possibly help poor countries employ more of their own people? This paper introduces the simple well-known analytical methodologies that may be of use in shaping more effective interventions. The goals of the study are to: • describe existing analytical methods, and combinations of methods which can be used for employment impact assessment; • review various studies to document results obtained by different methods used; • distinguish between methods sensitive to the goals of the ILO regarding both quantity and quality of employment; • describe the scope, data and computational resources needed, noting strengths and weaknesses of the approach.