How Has Asia Fared in the Global Crisis? A Tale of Three Countries: Republic of Korea, Philippines, and Thailand

The global economic crisis in 2008–2009 had varying impacts on economies in Asia and the Pacific. This paper studies the impacts of the global crisis, with emphasis on the labor market, on three Asian countries: Republic of Korea (Korea), Philippines, and Thailand. It develops a crisis index that measures the impacts of the crisis by comparing actual values of economic indicators during the crisis period (2008–2009) with counterfactual indicators derived from each country’s pre-crisis (2001–2007) long-term trends. The study finds that all three countries were significantly affected by the crisis, but the severity and channels of these impacts varied widely: Thailand suffered the most in terms of reduced growth in gross domestic product, Korea suffered the worst in reduced employment, and Philippines’ output was affected only in 2009. In the labor market, the study finds that the crisis led to significant job losses in all three countries and highlighted underlying problems, particularly Korea’s problems with youth unemployment, and Philippines’ and Thailand’s vulnerable industrial sectors.