Abstract
Throughout the world, most households derive most if not all of their income from the work they do. Three billion people in the world are absolutely poor, living on less than 2.50 PPP dollars per person per day. For the most part, they are not poor because the would-be workers in the household are unemployed. Rather, they are poor because those who want to work are working, but they earn so little per hour that despite working long hours, they are unable to earn enough in a day, a week, or a month to escape poverty. What can be done in the labor market and outside the labor market to improve the earning opportunities of the poor? This presentation will focus on the employment channel to economic development and poverty reduction by discussing a number of policy issues: basic workplace protections; economic growth, international trade, and foreign aid; harnessing the energies of private companies; increasing wage employment; and raising the returns to self-employment. The talk will conclude with a consideration of critical knowledge gaps.
