Inventory of Policy Responses to the Financial and Economic Crisis

Abstract

This report presents an overview of
 general findings from International Labor Office (ILO) and
 World Bank (WB) database. The report only uses a fraction of
 this large and rich database and is an invitation for
 researchers and practitioners to use the data for more
 in-depth research, which can be helpful for policy makers in
 identifying effective approaches to maintain and promote
 employment, while protecting living standards during times
 of crisis. The goal of this report is to take stock of
 policy responses during the recent economic and financial
 crisis and suggest areas where policy-makers should focus to
 improve their capacity to respond to future shocks. The
 report has following sections: section one gives
 introduction. Section two begins with an overview of
 macroeconomic and sector policies. Section three presents
 analysis of labor market policies to promote labor demand.
 Section four presents programs to facilitate job matching
 and preserve skills. Section five is social protection.
 Section six is minimum wages. Section seven is social
 dialogue. Section 8 is international labor standards. The
 last section summarizes key findings and proposes an agenda
 for future work.