ABSTRACT
This chapter examines effects on five Asian countries, namely, Indonesia, Korea, Malaysia, Philippines and Thailand, thought to be seriously affected and compares these to Mexico. It reviews the situation in these labor markets prior to the crisis. The chapter examines the effects of the crisis on key labor market indicators, with special reference to vulnerable groups. It discusses how governments' role in mitigating the crisis effects varied. The chapter discusses how the crisis potentially affected income distribution. The chapter examines how and how much government policy ameliorated some of these effects. The implications of financial crises for inequality depend on a country s economic structure. In developed countries, one would expect inequality in the labor market to increase in a crisis, as the most recently hired, unskilled and low paid groups lose their jobs and/or are pushed into unemployment.
