Informality: Policy Objectives, Options, and Constraints (POOC)

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Informality: Policy Objectives, Options, and Constraints (POOC)

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Bibliographic details

• Published: July 19, 2025

Course focus

• The course "focuses on how tax policy, revenue administration, labor market policies, and social insurance programs influence labor market informality - both in terms of registering labor relations and reporting tax-liable incomes."
• It highlights that "Boosting employment is a priority in many countries in Central, Eastern and Southeastern Europe, the Caucasus and Central Asia, where labor markets are often constrained by demographic trends, low labor-force participation (particularly among young people and women), and weak productivity growth."
• It identifies undeclared work as "a significant challenge, leaving many individuals without social insurance and reducing revenue collection."
• It notes that "many governments are considering reducing labor taxation to boost employment and curb undeclared work," and that this "generates financing needs for social insurance systems, particularly in contexts where such systems must be strengthened to provide adequate support at scale for workers and households."
• The course "aims to discuss theoretical considerations, present country-specific examples of successful policy reforms, and introduce participants to analytical tools and methods useful for policy design and impact analyses."

Target audience and qualifications

• Target audience:
  • "Officials at ministries of finance, labor, and social affairs, social security institutions, and tax agencies involved in the analysis, design and implementation of tax and employment policies and social insurance schemes."
• Qualifications:
  • "Participants are expected to have a degree in social science (e.g., economics or social policy) or a related field."

Course objectives

• Upon completion of the course, participants should be able to:
  • "Understand key issues in labor taxation that are critical for reducing undeclared work and income."
  • "Understand key issues in social policy that are critical for providing adequate benefits in a fiscally sustainable manner."
  • "Understand key issues in labor policy that are critical for promoting employment."
  • "Design a package of reforms customized for their own countries' parameters, including administrative capacity to reach workers and households with social benefits and tax invoices."