• Korean Journal of Labor Studies
• /
• v.19 no.1
• /
• pp.105-137
• /
• 2013

This paper proposes to examine the relationship between the two trade unions of Hyundai Motor Company (HMC) - those of the regular workers and of the in-house subcontract workers - around the issue of converting irregular workers to regular ones, which has been a social issue for a long time, and, furthermore, to find a desirable solution. The politics of the in-house subcontracting rotate around three axes: the conflictive collusion between the company and the regular workers'union regarding the internal labor market; the exclusion and resistance between the company and the subcontract workers'union; and the solidaristic conflict relationship between the two unions. After the final decree by the supreme court in 2012 the conflict and collusion/solidarity relationship of the three social actors have been amplified in scale - the continuous limping of the special bargaining between the company and the unions, the intensified conflict between the company and the subcontract workers'union, and the crisis of the collusion between the branches of the two unions are all evidence of this. A clue to the solution to the issues of in-house subcontracting in HMC can be found through reestablishment of the relationship among the three actors. In order to solve the in-house subcontracting issues in HMC, phased and lawful switching from irregular to regular positions, improvement of working conditions for the irregular workers, integration of the two unions (realization of 'one company one union'), and negotiated flexibility in the internal labor market will be required. Also to be considered are installation of a special committee for the issue, and utilization of external consultants. The result would be the possibility for the corporate labor market of HMC to be composed of regular workers, legal contract workers and directly-employed contract workers, which could be realized through bilateral relations of 'the labor and management conflict partnership'.

• Korean Journal of Social Welfare
• /
• v.56 no.3
• /
• pp.159-181
• /
• 2004

This study examines the realities and causes of youth and new college graduate unemployment, and seeks some assignments for mitigating youth and new college graduate unemployment. An analysis of the realities and causes of youth and new college graduate unemployment is summarized as follows. First, youth unemployment rate, which rapidly increased after the IMF economic crisis, slowly decreased after 2000, but was still somewhat higher in 2002 than that before the IMF. Second, new college graduate unemployment rate, which rapidly increased after the IMF economic crisis, slowly decreased after 2000 and became a similar level to that before the IMF economic crisis, but the number of the unemployed new college graduates highly increased after the IMF. Third, an analysis of the causes of youth unemployment shows that economic growth and the employment elasticity of economic growth negatively affect the unemployment rate, and the rate of entrance into colleges positively affects the unemployment rate. Fourth, an analysis of the causes of new college graduate unemployment demonstrates that economic growth and the employment elasticity of economic growth negatively affect the unemployment rate, and the increase rate of new college graduates, the college graduate/youth population ratio, and the time trend positively affect the unemployment rate. These results suggest several implications for mitigating the unemployment rate of the youth and new college graduates. First, in order to increase labor demand, emphasis must be placed on preparing economic conditions which can raise economic growth rate and on fostering industries and occupations which have high employment elasticity. Second, in the aspect of labor supply, it is necessary to adjust the number of new college graduates corresponding to labor demands in industries. Third, in order to redress the mismatch between the demand and the supply of the youth labor market, attention should be paid to remedying educational systems such as the activation of vocational education and training in middle and high schools and the reformation of college education to match the education and training provided in colleges and the skills requirements of the world of work, and preparing a unified program to support the youth unemployed systematically and synthetically.

• Design & Manufacturing
• /
• v.11 no.1
• /
• pp.39-44
• /
• 2017

The domestic mold industry is composed of 6,560 small and medium sized mold companies as of 2015. The structure of mold industry centered on less than 10 people in the past has been improved in the direction of increasing number of medium and large scale companies with more than 20 competitors with global competitiveness and has maintained its position as the world's second largest mold exporter with global competitiveness. Nevertheless, the manpower structure and corporate competitiveness structure of the mold industry is very high, with the proportion of production manpower reaching 70% and shortage rate of 10% or more in order to respond to the orders of customers. However, the development base for new employees with technological skills required by the industrial field is poor, and the inflow of young people is very limited due to factors such as the avoidance of small and medium enterprises and production jobs. It is expected that the labor shortage of mold enterprises will be further increased in the future. In the mold industry, due to the characteristics of small quantity multi-product production corresponding to the demand of the consumer, many production processes are individually and independently carried out, resulting in low labor productivity, and the structural time required for the worker to increase the working time Due to limitations, the working hours per week of the employees are about 50 hours. The implementation of the working time reduction bill, which is recently promoted by the government, is a crisis factor. In order to cultivate the mold industry, it is necessary to expand the base of molds to meet the intensification of global competition, the convergence of technologies to actively respond to the restructuring of the industrial structure, and the response to the new industry, It is necessary to improve labor productivity through policies such as development and dissemination of system, and to secure price, delivery and quality competitiveness in global market.

• Journal of Labour Economics
• /
• v.28 no.3
• /
• pp.77-109
• /
• 2005

On the basis of the Korea Labor and Income Panel Survey for the 1997 through 2003 period, this paper investigates if the income distribution has become more bi-polarized since the recent financial crisis. The polarization measure developed by Esteban and Ray(l994) and Duclos, Esteban, and Ray(2004) indicates that the distribution of total income has become much more bi-polarized than unequalized for the entire sample period. Second, the rapid increase in the bi-polarization measure is attributed to the enhanced within-group homogeneity among the lower-income group as well as the widening gap between the two groups in the mean income level. Third, no such pattern exists in the distribution of labor income. Overall, the findings in the current study would support the hypothesis of a centrifuging society which is characterized by the slow disappearance of the middle class and the formation of two poles and which is observed in the United States and the United Kingdom among others.

• Journal of Labour Economics
• /
• v.23 no.2
• /
• pp.1-37
• /
• 2000

Since the early 1990s, the Korean courts have tilted in the direction of giving greater freedom to employers by relaxing the restrictions on dismissal for economic reasons. During the Korean economic crisis of 1998, the Korean Labor Standard Act was also revised for the purpose of relieving the limitation of employer's discretion in employment adjustment. From the Coasian perspective, this article analyze how implied contracts for the employee's reliance and employer's compliance might be influenced after the formal law is revised. We demonstrate that, if the legal change results in excessive intervention, it might cause the employers to over-breach, the employees to under-rely, and the accompanying efficiency to decrease. We scrutinize the total population of unjust dismissal cases since 1987 in order to investigate how the legal changes in Korea have affected the implied contracts. Our empirical analysis raises a possibility that Korean legal changes made in 1990s might have increased the employer's opportunism and decreased the employer's reliance effort.

• Korean Journal of Social Welfare
• /
• v.61 no.2
• /
• pp.391-415
• /
• 2009

The purpose of this study is to examine the trends of income inequality by gender since 1997 economic crisis and to investigate what is the most influential factor on these changes for males and females. Data used for this study are nine waves of Korean Labor and Income Panel Study(KLIPS). Income inequality is measured by the Gini coefficient and the mean logarithmic deviation(MLD) and the MLDs are decomposed into three components to quantify within- and between-group inequalities. The results show that the extent of income inequality is greater for women during the whole period and is fluctuated more widely. Women's income inequality is mainly affected by the family-related variables, such as age and marital status, while men's inequality is primarily determined by the labor market factors, such as employment status, industrial types and occupation status. These results imply that gender-sensetive welfare policies need to be implemented and that it is necessary to assist the poor women and men through the benefits from the income assistance programs and labor market programs.

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

• Journal of Families and Better Life
• /
• v.24 no.1 s.79
• /
• pp.129-140
• /
• 2006

The purpose of this study was to understand the labor division between men's housework and market work and to research the change of men's contribution to housework. And it was also examined what kinds of valuables work on a change in men's market work and housework. The information about men's change in the labor division was collected from the biggest 5 news papers in Korea for last five years for this study. And either men's new participation trend to household work did. Words searched for this study were men, labor, family, home, housewife, work, household work, father etc. Korean men have experienced a overloaded breadwinner role and have worked most in the world since 1960s. But Korean men's working time was continuously decreased a little every year. As Korean Companies had fired many worker during IMP economic crisis period, Korean men had to work more than before because of decreased fellows and they should have concentrated on their work at the sacrifice of private life and family-sharing time. On the other hand, some men were started to participate to do housework as a results of long-unemployment and early retirement after this periods. 5 day working system be in forced gradually since 2003 especially make men come back home and interest on housework. So Korean men's housework participation is gradually increasing by the practical application of sex-equitable politics such as 5 day working system and men's suspension regime for baby care. father's increased participation to children education and care, men's new family-oriented life style, dual-sexuality education system, and socially changed perception to husband housemaker. These interrelated trends demands us to shape a new labor division pattern in the family that make change the breadwinner/homemaker conception by the gender role. Now, all of family, men, women, and children have to join housework. It would help women, men, and all families make more human and equitable relationship.

• Korean journal of communication and information
• /
• v.67
• /
• pp.152-176
• /
• 2014

Public opinion has dramatically shifted from positive to negative in Korea society especially since the IMF crisis. Such terms as 'aristocratic union', 'collectivism', 'damages on public interest' became a kind of conventional wisdom. Undoubtedly, media's representation has much to do with such a tantamount difference. This study thus attempts to understand the mechanism by analyzing media discourse related to labor strikes. For this purpose, this paper made a choice three cases including doctor-pharmacist dispute, general strike by truckers' solidarity, and Ssangyong Motor's strike. Total 217 editorial pieces of , and conceived to be a representative newspaper of ideological stance were analyzed. Research showed that while paying particular attention to demoralizing labor strikes, shed positive light on such disputes by articulating fundamental causes hampered by pro-capital policies along with anti-labor law enforcement. The believed to be relatively a neutral one showed ambivalent attitudes toward those cases. More favorable and inclusive reporting were found in accordance with policy shifts as well. Media's selective partisanship for the sake of private interests is firmly believed to downgrading credibility on Korean journalism. Also is fair, balanced and less biased reporting over socal disputes a vital part in crystallizing social consensus. In this consideration, the authors hoped this study to provide an opportunity to contemplate on what would be desirable journalistic values in modern democracy.

• The Journal of Asian Finance, Economics and Business
• /
• v.3 no.1
• /
• pp.15-32
• /
• 2016

Between 2010 and 2012, former Bank of Japan Governor Shirakawa argued, in series of speeches, that Japan's economic performance, when compared to that of other G7 nations, was stronger after 1990 than appreciated by the critics. In May 2012, Nobel prize-winning economist and Princeton University professor Paul Krugman echoed a similar sentiment in a Financial Times interview. This analysis expands on these assertions and asks to what extent they are supported by cross-section data for the G7. As reviewed below, to date, no idiosyncratic explanation has arisen to explain the Japanese slowdown-perhaps this is the correct explanation: the slowdown in Japan, once adjusted for demographics, is less severe than in other G7 countries and, as recently noted by Eichengreen, Park, and Shin (2015), TFP growth in a number of other nations followed similar patterns. Focused on labor productivity, far from a laggard, Japan's performance ranks near the best in the G7.