Growth and Employment in the Dominican Republic: Options for a Job-Rich Growth

Umidjon Abdullaev and Marcello Estevão

No 2013/040, IMF Working Papers from International Monetary Fund

Abstract: The Dominican Republic has posted high rates of output and productivity growth, but labor market indicators have remained weak during the past 20 years. This paper documents these trends, showing that the rapid productivity growth originates in a few sectors, while the bulk of job creation is concentrated elsewhere. The speed of job creation has not been enough to raise employment rates, and lackluster real earnings along with still-rampant labor market informality suggest that most of the new jobs are of low quality. Low real wages and low labor force participation suggest the need of raising market wages above fallback incomes to attract individuals to the labor force. For that, measures to improve education and reduce product market distortions would be helpful.

Keywords: WP; product market; wage; labor force; worker; Labor force participation; productivity growth; inclusive growth; job quality; search assistance program; product market constraint; labor productivity; market wage; job-search assistance; employment generation mechanism; product market regulation; policies index; employment share; product market reform; product market condition; Employment; Wages; Labor markets; Caribbean (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 25
Date: 2013-02-08
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (7)

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