Research

Working Papers

The Role of Unions in Labour Markets with Informality: Evidence from Brazil

Coverage: World Bank Development Impact Blog, BBC News Brasil

Abstract: This paper studies the impact of unions in a labor market with widespread informality and incomplete enforcement of labor law, a prominent feature in many developing economies. I analyze the effects of a reform in Brazil that made previously mandatory union dues for workers optional; I find that the resulting loss of resources led unions to reduce staff, close offices, and cut back on collective bargaining activities. I estimate the causal effect of the policy using a difference-in-differences approach based on spatial variation in baseline union effectiveness. Consistent with weakening unions' bargaining power, I find that the policy reduced formal sector wages by 0.9% in treatment labor markets relative to the counterfactual. However, counter to the policy's stated goal, the policy led to a 2.5% decrease in formal employment in these markets. I find suggestive evidence that this was accompanied by an increase in the number of workers hired without a formal contract. While the reform aimed to boost formal employment by reducing labor market rigidities, it inadvertently weakened unions' role in guiding the targeting of inspections by regulatory agencies across local labor markets to curtail the use of informally-hired workers. This highlights intricate ways in which unions affect contracting in economies with weaker institutions and imperfect regulation of labor regulations.

Barriers to Entry? Decomposing the gender gap in job search in urban Pakistan

(with Elisabetta Gentile, Nivedhitha Subramanian, Zunia Tirmazee and Kate Vyborny)

Forthcoming at the Journal of Labor Economics

Abstract: Gender gaps in labor market outcomes persist in South Asia. An open question is whether supply or demand side constraints play a larger role.  We investigate this using matched data from three sources in Lahore, Pakistan: representative samples of jobseekers and employers; administrative data from a job matching platform; and an incentivized binary choice experiment. Employers’ gender restrictions are a larger constraint on women’s job opportunities than supply-side decisions.   This demand-side gap in quantity of job opportunities closes as education levels increase and jobs become more "white-collar". 

Selected Work in Progress

Selection and Participation in Urban Workfare Schemes: Evidence from a pilot program in Tamil Nadu, India (with Amit Basole and Anand Shrivastava)

Are Urban Markets Complete? Evidence from Brazil 

Examining the Threat Effects of Unions in the US (with Matthew Johnson, Kerwin K. Charles and Paolo Santini)

Investing in Mothers: The Impacts of Free Child Birth Policy (with Tavneet Suri)

Policy Work

Making Job Platforms Work for Women : A Guide for Practitioners and Researchers

(with Kate Vyborny, World Bank South Asia Region Gender Innovation Lab (SARGIL))

This report examines how job platforms can create better work opportunities for women and other underrepresented groups. It focuses on the main barriers they face, how platforms operate, and practical steps to make platforms more inclusive. The findings draw on interviews with platform leaders and researchers, academic studies, and real-world examples, highlighting concrete strategies to improve women’s engagement and success on platforms. Based on this evidence, the report outlines nine recommendations for platforms to better engage women and marginalized jobseekers and expand their access to work opportunities.