How Did Countries Respond to the COVID-19 Crisis? Emerging Patterns on Jobs-Relates Policies

doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1596/39730

Publication:
How Did Countries Respond to the COVID-19 Crisis? Emerging Patterns on Jobs-Relates Policies

dc.contributor.author	Contreras , Ivette
dc.contributor.author	Khamis, Melanie
dc.contributor.author	Newhouse, David
dc.contributor.author	Weber, Michael
dc.date.accessioned	2023-04-24T16:31:58Z
dc.date.available	2023-04-24T16:31:58Z
dc.date.issued	2023-04-24
dc.description.abstract	This brief investigates the differences in countries’ jobs-related policy responses to the COVID-19 pandemic. Four main patterns emerge. First, the type of labor policies adopted by countries varied greatly according to their income level. Low-income countries were more likely to implement public works programs but not other policies, such as unemployment benefits, labor regulations, wage subsidies, training and placements policies, firm liquidity support, and cash transfers to workers. Meanwhile, countries with more formal workforce and existing unemployment benefits systems were more likely to implement policies such as unemployment benefits and labor regulations. Second, low- and lower-middle-income countries devoted a lower share of their gross domestic product (GDP) to expenditure on new job-related policies. Third, conditional on countries’ income group, the magnitude of the GDP shock did not have a statistically significant correlation with the adoption of different policies. This may reflect uncertainty in the the extent of the GDP shock when the policy response was determined or noise in the measure of GDP. Finally, countries that adopted more stringent COVID-19 restrictions were more likely to adopt changes to labor regulations, specifically changes in working conditions to try to soften the blow on workers. These results suggest that the policy response to the crisis in low- and lower-middle-income countries was constrained by the lack of resources, resulting in lower-cost policies with generally limited impacts on workers.	en
dc.identifier	http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/099013004182322366/IDU0c385f83e0e61b04b71080e50da97f2e9cc62
dc.identifier.doi	10.1596/39730
dc.identifier.uri	https://openknowledge.worldbank.org/handle/10986/39730
dc.language	English
dc.language.iso	en_US
dc.publisher	World Bank, Washington DC
dc.relation.ispartofseries	Jobs Watch COVID-19
dc.rights	CC BY-NC 3.0 IGO
dc.rights.holder	World Bank
dc.rights.uri	https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/igo/
dc.subject	JOBS
dc.subject	EMPLOYMENT
dc.subject	POLICIES
dc.subject	COVID-19
dc.title	How Did Countries Respond to the COVID-19 Crisis? Emerging Patterns on Jobs-Relates Policies	en
dc.type	Brief
dspace.entity.type	Publication
okr.crossref.title	How Did Countries Respond to the COVID-19 Crisis? Emerging Patterns on Jobs-Relates Policies
okr.date.disclosure	2023-04-24
okr.date.lastmodified	2023-04-18T00:00:00Z	en
okr.doctype	Publications & Research::Brief
okr.docurl	http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/099013004182322366/IDU0c385f83e0e61b04b71080e50da97f2e9cc62
okr.guid	099013004182322366
okr.identifier.docmid	IDU-c385f83e-e61b-4b71-80e5-da97f2e9cc62
okr.identifier.doi	http://dx.doi.org/10.1596/39730
okr.identifier.externaldocumentum	34044649
okr.identifier.internaldocumentum	34044649
okr.identifier.report	181620
okr.import.id	533
okr.imported	true	en
okr.language.supported	en
okr.pdfurl	http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/099013004182322366/pdf/IDU0c385f83e0e61b04b71080e50da97f2e9cc62.pdf	en
okr.region.geographical	World
okr.topic	Law and Development::Labor & Employment Law
okr.unit	JOBS- CCSA - IBRD (HSPJB)