The World Bank and the ILO: Two Visions of Employment Regulation

FIXED-TERM EMPLOYMENT CONTRACTS, R. Blanpain & C. Grant, eds., p. 47-59, 2009

8 Pages Posted: 28 Jun 2008 Last revised: 18 Dec 2010

See all articles by Yarik Kryvoi

Yarik Kryvoi

The British Institute of International and Comparative Law (BIICL)

Date Written: December 15, 2010

Abstract

The World Bank's Doing Business report has become one of the most influential, yet the most controversial instruments which affect labour law reforms around the world. This study discusses the controversy between the World Bank's and the International Labour Organization's approaches towards flexibility of employment regulation with special emphasis on fixed-term contracts.

The ILO employment regulation targets are balanced to harmonize the interests of all three stakeholders - employers, employees and governments, while the Doing Business targets clearly favour the interests of employers. What is more important, the Doing Business targets on fixed-term contracts and dismissals seem to contradict the international labour standards as reflected in the ILO conventions and recommendations. Although both organizations ultimately have the same goal - to help economies and people prosper, their visions of the proper mixture of flexibility and security are clearly different. It is hardly possible to expect that Doing Business reports would lobby for the interests of employees because this will not necessarily stimulate more favourable businesses environments. However, as this study suggests, there are ways to reduce tensions between these two visions.

Keywords: employment regulation, rigidity, flexibility, labour markets, fixed-term contracts, international labour standards, ILO, World Bank

JEL Classification: K31, K33, K49

Suggested Citation

Kryvoi, Yarik, The World Bank and the ILO: Two Visions of Employment Regulation (December 15, 2010). FIXED-TERM EMPLOYMENT CONTRACTS, R. Blanpain & C. Grant, eds., p. 47-59, 2009, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1152331

Yarik Kryvoi (Contact Author)

The British Institute of International and Comparative Law (BIICL) ( email )

Charles Clore House
17 Russell Square
London, WC1B 5JP
United Kingdom

HOME PAGE: http://www.kryvoi.net

Do you have negative results from your research you’d like to share?

Paper statistics

Downloads
296
Abstract Views
2,077
Rank
186,649
PlumX Metrics