Economist

**Economist** Job #: req30757 Organization: World Bank Sector: Economics Grade: GF Term Duration: 3 years 0 months Recruitment Type: Local Recruitment **Location**: Rome,Italy Required Language(s): English Preferred Language(s): French Closing Date: 12/30/2024 (MM/DD/YYYY) at 11:59pm UTC Description **Background**: The Living Standards Measurement Study (LSMS) is the World Bank's flagship household survey program whose mission is to strengthen the availability, quality, relevance, and timeliness of household surveys implemented in low - and middle-income countries, for improved policymaking and better lives. The LSMS is housed within the World Bank Development Data Group, as part of the Living Standards Measurement Unit (DECLS), with staff members based at the World Bank Headquarters in Washington, DC and at the World Bank Center for Development Data (C4D2) in Rome, Italy. The LSMS portfolio is organized under two programs, namely Data Production and Advisory Services (henceforth referred to as Data Production") and Survey Methods. As part of its Data Production Program, over the last 15+ years, the LSMS has provided financial and technical assistance to multi-topic, nationally representative longitudinal household surveys in low - and middle-income countries (LMICs), as part of the Living Standards Measurement Study - Integrated Surveys on Agriculture (LSMS-ISA) initiative. Initially prompted by the COVID-19 pandemic, the LSMS has also spearheaded the efforts for implementing high-frequency phone surveys, which have been designed and implemented as longitudinal surveys, with direct links to the face-to-face longitudinal surveys supported as part of the LSMS-ISA initiative, and with the objective to understand socioeconomic impacts of large-scale shocks. Looking forward, the LSMS plans to support country-owned, mixed-mode, harmonized, multi-topic, longitudinal household surveys in LMICs as part of the Resilient Futures Initiative, with the objective to boost crisis preparedness and foster resilience to future crises. Through its Survey Methods Program, the LSMS supports the development and validation of innovative methods for survey data collection, analysis, and integration with alternative data sources. The methodological research is based on randomized survey experiments and/or the analysis of fit-for-purpose existing survey data and covers an extensive range of topics for which household surveys continue to be the preferred source of data in low - and middle-income countries, including consumption and income, food security and nutrition, employment and informality, care work, smallholder agriculture, and climate change adaptation, among others. The LSMS Survey Methods program also supports rigorous research on mixed-mode survey methods, survey sampling, integration of household surveys with alternative data sources - including geospatial data, facility surveys, and administrative records - as well as data imputation. **Roles & Responsibilities**: - Provide substantial inputs to the conceptualization and implementation of the next phase of the LSMS Survey Methods program, with a focus on advancing survey methods for improved measurement and analysis of human capital, employment and informality, care work, migration in LMICs - particularly among women and youth. - Conduct and support methodological survey research to (a) develop and validate innovative methods to measure human capital, employment and informality, care work, and migration in the context of household surveys, (b) assess mode effects in survey data collection, and (c) improve the accuracy, relevance and cost effectiveness of household surveys through integration with alternative data sources, including geospatial data, facility surveys and administrative records. Activities will include design of randomized survey experiments or use of existing, fit-for-purpose survey data; supporting supervision and monitoring of fieldwork for randomized survey experiments; econometric analysis; leading and contributing to working papers, peer-reviewed journal articles, book chapters, blog posts, and LSMS guidebooks on data collection on the aforementioned topics; and presentation of research findings in seminars and conferences. - Conduct policy-relevant research with data from LSMS-supported large-scale surveys, on development and policy questions related to the LSMS thematic priorities, including human capital, employment and informality, care work, migration. Activities will include econometric analysis; leading and contributing to working papers, peer-reviewed journal articles, book chapters, and blog posts; and presentation of research findings in seminars and conferences. - Support the planning, implementation, and monitoring phases of LSMS-supported surveys. These activities include questionnaire design and revision; pilot testing, implementation using World Bank Survey Solutions Computer-Assisted Personal/Telephone Interviewing (CAPI/CATI)