fRDB-IMF Labour Institutions Database (1980-2005)

Fondazione Ing. Rodolfo Debenedetti have collaborated with IMF to build a brand new database which collects information on Minimum Wages, Unemployment Benefits and Employment Protection Legislation around the world. This database, which covers a long time span from 1980 to 2005, contains the following information for 91 countries:

Minimum Wages

• Minimum wages, calculated on a monthly basis
• Median wages, calculated on a monthly basis
• Average wages, calculated on a monthly basis

Unemployment Benefits

• First and second-year gross replacement rates
• Overall average GRR for two years
• UB coverage

Employment Protection Legislation

• Maximum advance notice
• Advance notice period after 9 months of service, in months
• Advance notice period after 4 years of service, in months
• Advance notice period after 20 years of service, in months
• Maximum Severance payment
• Severance payment after 9 months of service, in months: a lump-sum payment to the dismissed employee at the time of cessation of employment
• Severance payment after 4 years of service, in months

A full description of the database (coding, assumptions, country detailed information on data collection) can be found in the following paper by Mariya Aleksynska and Martin Schindler:

“Labour Market Regulation in Low-, Middle- and High-Income Countries: A New Panel Database“ (2011), IMF working paper.

Credits: Mariya Aleksynska (mariya.aleksynska@cepii.fr) and Martin Schindler

Papers published using these data

Boeri, T. and Macis, M. “Do Unemployment Benefits Promote or Hinder Job Reallocation?“, Journal of Development Economics, Vol. 93(1), pp. 109-125.