Public works

Public works

The Public Works and Employment Creation Project: Many women working on the construction site of Beyenzi future market in Burundi. The new market is expected to benefit approximately 2000 traders

Public works programs provide unskilled workers with temporary labor-intensive jobs during critical times. Public works can include road construction and maintenance, maintenance of public spaces and buildings, irrigation infrastructure, reforestation and soil conservation. The output of such programs is twofold: jobs of short duration for work to increase income, and creation of public goods in the form of new or improved infrastructure.

The level of the wage rate is a critical design issue. Self-selection can be encouraged if the wage paid is set at slightly below the market wage for unskilled labor. Cross-country evidence suggests that programs are worthwhile if planners give careful attention to the quality of the assets to be created, and to their potential to create second-round (employment) benefits.^[19]