Uzbekistan Quality Job Creation as a Cornerstone for Sustainable Economic Growth

Unlocking the Potential for Labor Productivity Growth
As expected, labor force participation rates are higher among people with 
university degrees (77.5%) and secondary special and/or technical degrees 
(68.4%) than those with either a secondary general education (57.6%) or 
less (48.3%). The gap is more pronounced among women. Men with less 
than secondary education have a broadly similar participation rate (79.9%) to 
men with tertiary education (83.2%). In contrast, women holding a university 
degree are nearly three times more likely to participate in the labor market 
(69.4%) than are women with less than secondary education (25.1%).
After controlling for individual and family characteristics, labor force 
participation is positively related with cognitive skills (as proxied by memory 
literacy scores) but inversely related to having an overseas migrant worker in 
the family (Table 3.4).
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While workers with high cognitive skills are more likely 
to work, those with a migrant family member working abroad are less likely to 
work. In addition, the level of cognitive skills has a differential effect on labor 
supply decisions of members of migrant and nonmigrant households. Females 
and divorcees are also less likely to work. Women divorcees are most likely to 
return to their parents’ home and stay supported by their families’ income. 
Household-level analysis in 2013 validates that being female is negatively 
associated with the probability of being in the labor force (Table 3.4). 
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Information in this paragraph is from World Bank (2013a). Labor force participation is based on the results 
of a probit model fitted over the Central Asia’s Labor and Skills Survey (CALISS) 2013 data. The CALISS 
collects data from a nationally representative household and individual survey on migration, remittances, 
and cognitive skills conducted in Uzbekistan by the World Bank and the German Society for International 
Cooperation (GIZ) in 2013.
ILO = International Labour Organization, LFPR = labor force participation rate, LHS = left-hand scale,
RHS = right-hand scale. 
Source: World Bank. World Development Indicators. http://datatopics.worldbank.org/world-
development-indicators/ (accessed 7 August 2019).