• Journal of Labour Economics
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• v.25 no.2
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• pp.33-78
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• 2002

This study analyzes effects of the proposed reduction of legal working hours in Korea in which base wage is unchanged with working hours reduction. The theoretical analysis shows that a reduction of legal working hours would result in less than equal size reduction of actual working hours, and increase in wages. On the other hand, the effects on employment is ambiguous depending on the substitution effect and scale effect. An empirical analysis based on macro-economic model simulation supports the theoretical conjecture. It has been found that with the reduction of legal working hours, real wages and consumption increase while actual working hours decreases about half of the legal hours reduction. In addition, the immediate and outright imposition of legal hours reduction on all sectors of the economy is found to create a cost push inflation and reduce GDP, investment, and employment. This negative effects are lessened as the reduction of legal hours is gradually made and/or some measures to absorb the cost shock such as abolition of paid monthly leave are employed together.

• Korean Journal of Social Welfare
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• v.59 no.2
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• pp.143-169
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• 2007

The major purpose of this study was to offer a comprehensive analysis of the changing trends and causes of poverty among urban wage earners' households from 1995 to 2005. In order to do that, this study used the micro data of "Income and Expenditure Survey of Urban Households" by the National Statistical Office(NSO) and GEE(Generalized estimating equation) regression model which is know as an appropriate method for the longitudinal and clustering data. The results show that (1) the numbers of poverty rate and poverty gap in recent years are even getting seriously worse than those in the IMF crisis. (2) Main characteristics of poor are female headed, old aged, low educated households, and having atypical working position. (3) Major determinants of poverty are also related to the variables as mentioned the above. (4) However, poverty reduction effect of public transfer increased preferably in recent years.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.18 no.12
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• pp.494-502
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• 2017

This study examines how the Netherlands and Denmark lowered the increase in income inequality, at a period in time when income inequality in the world was deepening. This study investigates the level and trend of income inequality in the Netherlands and Denmark compared to those in Korea, the United States, Germany and Sweden. Using the method of the decomposition of changes in income inequality, this study identifies which factors are associated with the changes in inequality in these countries. It also explores which labor market policies mitigated inequality in these two countries. One of the major reasons for the reduction in earned income inequality in the Netherlands is the increased participation of women in economic activity through the increase in voluntary part-time working. In particular, the policies designed to promote equal treatment between full-time and non-regular workers contributed to the active participation of women in part-time work. Using active labor market policies, Denmark improved the proficiency of low skilled and low-wage workers, thereby alleviating the wage gap between high-income and low-income workers. Based on the experiences of the Netherlands and Denmark, this study discusses policy directions to mitigate income inequality in Korea.

• The Korean Journal of Franchise Management
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• v.13 no.4
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• pp.23-37
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• 2022

Purpose: The Korean franchise market has undergone drastic growth in recent years. Followed by expansion of franchise business types, relevant legal matters have diversified. Compared to conventional economic laws that focused on resolving problems related to unfair transactions between franchisors and franchisees, more diverse labor laws have emerged recently due to governance and economic dependencies of franchise structure. However, it was found that the business environment of franchisees and working conditions of franchisee employees have not changed accordingly due to the unique structure of franchise business. Though franchisees are entrepreneurs independent from franchisors, they are still under franchising contract with the franchisors. For instance, employees of franchisees have been exposed to malpractices in regard to pay, time, and other working conditions. These malpractices may show the ineffectiveness of current labor laws. Labor management is an important issue for sustainability of franchise businesses. Negative publicity of franchises generated from violating relevant labor laws may have significant negative impact on overall image of franchised brands. However, franchisors should not hold franchisees fully responsible for legal violations in terms of labor management but strive to prevent relevant risks. Thus, the recent amendment in labor law related to increased minimum wage and reduced worktime have called for more attention to effectively implementing the law. Research design, data, and methodology: This study was conducted through a review of franchise-related laws and various institutions and policies. Results: It is further needed for all parties, including franchisors, franchisees, and franchisee employees, to take collaborative actions to improve working conditions of franchisees. Therefore, this study aims to propose appropriate and effective response plans toward recent changes in the Minimum Wage Act, while strengthening sustainability of franchisors, franchisees, and their employees. Conclusions: The proposal mainly contains plans regarding profit-related aids and profit sharing/cost reduction strategies for franchisees, as well as collective bargaining in the franchisor-franchisee relation. More detailed suggestions are included. Conclusions: This proposal may help franchisors and policymakers develop business plans and policies in improving business conditions of franchisees and working conditions of franchisee employees.

• Journal of Applied Reliability
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• v.15 no.3
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• pp.181-191
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• 2015

Change in labor time is affecting occupational safety and health. Recently reduction in labor time brought innovational operation method, investment in plant and equipment, and flexible labor time in some companies, thereby affecting working conditions for labourers. However, working conditions for some vulnerable social groups have deteriorated. As a result, they are becoming more exposed to risk factors such as injury and emotional stress. In this study we use 2014 KWCS data in order to find the social and demographic characteristics in Korean working conditions. To this end, we use exploratory data analysis approach to find the relationship between some of the important variables in the KWCS data. We also use Press-State-Response model to find which group of people are vulnerable to Press and State. We find that women, people over age 50 and business owners are more vulnerable to Press and State than men, people below age 50 and wage workers.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Safety
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• v.35 no.2
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• pp.55-60
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• 2020

The purpose of this study is to analyze the influence of the economic and workforce factors on the annual number of occupational accident fatalities occurring at the construction sites. The considered variables of the economic factor are the amount of economic losses caused by industrial accidents, the GDP, and the total monthly wage for each economically active population. And, the variables related to the workforce factor are the number of economically active population, the number of female economically active population, and the number of labor union members. The multiple regression analysis was conducted to determine the effect of two factors on the total number of occupational fatalities in the construction industry. The results show that GDP among considered variables in the economic factor had a statistically significant negative relationship with the number of the construction accident fatalities in the construction industry. Among variables related to the workforce factor, economically active population showed a statistically significant negative relationship with the number of the construction accident fatalities.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society for Agricultural Machinery Conference
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• 1993.10a
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• pp.129-138
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• 1993

The shortage of agricultural labour due to industrial growth has greatly induced the mechanization in Korean agriculture. However small and scattered land holdings have been the main constraints in the process of mechanization. This paper describes the interrelationships of farm land structure, machinery selection and machinery operation areas. The sandy silt loam irrigated paddy land having single crop a year was selected as a target areas for this study. Machine operation cost is greatly influenced by operation period, plot geometry and operation area. On the improved geometry plots, optimal machine size increases slowly with increase in operation area. Operable area increases due to increased effective machine capacity on better geometry plot. The difference between the effects of operation period and plot geometry is that in the former case, the cost reduction is caused by delay in increase of machine size, whereas in the latter case timeliness cost is reduced by increase ffective capacity. The effect of farmland consolidation is greater on small plots than that on big plots. Increasing wage rates have induced the adoption of more labor saving machinery. Bigger labor saving machines require enlargement of operation area and larger plots through improvement in farm land structure. Machine cost on poor plot geometry increases more rapidly than that on the good plot geometry and as operation area increases machine cost reduces significantly. It is concluded that the development of agricultural mechanization ion Korea will depend on the improvement in farm land structure and enlargement of operation area.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society for Agricultural Machinery Conference
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• 1993.10a
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• pp.139-147
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• 1993

The rapid industrial growth, the consequent shortage of farm labour and increase in their wage level have facilitated more capitalized agricultural mechanization pattern in Korea. The efficiency of capital intensive machine is highly dependent on farm land structure. This paper describes a model explaining the relationship between farmland structure and required inputs for machine operation and to estimate required inputs for machine operation on the national basis for Korea for its paddy production system. The machine cost is closely related to operation area, but the required labour-hours are more related to machine type adopted . From the technology introduction point of view, if capital intensive machine is introduced, less labour-hours are required but machine kW-hours increase rapidly. From the plot geometry point of view, on good geometry plots, machine kW-hour and labour-hour required are less than that on the poor geometry plots. The kW-jhour per hectare of mechani al energy input id better indicator of mechanization level than kW per hectare or number of machine. If the adopted technology is more capital intensive and plot geometry is good, the cost reduction effect is highly significant.

• Korean Journal of Social Welfare
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• v.48
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• pp.82-112
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• 2002

This study investigates the causes of poverty in Korea since the 1997 Economic Crisis by analyzing the composition and characteristics of the poor by the types of families. While the poor largely consisted of disadvantaged groups, such as the aged, the disabled, or the female-headed families before the Crisis, families headed by working-aged and non-disabled adults have represented a larger portion of the entire poor since the Crisis. The higher overall poverty rate in 1998 mainly resulted from the rapid increase in the number of the unemployed and the high poverty rate of their families. In 1999, the larger number of the unemployed poor exited from poverty by getting a job in the labor market, contributing to the reduction in the overall poverty rate. The significant number of families headed by working adults were poor in 1998, and the size of these working poor was not reduced in 1999. The poverty among this group has been caused by lowered wage rates and deteriorating job security. The findings from this study suggest that anti-poverty policies in Korea be improved to provide better income and employment assistance to the non-working poor and, more importantly, be extended to effectively reduce poverty among the working low-income families.

• Journal of Family Resource Management and Policy Review
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• v.15 no.3
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• pp.117-129
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• 2011

This study investigated the job stress and job satisfaction of caregivers who work to substitute the care of family. The purpose was to improve the quality of elderly welfare services and maintain a healthy family. Data were collected from 239 caregivers working in long-term care facilities in Gwangyang in Jeonnam in October 2010. They were analyzed using the SPSS 18.0 program. The statistics used for analysis were correlation and regression. The results of this study are as follows. First, most of the subjects were women in their forties or fifties. Most of them worked to support their families and, on average, earned less than 1.5 million won. The relation of job stress and job satisfaction appeared negative. The stress of relationships, income, and the number of clients had significant effects on job satisfaction. First and foremost, these results mean that a reduction in the job stress of caregivers is essential to provide them. So it is suggested that wage increases and more professional education or interpersonal skills training should be provided and a standardized test to assess job stress and job satisfaction should be prepared to improve the quality of caregivers.