What Aspects of Formality Do Workers Value ? Evidence from a Choice Experiment in Bangladesh

Minhaj Mahmud, Italo Gutierrez, Krishna B. Kumar and Shanthi Nataraj

No 9108, Policy Research Working Paper Series from The World Bank

Abstract: This study uses a choice experiment among 2,000 workers in Bangladesh to elicit willingness to pay (WTP) for job attributes: a contract, termination notice, working hours, paid leave, and a pension fund. Using a stated preference method allows calculation of WTP for benefits in this setting, despite the lack of data on worker transitions, and the fact that many workers are self-employed, which makes it difficult to use revealed preference methods. Workers highly value job stability: the average worker would be willing to forego a 27 percent increase in income to obtain a 1-year contract (relative to no contract), or to forego a 12 percent increase to obtain thirty days of termination notice. There is substantial heterogeneity in WTP by type of employment and gender: women value shorter working hours more than men, while government workers place a higher value on contracts than do private sector employees.

Keywords: Labor Markets; Labor Standards; Rural Labor Markets; Educational Sciences; Employment and Unemployment; Gender and Development (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020-01-13
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-cta and nep-dcm
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/42833157 ... nt-in-Bangladesh.pdf (application/pdf)

Related works:
Journal Article: What Aspects of Formality Do Workers Value? Evidence from a Choice Experiment in Bangladesh (2021)
Working Paper: What Aspects of Formality Do Workers Value? Evidence from a Choice Experiment in Bangladesh (2019)
Working Paper: What Aspects of Formality Do Workers Value? Evidence from a Choice Experiment in Bangladesh (2017)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:wbk:wbrwps:9108

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