Call for Proposals — Margins of Adjustments to Labor Market Shocks in the Middle East and North Africa

The World Bank’s Office of the Chief Economist for the Middle East and North Africa region has launched a research program on "Margins of Adjustments to Labor Market Shocks in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA)." The program aims to produce a series of academic research papers. The main objective is to build a new body of empirical work describing how MENA labor markets adjust to short- and long-term shocks in the region. This accompanies another research program on "Drivers of Gender Inequality in MENA."

The ongoing pandemic has brought the issues of labor market dynamics and adjustments to the front of global policy and academic discussions. Unemployment spiked at the beginning of the pandemic across the MENA region. Uneven vaccinations and the mutations of the coronavirus have made the labor market recovery fragile and uncertain. The program welcomes submissions of research proposals to be sponsored by the program.

The Research Program team is thus seeking research proposals on the following broad topics:

1. What Are the Short-term Impacts of Labor Market Shocks in MENA? 

Short-term labor market impacts are understood as the impacts during labor market shocks. Note that the shocks can be short-term (such as economic recessions). However, they can also be long- term (such as technological change or climate change shocks). Labor market shocks can be negative (such as recessions), but they can be positive. For example, a green energy transition could create new jobs and potentially raise labor demand. Labor market shocks can be labor demand or supply shocks. For example, forced migration is an important source of labor supply shocks in MENA.

      2.  What Are the Long-term Consequences of Labor Market Shocks in MENA? 

When the effects last beyond the period of a shock, the effects are interpreted as long-term. For example, a short-term unemployment spell due to a temporary adverse shock (such as Covid-19) can carry long-term negative effects on the workers beyond the shock period.

      3.   What is the Role of MENA’s Pre-existing Structural Issues in the Short-term Impact and Long-term Consequences of Labor Market Shocks?

The goal of this topic is to understand how and to what extent MENA’s pre-existing structural issues play a role in the short-term impacts and long-term consequences of labor market shocks. Examining the interactions between MENA’s structural characteristics and labor market shocks can help inform policy discussions about the characteristics that can mitigate or amplify the impacts of the shocks, both in the short-run and long-run.

Interested authors should submit their research proposal(s) via email at mnalabor@worldbank.org. Each research proposal should be at most 1500 words (approximately three single-spaced pages), excluding References. They should consist of at least three sections:

• Motivation: This section should provide a clear statement of the issue(s), the knowledge gap the research will address in light of existing literature, and how the proposed research will contribute to knowledge about the subject. 
• Methodology and Analysis: This section should identify the research question, the hypothesis to be tested, and the research methodology. If data are used, the proposal should describe the data used in the analysis. In addition, it should describe the analytical technique (e.g., econometrics) and explain the rationale for using the selected methodology. 
• Research Team and Timeline: Please list the names and affiliations of the research team expected to be involved in the research and the research timeline. 

Key criteria for selecting authors and coauthors include the following: 

• Proven track record of publications in peer-reviewed journals. 
• Demonstrated expertise in MENA labor markets. 
• The research proposal must be feasible, data are available, and the methods are clearly explained. 

The deadline for submitting proposals is Friday, July 15, 2022. The authors of accepted proposal(s) will be notified by July 30, 2022. Only authors of accepted proposal(s) will be notified. For each accepted proposal from authors outside the World Bank, the author(s) will receive a research support amount of US$7000.

To qualify for the research support, authors of accepted proposals are expected to submit the first drafts of their research papers to the research program for feedback by January 30, 2023. Best papers might be selected for a conference organized by the research program in March 2023. Revised drafts of accepted proposals are expected by June 16, 2023.

The research program team includes Ha Nguyen, Asif Islam, and Nelly Elmallakh, all at the World Bank, under the guidance of Roberta Gatti (Chief Economist of the MENA Region at the World Bank) and Daniel Lederman (Deputy Chief Economist of the MENA Region at the World Bank).

Questions or comments about the submission of proposals should be addressed to mnalabor@worldbank.org.