• Journal of Labour Economics
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• v.39 no.2
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• pp.83-111
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• 2016

We investigate how smokers and drinkers have influenced on self-reported risk assessment and workplace injuries, using the Korean Working Conditions Survey. Our empirical results indicate that persistent smoking habit raises workers' job risk assessments and work injuries significantly. Also, former smokers notice relatively higher risk assessments in various work activities, but they are less likely to affect work injuries. More frequent drinking behavior leads to a positive effect of job risk perception and workplace injuries. Regular smoking with frequent drinking for high income classes, however, have significantly reduced the chance of work injuries. Furthermore, establishing smoking-designated area at the workplace makes workers reduce workplace accidents positively. Therefore, the network effect of smoking and drinking behaviors in private circle levels is suggested to extend into public and constructive activies at the workplace levels for sharing useful and productive information, which will eventually reduce workplace injuries dramatically.

• Journal of Labour Economics
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• v.39 no.4
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• pp.57-78
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• 2016

This study analyzes economic behaviors of government employee pension subscriber's household by comparison to national pension subscriber's household. First, government employee pension subscriber's household income is higher than national pension subscriber's one. Second, household net assets of government employee pension subscriber are smaller than the ones of national pension subscriber. Government employee pension could crowd out private household savings, and a national pension subscriber's household inherited more than a government employee pension subscriber's. Third, a government employee pension subscriber's household is also likely to expend more than a national pension subscriber's household. Both summary statistics and fixed effects estimates give significant coefficients to government employee's dummy. Government employee pension subscriber's households do not need to save more because they expect to receive a stable retirement pension which gives relatively higher compensation. Thus, they are likely to consume more than national pension subscriber's households.

• Journal of the Korea Safety Management & Science
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• v.10 no.3
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• pp.29-33
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• 2008

According to statistics released by the Ministry of Labor for the past 6 years, work-related accidents in the construction industry have been on the continued increase, resulting in social and economic losses that are difficult to determine at an exact amount. However, the number will likely get much bigger if unreported cases are included, considering the fact that the aforementioned statistics are based soley on the applications filed with Korea Workers' Compensation and Welfare Service. The practice of businesses choosing not to report and dealing with industrial accidents in an unauthorized manner is defined as "concealment of industrial accident". The reason the employers tend to engage in the concealment practice even at their huge cost is a "pre-qualification" scheme for the applicants in the government procurement process. Under the pre-qualification scheme, the applicants with a high rate of industrial accidents receive a low grade and become less attractive candidates in the procurement process, thus losing an opportunity to win a contract. Such failure relates directly to the fate of business organizations, to survive or not. That is why they are making all-out efforts to obtain a high grade in the pre-qualification evaluation. With regard to the accident-concealment problem, the following can be mentioned as preventive measures: (1) To exclude a rate of industrial accidents from the pre-qualification scheme; (2) To strengthen the institution of imposing penalties on the occurrence of industrial accidents; (3) To introduce private insurance system to the current industrial accident compensation insurance; and (4) To give non-recognition treatment to industrial accidents that were not reported upon occurrence. In conclusion, the concealment problem can be resolved if the aforementioned measures are to be taken continuously along with corrective measures against institutional deficiencies.

• International Journal of Human Ecology
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• v.8 no.1
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• pp.53-66
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• 2007

The purpose of the study is to microscopically re-clarify the reality of renovation and conflicts that females faced within their families since the modernization period. The research method is the literature review. Families have been considered based on the formation of individual spaces for housing by husband and wife. The study will analyze changes in daily lives and housing consciousness to understand how such housing areas are transforming. The results of the study are as follows. From the perspective of symbolic interaction, in a traditional society, Korean females have been experiencing alienation and isolation in private areas in their daily lives due to family centrism and male chauvinism. Since industrialization, the female's role as the major consumer has been emphasized. Also, in terms of housing space, the symbol of family interaction was influenced more by utility, rationality, and equality than spatial hierarchy. From the perspective of the dailiness of phenomenological traditions, the modern girl's housing consciousness, which appeared during modernization under colonial rule, is considered as revolutionary from traditional society. Soon after in industrialized society, females appeared as leaders of 'sweet home'. They also became the main body to create the space for living by giving meaning to the interior of housing. Considering dailiness from the Marxist perspective, under the colonial social system, females became the subject of colonization through education, socialization, and the labor market. The modern public system presents the female as 'a wise mom and good wife' or laborer causing the colonization of her life. After industrialization, the socialization of housing and prioritization of spending caused the daily lives of females to become colonized by the consumption market.

• Journal of Technology Innovation
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• v.21 no.1
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• pp.1-26
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• 2013

The objectives of this paper are to analyze the effect of government R&D expenditure on employment in the Korean manufacturing sector in which employment is rapidly declining. According to the results of our empirical analysis, government R&D expenditure decreases the level of employment in Korean manufacturing sector in short term period, but it has positive effect on employment by compensation effect in the middle and long term period. Second, the effect of private R&D expenditure on job creation is three times larger than that of government R&D expenditure. Third, costs of labor and capital has negative effect on employment. This study is believed to help understanding the relation between R&D expenditure and employment, and providing policy implications of how to plan and manage government R&D expenditure as a tool of job creation.

• Journal of Labour Economics
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• v.29 no.2
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• pp.117-143
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• 2006

This paper illuminates the patterns of growth and declines in sizes of union membership in metal, chemical, financial, and auto transport sectors in three distinct periods during the last four decades from 1963 to 2003. This paper also calculates union densities in auto assembly, auto supply, and shipbuilding industries of the metal sector, cement, petroleum refining, and pharmaceutical industries of the chemical sector, private banking industry of the financial sector, and city bus industry of the auto transport sector. Such diversities in both sizes of union membership and union densities among sectors and industries turned out to be associated with attitudes and choices of employers and unions in interaction with sector- and industry-specific economic (growth stage and path), institutional (degrees of government intervention), and social (demographic features of employees and prevailing sizes of firms) environment. Such finding shows that theoretical reasonings on sizes of union membership and union densities across sectors and industries in advanced nations are also relevantly useful to analyze the Korean case.

• Journal of Labour Economics
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• v.38 no.4
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• pp.83-107
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• 2015

Free Agent(FA) system allows a professional player to make a salary contract with the other clubs as well as the incumbent one after the player has played in one club for a fixed periods. Sometimes compared with the salary FA players performs very poorly, which leads to a debate about FA busts. We extend the model of Yang and Wang(2013) to the one with incomplete information about the productivity of the player to explain the possibility of FA busts. FA busts do not arise in the separating equilibrium where the private information is fully revealed. The FA busts do occur in the pooling equilibrium We show that the separating equilibrium does not exist. We also show that under some conditions, in particular with strong compensation rule, the unique pooling equilibrium exists.

• Journal of Technology Innovation
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• v.8 no.2
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• pp.19-65
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• 2000

This study analyzes the development of technological infrastructure(TI) and technological infrastructure policy(TIP) to enhance the technological capabilities of small and mid-sized manufacturing enterprises(SMEs) in the U.S. and Korea in terms of the technological system(TS) concept, which is composed of technological infrastructure, industrial organization, and institutional infrastructure. In order to analyze the internal dynamics of the system, such as incentive mechanisms, the interaction among economic actors, and the policy implementation process, we compare the MEP(Manufacturing Extension Partnership) system of the U.S. and the Joong-Jin-Gong system of Korea. Among many similarities, contrasts, and insights from each country's effort to construct TI and TS, the main findings are as follows. (1) Both the MEP system and the Joong-Jin-Cong system are TI-led or government-led type TS. However, the nation-wide picture is different: in the U.S., most TSs including the MEP system., are classified as TI-led type; in Korea, many TI-assisted or private sector-led TSs have been developed since the early 1960s. (2) the MEP system, as a representative case of the U.S., is less stable than the Joong-Jin-Gong system of Korea in terms of financing and political cycle. (3) The MEP system is a more complex and cooperative network than the Joong-Jin-Gong system. NIST, as a critical mass, generates the system, bridges various institutions, and influences the development of the system by providing funding. (4) Regarding TI components, TSs in both countries focus on utilizing off-the-shelf technologies rather than advanced technologies. However, the direction of movement is different: in the U.S., TSs have come to emphasize existing technologies to counterbalance an innovation system that has been highly focused toward new technologies; in Korea, TSs have been moving from focusing on a higher diffusion rate of imported process technologies to stressing new technology development. (5) Personnel and staffing, embodying technological capability, is an important concern in both countries. But the human capital infrastructure of the U.S. system is more efficient and industry-oriented than that of the Korean system due to a more flexible labor market. (6) While the U.S. has a strong tradition of state and local autonomy in constructing TI and TS to fit SMEs's specific need, Korea has a centralized and bureaucratically-led policy implementation process.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.40 no.5
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• pp.397-403
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• 2007

Objectives: The prevalence of metabolic syndrome has recently increased, Payments from the Korea Labor Welfare Corporation for compensation for mortality in workers caused by cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases have also increased in Korea in recent years. The association of metabolic syndrome and cardiocerebrovascular disease has been investigated by several researchers in recent studies, This study was conducted in an attempt to characterize the relationship between metabolic syndrome and Korean cardiocerebrovascular disease risk assessment, and to provide basic data to group health practices for the prevention of cardiocerebrovascular disease. Methods: Health examinations were previously conducted for 1526 male researchers at a private laboratory. The prevalence by age and the odds ratio of metabolic syndrome scores into the "cardiocerebrovascular risk group" (sum of low, intermediate, and high risk groups) of the Korean cardiocerebrovascular disease risk assessment were assessed, in an effort to elucidate the associations between metabolic syndrome and cardiocere brovascular disease risk assessment. Results: The prevalence of metabolic syndrome and inclusion in the cardiocerebrovascular risk group was 11,7% and 22.1% respectively. The severity of metabolic syndrome and cardiocerebrovascular risk assessment showed that individuals in their 40's and 50's were at higher risk than those in their 30's (p<0,001). The age-adjusted odds ratio of metabolic syndrome to cardiocere brovascular risk group inclusion was 5.6. Conclusions: An active prevention program for cardiocerebrovascular disease needs to begin in the 40's, as the prevalence of metabolic syndrome and the risk group of cardiocerebrovascular risk assessment peak in the 40's age group. The odds ratio between metabolic syndrome and the cardiocerebrovascular risk group was high, which indicates that metabolic syndrome scores should be utilized as guidelines during the consultation and behavioral modification program for the workplace prevention of cardiocerebrovascular diseases in group health practices.

• Journal of Families and Better Life
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• v.26 no.3
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• pp.169-189
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• 2008

There are few studies on the characteristics of defaulters, though research in this field is needed. The purpose of this study was to find out social, economic and psychological characteristics of defaulters who are married and in their thirties. For this study, an in-depth interview was used. The major findings were as follows. The focus of this study is defaulters who are married, in their thirties, have managed small businesses by themselves or with their spouses and have experienced job fluctuation. There were a lot of reasons for their becoming defaulters. Most of all, a slump in business with the occurrence of individual events caused them to be enrolled as defaulters. The monthly mean income of defaulters was $1,800,000{\sim}5,000,000$ won, yet it was irregular. Moreover, they were dependent upon labor income or business income. The monthly mean expenditure of defaulters was $1,000,000{\sim}2,300,000$ won, which constituted about $26%{\sim}57.5%$ of their monthly mean income. The defaulters needed to budget a number of expenditures such as food and private education. Defaulters had $25,000,000{\sim}128,000,000$ won in debts and $300,000{\sim}3,000,000$ won per month in debt payments. Most of them didn't have any emergency funds, monetary assets or fixed assets. Interestingly, they showed high tendency to use debt and low skill for their money management. Defaulters had short time horizons and were likely to buy something on the spur of the moment.