• Korean Journal of Labor Studies
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• v.19 no.1
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• pp.1-34
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• 2013

Labor share of income in Korea has fallen from 90% in 1996 to 79% in 2010. This paper explores the factors driving the movements in the labor share of income based on a panel dataset containing 19 years of data on 18 Korean manufacturing industries. The effects of technical progress, globalization and the bargaining power of labor and capital on the labor share of income are tested for the period of 1991-2009. The main empirical results are as follows. (1) Capital-aug menting technical prog ress measured by capital-labor ratio and R&D intensity has a negative effect on the labor share. (2) Market openness measured by the value of export and import as a ratio to value-added production is found to have a positive impact. (3) Globalization of production measured by inward-FDI and outward-FDI as a ratio to total domestic fixed capital is found to have a negative impact on the labor share. (4) Union density is found to have had a statistically significant effect in 1991-1998. This finding is consistent with the efficient bargain model in which firms and workers bargain over both wages and employment. But union density is insignificant in 2000-2009. This implies that since the financial crisis in 1997, the bargaining institution in Korea has been approaching the right-to-manage model in which firms and unions bargain over wages and then firms set employment unilaterally. (5) Variables for domestic financialization measured by dividend-income ratio and financial-fixed assets ratio have an insignificant effect on labor share.

• 사회경제평론
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• v.31 no.3
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• pp.239-270
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• 2018

This study empirically analyzed the labor income share of primary and subcontractors. The results are as follows. First, panel regression analysis showed that the variables of transaction concentration, outsourcing cost, capital intensity, and market share had a significant negative effect, while union organization rate and R & D investment had positive effects. In particular, the R & D variable had a negative effect on the share of labor income in the year of investment (t), but had a positive impact on the long-term (t-1, t-2). Second, the share of labor income during the last 11 years (2006~2016) was higher in subcontractors with lower wage levels. This analysis implies that the wage inequality between the primary and subcontracting enterprises can not be eliminated without improving the solvency of subcontractors.

• 사회경제평론
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• v.31 no.2
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• pp.39-69
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• 2018

We measured industrial labor income shares and investigated their determinants. Excluding industries where non-wage earners are not countable, we constructed 22 industry labor income shares from 1993 to 2015. Even though labor income shares in manufacturing industries declined more than in service industries, the economy-wide decline was not driven by structural changes but by within-industry effects. We found that rise in capital-labor ratio, R&D intensity, export dependence, and irregular job ratio contributed to the fall in labor income shares. When we examined manufacturing industries separately, overall results were about the same. But in that case we had additional findings that the rise in import dependence and outsourcing ratio lowered labor's shares, while minimum wage increases raised them.

• The Journal of Industrial Distribution & Business
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• v.8 no.2
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• pp.21-31
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• 2017

Purpose - The total amount of advanced Corporate Pension Insurance products exceed 148 trillion Korean Won at the end of 2016. For a firm with over 300 employees, when a bill on compulsion of introduction of Corporate Pension Insurance products, currently pending in court, is passed, Corporate Pension shall be an essential. The findings of the paper will provide a guideline for understanding on firm's attributes and its effects towards introduction of Corporate Pension Insurance products. Research design, data, and methodology - The data were collected using statistics of employer panel survey from Korea Labour Institute in 2013. The study analyses a sample survey on 1,775 outstanding enterprises and their HR department among whole corporations in Korea. For analysis of data, empirical testing by Logistic Regression was utilized. Results - As an outcome of empirical testing, variables on share of regular employees and the aged employees in over 50's generates a significant statistical meaning. It eventually gives a great impact on purchase of Corporate Pension scheme. Moreover, variables on corporate financial statement, current sales, current net income, total amount of the debts, labor cost per person also has a vital influence on introduction of Corporate Pension Insurance products. Lastly, variables on firm's labor relationship have no effect except for the execution or non-execution of HR consulting. Meanwhile, Variables affecting a choice on pension schemes types among firm's attributes are a share of regular employees, current net income, execution or non-execution of HR consulting etc. These variables represents a statistical implication. According to their each features, they prefer DB or DC plan. Conclusions - Introduction of corporate pension scheme is apposite to contemporary Korea's situation entering a hyper-aging society and firms with a high share of regular employees, the weight of aging, current sales, current net income and labor cost per person are exceedingly active in purchasing Corporate Pension Insurance products. However, after the introduction of corporate pension scheme, firms which has an implementation of consultation on human resource management, flexible benefits plan, job security and welfare system prefer DC plan whereas from financial perspective firms with high net income prefer DB plan.

• East Asian Economic Review
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• v.24 no.4
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• pp.313-336
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• 2020

In this paper, I review evidence on changing global specialization in labor-intensive exporting. Production of apparel, footwear, furniture, and related products are how many low-income countries first enter export manufacturing. Just as China's rise as a powerhouse in these goods supplanted a role previously occupied by the East Asian Tigers, the world may again be on the cusp of significant change in where labor-intensive goods are produced. China's prowess in these sectors peaked in the early 2010s; its share in their global exports, while still substantial, is now in decline. Mechanisms through which the global economy may adjust to China's graduation into more technologically sophisticated activities include expanded labor-intensive export production in other emerging economies and labor-saving technological change in products currently heavily reliant on less-educated labor. Available evidence suggests that the first mechanism is operating slowly and the second hardly at all. As a third mechanism, China may in part replace itself by moving labor-heavy factories out of densely populated and expensive coastal cities and into the country's interior. Such a transition, though still in its infancy, would mirror the decentralization of manufacturing production in the U.S. and Europe, which occurred after World War II.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.16 no.9
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• pp.5843-5849
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• 2015

This study analyzes the factor demand structure of sweet persimmon as a part of finding out cost cutting measures. Income and cost data from 2001~2013 Agricultural Income Survey are used for placing the translog cost function and estimating price elasticies and cross elasticities of labor, capital and intermediate input. The result shows that own price elasticities of all factors are small in absolute terms. Additionally the result indicates capital and intermediate input cannot be a substitution for labor, which is a top-line cost-share. It means that the demand for labor cconstitutionally can't be reduced in a short time. This implies that cost reduction should be done focusing on intermediate input, particularly on fertilizer and materials which have higher price elasticity of demand.

• 한국사회정책
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• v.25 no.3
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• pp.175-208
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• 2018

The purpose of this article is to evaluate Korea's income-led growth policy that is still in dispute. To do this, I discussed the content, background and implications of the income-led growth theory. Next, I discussed the role of income-led growth as a growth strategy in the Korean economy. The income-led growth theory comes from the Keynesian tradition which emphasizes the role of demand in the economic growth. The basic idea emerged nearly 80 years ago, and the current model emerged about 30 years ago. Some of the Korean researchers began to pay attention to this issue when ILO researchers discussed it in 2010. The recent emphasis on income-led growth theory was due to the tendency of declining labor income, thus forming a consensus that increasing inequality can hamper growth. The effectiveness of the income-led growth strategy, which can lead to economic growth by increasing the share of labor income, is theoretically and empirically controversial. However, it is understandable why income-led growth strategies have emerged. Income-led growth is not a short-term strategy nor a key of growth strategy. However, in current socio economic structures, the prescriptions of income-led growth theory is meaningful in that it enables sustainable growth by making the economic system healthy. In addition, unlike the West, the government's welfare expenditure can play a significant role as part of the income-led growth prescriptions in Korea.

• Korea journal of population studies
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• v.23 no.2
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• pp.113-141
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• 2000

The aim of this paper is to project the state of the labor farce and employment in Korea from 2000 to 2005. The labor market in Korea is experiencing significant changes with the rapid development of Information and Telecommunication Technology (ICT) and the transition of the Korean economy into a knowledge-based economy. On the labor supply side, it is expected that the growth of the labor force will be sluggish; baby boomers will become the middle-aged, while the proportion of senior citizens, the highly educated and the female labor force will grow fast. These changes will alter the human resources management system in business sectors. Moreover, the permanent employment relationship, the hierarchy system and the seniority-based wage system are all expected to change. On the labor demand side, the employment share in highly skilled. knowledge-intensive industries will grow faster than the rest of the economy in tandem with the quickly growing output share of these industries. Especially, more jobs will be created in the ICT industries. The proportion of labor in highly skilled and professional occupations will also grow faster than in other occupations. At the same time, the employment share of female workers will grow more quickly than that of the male workers. These changes, however, may worsen income inequalities and/or increase the unemployment rate when workers do not have the suitable skills or knowledge required by the knowledge-based economy. To avoid this, it is necessary for the government to build up a lifetime learning system for workers.

• Journal of Labour Economics
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• v.27 no.2
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• pp.1-27
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• 2004

The share of self-employment shows a downward trend until 1990 and then an upward trend since then. The upward trend is mainly due to more employers and more male self-employed, which implies that self-employment plays a significant role as an alternative form of employment. This paper examines whether self-employment can be a bridge between no work and wage work in the processes entering into or exiting labor market, and if so, what determines the choice of self-employment as a bridge, using the data from the Korea Labor and Income Panel Survey(Wave 1 to Wave 5). Empirical analysis employing the probit model shows that the older, female, the less educated, and persons with bad health are more likely to choose self-employment as a bridge in the exit process and that they are less likely to choose it as a bridge in the entry process. Business cycle has a statistically significant negative effect on its role of bridge employment in the exit process but not in the entry process. The result implies that, in the ageing society, labor market policy should consider self-employment as a better alternative than wage work for the aged.

• Journal of Agricultural Extension & Community Development
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• v.23 no.2
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• pp.145-156
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• 2016

The purpose of this study is to analyze the farms growing domestic kiwi fruit 'Gold' on their management performance and efficiency in order to reduce the risks involved with introducing new kind of crops for growing, and suggest improvements. First, the result of analysis showed that domestic kiwi fruit 'Gold' growers' income were higher than the average growers due to the fruit's high unit price and productivity. Second, the analysis of management efficiency resulted in scale efficiency having greater impact on inefficiency rather than pure technical efficiency. As for the analysis of technical efficiency, the depreciation costs of agricultural facilities had the greatest influence on its inefficiency. Third, inefficient farms put in excessive inputs across the board, while labor costs(self labor cost + hired labor cost) were the largest factor of optimal inputs according to the models of technical efficiency and pure technical efficiency. Fourth, because of greater reliance on mechanical tools from rising labor costs, there's a need for individual farms to avoid buying farming equipments and instead share the equipments of nearby farms and agricultural cooperatives, or start renting agricultural machines from companies.