• Journal of Labour Economics
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• v.23 no.1
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• pp.167-190
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• 2000

The Korean labor market is changing very fast after the economic crisis. In the middle of 2000, the unemployment rate has decreased to the less than 4% and wage income has recovered to its pre-crisis level. However, the number of employed and the labor market participation rate has not yet recovered, and income inequality is widening. In this situation, there is some concern about the potential for the histeresis phenomenon, which occurred in Europe after 1970, and means that a high unemployment rate could continued regardless of price levels. Therefore, focus should be placed on the labor market policy for the 21 st century reducing structural unemployment through creation of jobs in order to solve problems of unemployment and income distribution simultaneously.

• Economic Analysis
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• v.26 no.2
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• pp.43-71
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• 2020

This paper aims to derive macroeconomic implications by analyzing the business cycle characteristics of the youth unemployment. The results of empirical analysis seem to show that youth unemployment appears to be relatively less correlated with business cycle compared to other age groups, and thus it is difficult to explain the recent steady increase in the potential labor force as a result of the business cycle fluctuation alone. Moreover, the alternative unemployment measures of the youth group showing upward trend were estimated to be co-integrated with output measures. This co-integrated trend increase suggests that unlike other age groups, youth may be influenced by structural factors inherent in Korea's economic growth path. The fact that the wage difference based on firm size has widened steadily since the Asian financial crisis and that the proportion of large companies that provide relatively high-quality jobs compared to major industrialized countries is significantly lower may be the evidence of the structural changes in Korean youth labor market. The results of above analysis may explain why the job search periods for youth has lengthened amid these structural changes.

• Economic Analysis
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• v.25 no.4
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• pp.58-108
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• 2019

This paper analyzes the determining factors in the unemployment rate among young people in their 20s by studying data from 30 OECD countries between 2000 and 2017. It identifies reasons why Korea has a higher youth unemployment rate than Japan, and assesses what implications Japan's youth unemployment measures could have on Korea. The study highlights the variables that have meaningful impacts on youth unemployment. They include the unemployment rate among the working-age population, the percentage of each age bracket in the overall population, the GDP growth rate, the percentage of wage laborers in each age group, the percentage of elderly people, and the percentage of part-time workers. This paper also finds that a decline in the youth population, especially among people in their 20s, does not help to address the issue of youth unemployment. Secondly, this paper explains the additional factors behind Korea's higher youth unemployment rates. One is Korea's disadvantageous employment environment, compared to that in Japan, in terms of wage earnings. Other factors include the existence of fewer decent corporate jobs than in Japan, and wide disparities in wages between large and small corporate jobs. Therefore, while making efforts to resolve long-term and structural problems, it is necessary to actively promote policy measures to solve short-term mismatch problems of youth employment by referring to Japanese policy examples.

• Journal of Labour Economics
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• v.35 no.1
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• pp.89-109
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• 2012

This paper evaluate the robustness of the Okun relationship based on Korean data for 1979~2008. For estimating a natural unemployment rate, this study uses time series econometric methodologies. This paper finds some interesting results; first of all, a bench mark estimates of Okun's ${\beta}$ range from 2 to 4 with different methodologies. This is a little bit higher scale than that of Lee(2000)'s results, which estimated the Okun's coefficient on the advanced countries' 1955~1996. Secondly, we test an asymmetric behavior of unemployment rate on business cycle. But the results are mixed. Finally we cannot find the evidence of structural break for the periods of 1979~80 and 1997~98 crises.

• Korean Journal of Social Welfare
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• v.35
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• pp.179-203
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• 1998

Since the end of 1997, the Korean economy has been in deep recession; the unemployment rate has rocketed to 6.7% and the economic growth rate has dropped to -3.8% in the first quarter of 1998. Facing with this mass unemployment, the Korean Government launched comprehensive countermeasures against mass unemployment.. However, these have been in severe criticism from the outset on account of ineffectiveness and impracticability. It is in this regard that this paper purports to design a socially acceptable and financially feasible social safety net by reforming the Livelihood Aid Programme. For this purpose, chapter 3 defines the concept of social safety net, and chapter 4 reviews the social safety net programmes sponsored by World Bank and IMF in the Third World countries and Eastern European countries. Chapter 5 proposes the Three Step Approach in designing the social safety net in Korea.

• Journal of the Economic Geographical Society of Korea
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• v.2 no.1_2
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• pp.83-102
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• 1999

The aim of this paper is to explore the trend and structural features of unemployment in Germany and to review the local and regional labour market policy against the unemployment. Unemployment has been one of the major issues in Germany since the oil shocks oi 1973-74 and 1978-80. The unemployment rate in western Germany was low at the time of reunification in 1990 and the next consecutive two years. Since then, the unemployment rate has sharply risen due to the restructuring of industries. In an effort to reduce the unemployment and to search (or new employment policies, the specific roles and advantages of communal units have been appreciated. The local and/or regional labour market policies are characterized as fellows: the corporative networking of all the agents including local administration, education institutes, regional labour bureau, firms and interest groups; the systematic integration of the various instruments which have been separately installed by different sectors; and the target-oriented adjustment of labour market approaches in the local circumstances.

• Journal of the Economic Geographical Society of Korea
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• v.5 no.2
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• pp.187-207
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• 2002

This study investigates the wage determination process of regional labor markets in order to understand the regional dimension of labor market processes in Korean metropolitan cities. Since the financial crisis in late 1997, the interplay between labor market restructuring such as unemployment and skill polarization and income disparity has been shaped by the labor market process in the metropolitan cities. This is also closely related to the fact that both industrial restructuring and expanding information technologies in the metropolitan region have reshaped the labor demand structure and finally resulted in structural unemployment due to skill mismatch and spatial mismatch and wage inequality across different occupations. In addition, since wage determination process clearly has a regional dimension, wage determination and its influence on income profile in a certain regional labor market need to be understood by investigating its labor market characteristics including labor supply and demand structure, industrial changes, changing unemployment, etc. This is why labor market policy as a regional policy needs to be redefined and it can be much enhanced by geographical investigation on regional labor market.

• KDI Journal of Economic Policy
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• v.9 no.1
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• pp.27-42
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• 1987

본논문(本論文)에서는 우리나라의 노동시장(勞動市場)의 구조(構造)를 동학적(動學的)으로 살펴보고 이에 따른 정책과제(政策課題)를 도출(導出)하기 위해 취업(就業)과 실업상태(失業狀態)를 번갈아 움직이는 노동자(勞動者) 행태(行態)의 결정요인(決定要因)을 실증분석(實證分析)하였다. 분석방법(分析方法)으로는 직업탐색이론(職業探索理論)을 이용(利用)하여 이론적(理論的)인 가설(假說)을 도출(導出)하였고, 계량적(計量的) 검증(檢證)을 위해 회귀모형(回歸模型)을 정형화(定型化)하였다. 통계자료(統計資料)는 1985년(年) 한해 동안의 "경제활동인구조사(經濟活動人口調査)"의 매월(每月) "테이프"에서 같은 근로자(勤勞者)를 11개월(個月) 동안 추적하여 분석(分析)을 위한 표본(標本)으로 이용(利用)하였다. 임금(賃金)은 취업(就業)에서 실업(失業)으로 변화(變化)할 확률(確率)에 대해 부(負)의 효과(效果)를 보이고 실업(失業)에서 벗어나 재취업(再就業)할 확률(確率)에도 부(負)의 효과(效果)를 나타내어 이론(理論)에서 도출(導出)된 가설(假設)이 검증(檢證)되었다. 연령(年齡)이 상태간(狀態間) 이동(移動)에 미친 효과(效果)는 부(負)의 값을 보였다. 그러나 이 효과(效果)는 일정한 연령(年齡)이 지나면 정(正)의 효과(效果)로 바뀌는 비선형성(非線型性)을 보였다. 이러한 결과(結果)에 입각(立脚)하여 우리는 높은 임금(賃金)을 받는 근로자(勤勞者)일수록 이직(移職)의 가능성(可能性)이 낮고 또한 실업상태(失業狀態)에서 재취직(再就職)의 가능성(可能性)이 낮다는 사실(事實) 등을 알 수 있다. 이에 따른 정책적(政策的) 시사점(示唆點)의 하나는 직업훈련(職業訓鍊)을 단순히 양적(量的)으로 확대(擴大)하기보다는 연령체계(年齡體系)에 맞추어 그 내용을 질적(質的)으로 조정(調整)하는 것이 바람직하다는 것이다.

• Korea journal of population studies
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• v.23 no.1
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• pp.147-180
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• 2000

1997-98년의 외환위기는 한국경제 전반에 걸쳐 커다란 변화를 초래하였다. 특히 노동시장에서도 200만 명의 전례 없는 대량실업을 경험하였다. 이전의 고학력 실업과 생산직 노동력 부족이라는 두 가지 큰 특징으로부터 성, 학력, 연령에 관계없는 전 노동력에서의 대량실업이라는 특징을 경험하게되었다. 불경기에서의 기업 구조조정은 많은 직장인들로 하여금 통상적인 정년을 채우지 못하고 조기 퇴직해야 하는 상황을 초래하였다. 특히 50세 이상의 중·고령자 조기퇴직은 그들이 가정경제를 책임지는 가장으로서의 가정적 불안 뿐 아니라, 사회적으로도 실업자 보호를 위한 비용지출이 증대될 수밖에 없다. 이러한 현상은 직장에 남아있는 근로자들의 고용불안으로 확대되어 근로자들의 의사가 제대로 반영되지 않는 채 그 동안 정착된 고용관행(60세 전후 정년퇴직, 연공서열형 보수체계, 등)이 쉽게 무너지고, 사용자 중심의 새로운 고용관행(계약직, 연봉제, 단시간 근로형태, 등)이 확대될 가능성이 높아지게 되었다. 본 연구는 중·고령자의 고용안정과 촉진을 위한 정책대안과 촉진을 위한 정책대안을 제시함으로써 개인에게는 적합한 직종에서 일할 기회를 부여하고, 사회적으로는 실업문제의 해결로 사회복지비용의 지출을 최소화한다는 차원에서 연구되었다. 일반적으로 채용 면에서는 퇴직된 중·고령자도 신구인력과 경쟁적일 수박에 없으므로 비록 경기가 회복되더라도 재취업의 어려움은 여전히 남을 수밖에 없다. 뿐만 아니라 이들은 오랫동안 피고용자로서 근무해 왔기 때문에 신규 자영업에 진출하기도 조심스러울 수밖에 없어 이들의 경제활동에 대한 정부차원의 지원정책이 필요할 것이다. 연구결과 다음과 같은 몇 가지 중요한 정책적 시사점을 제시할 수 있다. 의무고용률 의 조정, 퇴직 전 전직훈련의 의무화, 고령자 창업보육센타의 설립, 신규채용이나 퇴직에서 제한연령의 완화 및 철폐, 서비스 산업에서의 고령자 적합직종의 개발, 등이 그것이다.

• Proceedings of the KGS Conference
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• 2004.05a
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• pp.69-69
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• 2004

지난 40여 년간 고도성장을 통한 분배효과는 우리나라 사회의 계층구조의 형성에 주요한 기제로 작용하였으며, 적어도 1980년대까지는 긍정적인 영향을 행사한 것으로 이해된다. 그러나 1990년대에 시작하여 외환위기이후 본격적으로 시작된 소득 분극화의 진행은 소득격차의 가속화와 신빈곤의 구조화라는 심각한 사회문제를 야기하게 되었다. 이러한 소득의 분극화와 신빈곤의 형성에 가장 중요하게 작용하는 것은 바로 노동시장 내 질적이면 양적인 구조적 변화이다. (중략)