The Jobs and Development Conference (#Jobs4Dev) is a global event co-organized by the World Bank, UNU-WIDER, the International Labour Organization (ILO) and the Network on Jobs and Development (NJD) – a partnership of research institutes from various regions of the world: Development Policy Research Unit at University of Cape Town (DPRU, South Africa), HKUST Institute for Emerging Market Studies (HKUST IEMS, Hong Kong), Indian Council for Research on International Economic Relations (ICRIER, India), and Institute for Structural Research (IBS, Poland).

The conference strives to expand the frontiers of global knowledge around jobs, improve understanding of the interplay between development and quantity and quality of work, and advance the discussion on the most effective policies to improve jobs outcomes in low- and middle-income countries. Each year, the conference combines key-note lectures, presentations of high-quality research and policy-oriented discussions, creating a platform for interactions between academics and policy-makers.

The conference builds upon the Employment and Development conferences organized by the World Bank and IZA between 2006-2015, and the Jobs and Development conference organized by the NJD and the World Bank in 2016. The UNU-WIDER has also been involved as a partner since 2019. The ILO joined in 2023, ahead of preparing for the 2024 edition of the conference.

2022 Conference : “The Challenge of Creating Better Jobs in Developing Countries”

To expand the frontiers of global knowledge around jobs and advance the discussion on the most effective policies, the conference will consist of policy-relevant papers on all topics in labor and development economics, but especially papers that focus on:

• New platform economy jobs
• Labour market programmes and regulation
• Gender and labour markets
• COVID-19 pandemic, jobs and development
• Immigration, migration and skills
• Structural change
• Climate change, energy and jobs

2022 Organizing committee
IZA – Institute of Labor Economics – Gary Fields and Ahmed Elsayed
The World Bank – Ian Walker and Maddalena Honorati
The Network on Jobs and Development (NJD) – Haroon Bhorat and Piotr Lewandowski
UNU-WIDER – Kunal Sen

2022 Conference managers:

Kezia Lilenstein and Sarah Marriott (DPRU), Viola Hartmann (IZA) and Yolaina Montoya (WB)