Addressing the Employment Effects of the Financial Crisis : The Role of Wage Subsidies and Reduced Work Schedules

Robalino, David ; Banerji, Arup

World Bank, Washington, DC

关键词: ACTIVE LABOR;    ACTIVE LABOR MARKET;    ACTIVE LABOR MARKET POLICIES;    ACTIVE LABOR MARKET PROGRAMS;    AGGREGATE EMPLOYMENT;   

RP-ID  :  55082

学科分类：社会科学、人文和艺术（综合）

来源: World Bank Open Knowledge Repository

【 摘 要 】

This note briefly reviews theexperiences with wage subsidies and reduced work schedulesin promoting employment and avoiding the depreciation ofaccumulated skills and knowledge due to a temporarydownturn. These policies have been adopted by many highincome countries as well as some middle income countries. Itis to early o comment on their impact; to date, they havenot been rigorously evaluated in the context of thefinancial crisis. And any results will also be difficult togeneralize, since much depends on local conditions and thestructure of the labor market. Wage subsidies and reducedwork schedules show some promise as measures that can helpcountries to increase the employment elasticity of growthduring the recovery and avoid the depreciation of skillsassociated with unemployment or informal work. Wagesubsidies and reduced work schedules mainly benefit formalsector workers, which represent less than 50 percent of thelabor force in most middle and low income countries.