Transforming economies - for better jobs

Watch the live stream sessions here

United Nations University World Institute for Development Economics Research (UNU-WIDER) in partnership with the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) will organize a three-day conference on transforming economies in Bangkok, Thailand, on 11-13 September 2019.

The creation of productive jobs for both men and women are essential preconditions for the achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) on decent work and gender equality.

Featuring presentations from leading scholars including Richard Baldwin, Seema Jayachandran, Ravi Kanbur, Naila Kabeer and UN ASG Elliott Harris, this WIDER Development Conference provides a forum to discuss innovative, theoretical, and empirical research and its policy take-aways on the challenges for productive job creation in many different country contexts, across all developing regions.

The conference engages current debates around the future of work in the face of rapid labour-saving technological advances, vis-à-vis the changing nature of globalization. It addresses the implications of this on achieving SDG 8 on decent work and economic growth, and the prospects for structural transformation in low- and middle-income countries.

This year’s conference will also feature a special policy session on Changing technologies and the jobs of tomorrow with Damian Grimshaw, Benno Ndulu, Marty Chen, and Kunal Sen, plus Sharanjiy Layl as the moderator.

Key questions will address SDG 5, gender equality, and SDG 10, inequality, by looking at the persistent barriers to productive and well-paid jobs for women and disadvantaged groups, especially in manufacturing and services.