Conference Paper
Kuwait’s Labor Market Dynamics during the Coronavirus Pandemic Policy Lessons from TED’s CEO Survey, Labor Force Supply and Household Survey 2020
Date
March, 2021
Topic
E. Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics
The focused research conducted in this paper is part of a broader integrated policy-supportive research that aims to study: (1) the differentiated impact of coronavirus cum oil price collapse on the Kuwaiti economy, its labor market dynamics and viability of its business firms, especially SMEs; and (2) the policies needed to safeguard its longer-term sustainability under rapidly changing oil and energy market dynamics, automation and the penetration of business disrupting technological innovations. The present paper reviews the labor market and its profile over Kuwait’s growth cycles and derives estimates of the growth rates of labor productivity in the overall economy and according to key sectors. As well, the paper applies the Ackerberg et. al (2015) econometric estimation varieties to firm-level establishment survey data in order to derive total factor productivity and its time-varying growth. Formal model findings are then blended with the Techno-Economics Division’s, TED’s, recent surveys in order to provide a more complete set of research findings.
Research Fellows
Sulyman Al-Qudsi
Principal Research Specialist, Kuwait Institute for Scientific...