Working papers
ILO Working paper 53
Taking climate action - Measuring carbon emissions in the garment sector in Asia
This paper examines carbon emissions across the garment sector as counted using the two prominent methodologies for calculating emissions – the life cycle assessment (LCA) and carbon accounting in line with the Greenhouse Gas Protocol. The purpose...
ILO Working paper 52
Greening the sector - Environmental initiatives and tools in the garment sector in Asia
This paper reviews environmental initiatives, tools and assessment platforms aimed at improving sustainability in Asia’s garment sector. It examines their scope, approaches and beneficiaries, identifies gaps in existing initiatives, and highlights...
ILO Working paper 51
Assessing the impact - Environmental impact assessment in the textile and garment sector in Bangladesh, Cambodia, Indonesia and Viet Nam
An environmental impact assessment of the textile and garment sector, examining the environmental effects associated with production activities and identifying opportunities to improve sustainability. It provides insights and recommendations to...
ILO Working paper 54
Opportunities for a Just Transition to environmental sustainability and COVID-19 recovery in the textile and garment sector in Asia
A report examining opportunities for a just transition in Asia’s textile and garment sector as it recovers from COVID-19. It explores the pandemic’s impacts on employment and enterprises alongside the sector’s social, economic and environmental...
ILO Working paper 49
How to strengthen informal apprenticeship systems for a better future of work?: Lessons learned from comparative analysis of country cases
This paper undertakes a meta study on informal apprenticeship in developing countries. It compares the findings of country-level research conducted by the ILO and others in the past 15 years to shed more light on apprenticeship systems in the...
ILO Working paper 50
Crowdwork for young people: Risks and opportunities
This report examines the risks and opportunities of crowdwork for young people, exploring their experiences on digital labour platforms. It considers working conditions, income, skills development and employment prospects, and discusses how...
ILO Working paper 48
Technological solutions to guaranteed wage payments of construction workers in China
The paper examines in detail the Enterprise Wage Payment Online Supervision System (EWPOSS) of Zhejiang Province and analyses how the IT-enabled system has contributed to improving the efficiency of the local labour inspectorates in addressing wage...
ILO Working paper 44
Investing more in universal social protection. Filling the financing gap through domestic resource mobilization and international support...
Large and persistent gaps in social protection coverage, comprehensiveness and adequacy are linked to many barriers, including high levels of informality, institutional fragmentation of the social protection system and significant financing gaps...
ILO Working paper 43
Investing better in universal social protection. Applying international social security standards in social protection policy and financing
The COVID-19 pandemic has exposed significant gaps in the coverage, comprehensiveness and adequacy of social protection systems worldwide. These gaps have jeopardized the health, incomes and jobs of billions of people. Closing these protection gaps,...
ILO Working paper 42
Social policy advice to countries from the International Monetary Fund during the COVID-19 crisis: Continuity and change
The COVID-19 pandemic has caused massive disruptions to the global economy and forced policymakers to respond to the newly created challenges. Many policy institutions have therefore had to rethink their established approaches and their usual policy...
ILO Working paper 41
Supporting decent work and the transition towards formalization through technology-enhanced labour inspection
The development and expansion of information and communication technologies (ICTs) has had far-reaching consequences for governance and the world of work, including how labour administrations and inspectorates manage and deliver services.
ILO Working paper 40
Financing human-centred COVID-19 recovery and decisive climate action worldwide: International cooperation’s twenty-first century moment of...
This Working Paper provides a concrete illustration of how the existing international financial architecture could be activated more fully to mobilize the large sums required to respond decisively to the “great divergence” in COVID-19 crisis...
ILO Working paper 39
Welfare Effects of Unemployment Benefits when Informality is High
We analyze for the first time how the high incidence of informal employment affects the welfare effects of unemployment benefits (UBs) outside of developed economies, exploiting matched administrative and survey data from the UB scheme of Mauritius.
ILO Working paper 38
Freelance platform work in the Russian Federation: 2009–2019
This paper traces the development of freelance platform work in the Russian Federation based on unique data from four online surveys conducted over the period 2009 and 2019 via the leading platform for creative and knowledge-based work and analyses...
ILO Working paper 37
Trade and Decent Work: Adequate Earnings in the Mexican Manufacturing Industries
This paper analyses the impact of non-preferential trade liberalization and exposure to globalization on “adequate earnings” in Mexico between 2003 and 2020, using data from the national labour force and manufacturing industries surveys. Trade...
ILO Working paper 36
Trade agreements and decent work in Mexico: the case of the automotive and textile industries
The study applies the framework of decent work indicators developed by the International Labour Organization (ILO), in combination with input–output analysis, to explore selected links between international trade and certain indicators of decent...
ILO Working paper 35
Estimating labour market transitions from labour force surveys: The case of Viet Nam
This paper discusses methodologies to estimate the incidence and frequency of labour market transitions, and applies these methodologies to labour force survey data from Viet Nam in 2011-19. It demonstrates the feasibility and value of transitions...
ILO Working Paper 33
Preferential tax regimes for MSMEs: Operational aspects, impact evidence and policy implications
ILO Working paper 34
Old age work and income security in middle income countries: comparing the cases
This paper considers the demographic ageing trend experienced in 35 middle-income countries. It examines employment and other related dimensions that can reflect their preparedness to secure adequate income for their ageing population. Drawing from...
ILO Working paper 32
Digital Work in Eastern Europe: Overview of Trends, Outcomes, and Policy Responses
This paper presents the emergence and growth of digital labour markets in Eastern Europe over the period 1999-2019. It presents the profiles of digital workers, their working conditions and discusses how these are shaped by the business models of...