Regulatory Impact Analysis: The Effects of Changing the Minimum Wage Act

The overall goal of the project is an ex-post assessment of the impact of the changes in the Minimum Wage Act on the system (the economy) and the main stakeholders (workers and employers).

The specific objectives of the project are:

  1. To assess the impact of the increased and equalized minimum wage on employment and living standards;
  2. To assess the impact of the increased and equalized minimum wage on the Budget of the Republic of Macedonia;
  3. To document the space and forms for (non) compliance with the Minimum Wage Act, as well as the difficulties in its implementation, and to qualitatively assess the repercussions;
  4. To encourage policy makers to make informed decisions based on appropriate evidence-based analysis and recommendations;
  5. To increase public awareness of the changes in the Minimum Wage Law, their impact and the need for their abiding;
  6. To educate workers about their labor rights in order to reduce the pressures and compromises they are subject to when paying the minimum wage.

 

Duration: January – December 2018

Donor: Institute for Democracy “Societas Civilis” – Skopje

 

Analysis of youth underemployment in Macedonia, Montenegro and Serbia

The objective of the study is to describe underemployment and investigate its effect on personal wellbeing in the three countries. Special reference to gender will be made. By so doing, it opts to bring the issue to policymakers’ agenda and formulate ideas for policies tackling underemployment.

Methodologically, we first set underemployment a function of personal and local-labor-market characteristics. We rely on Heckman models – binary- and ordered-outcome ones – to overcome the potential selectivity bias into underemployment. For the ordered case, we use a CMP estimator. We then regress personal welfare on underemployment and worker’s characteristics. As welfare is latent variable, we rely on MIMIC model. To overcome potential endogeneity of underemployment, we specify third regression in the model whereby observables and exogenous instrument determine underemployment. The average local/municipal wage at the time when the person became (under)employed is used as instrument.

The School to Work Transition Surveys (2014-2015) are used.

 

Donor: Partnership for Economic Policies

Duration: 2017-2019

 

Instigating evidence-based and data-driven economic debate in Macedonia

The general objective of this action is to produce positive societal change by strengthening the economic debate in Macedonia, based on evidence from conducted research and driven by economic data.

 

The specific objective is to train FT constituents to engage in robust economic debate and offer a range of ways to encourage and steer critical and argumented economic debate. The action aims to achieve the following results:

  1. The constituents of FT have acquired skills and knowledge for engagement in and steering of the economic debate, and skills for including data and evidence in their common causes;
  2. The economic debate in Macedonia becomes more critical, analytical, more lively and diverse, and increasingly includes CSOs and other civil society actors; and
  3. The awareness of CSOs and the public in the economic debate becomes updated, multi-faceted and thematically diverse.

The activities of the action are grouped around the above three results. The first result will be achieved through the following activities: workshops for each of the target groups for methods of analysis, synthesis, interpretation, visualization and using of economic data; constitution of an advisory group between FT and the key economic policymakers, as well as meeting with the Advisory Board of the FT and the mapped CSOs in order to coordinate and plan how to raise the awareness about, and prepare proposals on the usage of economic data and findings; a public competition for the best essay on the topics of FT. The second result will be achieved through the following activities: annual panel debate, round table, short videos on economic issues, co-authoring and mentoring an economic TV show / text in the media, guest-lecturing at economic faculties, production of charts, info-graphs, GIF-s, and participation in the media through short statements and interviews. The third result will be achieved through the following activities: preparation and publication of a manual on methods for analysis of economic data, upgrading of the analytical publications of FT, as well as re-targeting of the dissemination of the analytical publications.

 

Timeframe: May 2017 – July 2018

Donor: Civica Mobilitas

 

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Essay competition for young economists

 

 

Active civic engagement in design and monitoring of the local budget and public procurement

The project aims at increasing the engagement of external stakeholders (citizens, civil society organizations and local media) in the design and monitoring of local budgets and public procurement.

The main activities of the project include: 1) Analysis of the existing budget documents, practices and civic engagement; 2) Devising recommendations for policymakers; 3) Capacity building for implementation and monitoring of local procurement; and 4) Advocacy in public.

The planned activities are expected to result in: 1) Qualitative assessment of the design and transparency of local budgets in the three municipalities; 2) Familiarizing key stakeholders with the need to reform the process of drafting and publication of budget documents; 3) Building capacity of the civil society, local media and public administration for implementation and monitoring of public procurement; 4) Increased public awareness for the need of and the possibility for civil society participation in the process of devising local budgets and the way municipal money is spent.

 

Duration: 2017-2018 (12 months)

Donor: Project WEBER through the European Policy Institute, Skopje

 

“My money, my responsibility”: Participative budgeting in the municipalities in Macedonia

The overall purpose of the project is to enhance local-stakeholders’ practice and participation in the local budgeting process and to increase the effectiveness of the municipal-money spending.

 

The particular objectives/tasks of the project include:

  • To increase participation of local stakeholders – civil society, business community, citizens, local media – in the municipal-budgeting processes;
  • To increase awareness of local citizens for how spending of municipal money affects their quality of life;
  • To increase the credibility and effectiveness of local governments’ decisions related to the spending of public money, as well raise awareness for the (need for) transparency related to it.

For attaining project’s purpose, 6 members of the network (plus Finance Think) will represent the core of the entire network. These were carefully selected from the pool of the FISCAST network, based on two criteria: 1) FISCAST members who have had experience with particular municipalities; and 2) FISCAST members who have had a decent cooperation with Finance Think (and within the network in general) in the past (in terms of quality of deliverables, timeliness, responsiveness and so on. The following FISCAST members provided their written consent and these are the initial municipalities to be covered:

  • Kvantum Prima – Kavadarci, to cover: Kavadarci, Negotino
  • ZIP Institue – Skopje, to cover: Saraj, Gjorce Petrov
  • EGRI Graganski Centar za odrzliv razvoj – Kriva Palanka, to cover two or three of: Kriva Palanka, Kumanovo, Staro Nagoricane
  • Inicijativen Glas – Prilep, to cover: Prilep, Krivogastani
  • IMPACT Institute – Skopje, to cover: Strumica
  • Center for Change Management (CUP) – Skopje, to cover: Centar, Gjorce Petrov (shared with ZIP)
  • Finance Think: Krushevo, Centar (shared with CUP)

 

Duration: May 2017 – May 2020

Donor: USAID Civic Engagement Project through the East West Management Institute