What is it?

The ILO/World Bank policy inventory for the first time surveys the policy responses of 77 countries in response to the 2008 financial and economic crisis. The information is collected over a two-year period (mid-2008 to end-2010) for 55 low-income and middle-income countries and 22 high-income countries.

The policy responses are reported in seven categories: macroeconomic policies; measures to increase labour demand; active labour market policies; unemployment benefits; social protection measures; social dialogue and labour standards.

The genesis of the project was the G20 summit in London in April 2009, in which the ILO was asked to “work with other relevant organizations, to assess the actions taken and those required for the future”. Earlier that year the ILO adopted a “Global Jobs Pact” including a portfolio of suggested policies aimed at reducing the lag time between economic and employment recovery. In early 2010, the ILO and the World Bank decided to conduct a joint survey of policy responses to the crisis, based on the structure of the Global Jobs Pact.

The project is enabled by financial support provided by the Swiss State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO), for the ILO, and by the Multi-donor Trust Fund on “Labour Markets, Job Creation, and Economic Growth” with funding from Austria, Germany, Korea, Norway, and Switzerland for the World Bank.

What are the outputs?

There are two main outputs of the project: first, a web-based policy inventory database reporting the policies in a user-focused platform, available at: /crisis-inventory. The second output is a joint synthesis report issued by the ILO and the World Bank, which offers early policy insights, to identify effective approaches to maintain and promote employment during times of crisis.

When is it ready?

The Policy Inventory database and the joint synthesis report are launched on 20 April 2012.