Working through the Crisis : Jobs and Policies in Developing Countries during the Great Recession

This book looks back both at how the Great Recession affected employment outcomes in developing countries and at how governments responded. The chapters bring together a unique compilation of data and analysis from very different sources, including an inventory of policies implemented during the cri...

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Main Authors: Banerji, Arup, Newhouse, David, Paci, Pierella, Robalino, David
Format: Publication
Language:en_US
Published: Washington, DC: World Bank 2013
Subjects:
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/10986/16306
id okr-10986-16306
recordtype oai_dc
spelling okr-10986-163062017-12-14T08:52:16Z Working through the Crisis : Jobs and Policies in Developing Countries during the Great Recession Banerji, Arup Newhouse, David Paci, Pierella Robalino, David Banerji, Arup Newhouse, David Paci, Pierella Robalino, David developing countries earnings economic shocks employment fiscal stimulus jobs labor markets policy inventory social protection This book looks back both at how the Great Recession affected employment outcomes in developing countries and at how governments responded. The chapters bring together a unique compilation of data and analysis from very different sources, including an inventory of policies implemented during the crisis among countries in Latin America, Eastern Europe, Asia and Africa. The overall story is that the impacts of the crisis varied considerably. The effect depended on the size of the original shock, the channels through which it was manifested, the structure of institutions in the country -- especially labor institutions -- and the specific policy responses undertaken by countries in response to the shock. While these factors led outcomes to differ across the countries studied, a few common patterns emerged. In terms of impacts, overall adjustments involved reductions in earnings growth rather than employment growth, although the quality of employment was also affected. Youth were doubly affected, being more likely to both experience unemployment and reduced wages. Men seemed to have been more strongly affected than women. In most countries where data are available, there were no major differences between skilled and unskilled workers or those living in urban or rural areas. In terms of policy responses, this crisis was characterized by a high prevalence of active interventions in the labor market and the expansion of income protection systems, as well as countercyclical stimulus. Countercyclical stimulus measures in a number of countries, when timed well and sufficiently large to mitigate the shock, were effective in reducing adverse employment effects. Specific sectoral stimulus policies also had positive effects when well-targeted. But social protection and labor market policy responses were often ad-hoc and not in line with the types of adjustments that were taking place. As a result, these policies and programs did not necessarily reach those who needed them the most and typically were biased toward formal sector workers. In retrospect, there is a sense that developing countries were not well prepared to deal with the effects of the Great Recession, suggesting room for important reforms to social protection and labor policies moving forward. 2013-11-20T19:20:24Z 2013-11-20T19:20:24Z 2014 978-0-8213-8967-6 10.1596/978-0-8213-8967-6 http://hdl.handle.net/10986/16306 en_US Directions in Development--Human Development; CC BY 3.0 IGO http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/igo World Bank Washington, DC: World Bank Publications & Research :: Publication East Asia South Asia Latin America China Indonesia Mexico
repository_type Digital Repository
institution_category Foreign Institution
institution World Bank
building World Bank Open Knowledge Repository
collection Online Access
language en_US
topic developing countries
earnings
economic shocks
employment
fiscal stimulus
jobs
labor markets
policy inventory
social protection
spellingShingle developing countries
earnings
economic shocks
employment
fiscal stimulus
jobs
labor markets
policy inventory
social protection
Banerji, Arup
Newhouse, David
Paci, Pierella
Robalino, David
Working through the Crisis : Jobs and Policies in Developing Countries during the Great Recession
geographic_facet East Asia
South Asia
Latin America
China
Indonesia
Mexico
relation Directions in Development--Human Development;
description This book looks back both at how the Great Recession affected employment outcomes in developing countries and at how governments responded. The chapters bring together a unique compilation of data and analysis from very different sources, including an inventory of policies implemented during the crisis among countries in Latin America, Eastern Europe, Asia and Africa. The overall story is that the impacts of the crisis varied considerably. The effect depended on the size of the original shock, the channels through which it was manifested, the structure of institutions in the country -- especially labor institutions -- and the specific policy responses undertaken by countries in response to the shock. While these factors led outcomes to differ across the countries studied, a few common patterns emerged. In terms of impacts, overall adjustments involved reductions in earnings growth rather than employment growth, although the quality of employment was also affected. Youth were doubly affected, being more likely to both experience unemployment and reduced wages. Men seemed to have been more strongly affected than women. In most countries where data are available, there were no major differences between skilled and unskilled workers or those living in urban or rural areas. In terms of policy responses, this crisis was characterized by a high prevalence of active interventions in the labor market and the expansion of income protection systems, as well as countercyclical stimulus. Countercyclical stimulus measures in a number of countries, when timed well and sufficiently large to mitigate the shock, were effective in reducing adverse employment effects. Specific sectoral stimulus policies also had positive effects when well-targeted. But social protection and labor market policy responses were often ad-hoc and not in line with the types of adjustments that were taking place. As a result, these policies and programs did not necessarily reach those who needed them the most and typically were biased toward formal sector workers. In retrospect, there is a sense that developing countries were not well prepared to deal with the effects of the Great Recession, suggesting room for important reforms to social protection and labor policies moving forward.
author2 Banerji, Arup
author_facet Banerji, Arup
Banerji, Arup
Newhouse, David
Paci, Pierella
Robalino, David
format Publications & Research :: Publication
author Banerji, Arup
Newhouse, David
Paci, Pierella
Robalino, David
author_sort Banerji, Arup
title Working through the Crisis : Jobs and Policies in Developing Countries during the Great Recession
title_short Working through the Crisis : Jobs and Policies in Developing Countries during the Great Recession
title_full Working through the Crisis : Jobs and Policies in Developing Countries during the Great Recession
title_fullStr Working through the Crisis : Jobs and Policies in Developing Countries during the Great Recession
title_full_unstemmed Working through the Crisis : Jobs and Policies in Developing Countries during the Great Recession
title_sort working through the crisis : jobs and policies in developing countries during the great recession
publisher Washington, DC: World Bank
publishDate 2013
url http://hdl.handle.net/10986/16306
_version_ 1610776936933490688