• Korean Journal of Social Welfare
• /
• v.65 no.1
• /
• pp.201-226
• /
• 2013

This study aims to identify changes in early work career of youth cohort entering the labor market pre and post-the economic crisis and compare career pathway types of different cohorts. Labor market experiences of youth cohort were constructed by sequencing the number of organizations, kinds of jobs, the scale of the business, and type of employment. In addition, a holistic sequence was created by including complementary factors. In this sense, the labor market experience in this study was conceptualized as a process involving continuous sequences and hierarchical and orderly changes which differs from a simple job mobility. Sequence analysis involving Optimal Matching method was conducted to examine whether such cohort-differences in labor market experiences were related to differences in distribution of career pathway types. The result showed that the post-economic crisis cohort had a relatively higher likelihood of falling into the non-employment type, unemployment type, non-corporate employment type, irregular employment type, and mobile employment type. These findings provide empirical evidence supporting the hypothesis that the employment precariousness of cohort has exacerbated after the economic crisis.

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

• Survey Research
• /
• v.10 no.3
• /
• pp.59-83
• /
• 2009

The purpose of this study is to understand why female labor force participation rates decline in early times after their marriage. Data were derived from the 4th(2001) to 9th(2006) Korea Labor & Income Panel Study. 194 Korean married women in twenties and thirties who had a job before marriage were analyzed. Survival analysis was used to explore the first labor force exit of married women longitudinally. The major findings are as follows. First, nearly half of them went away from labor market in the first 3 years after marriage. Second, child birth was the most significant factor in predicting women's labor force exit. Married women's employment discontinuity tend to be lowered after child birth, with working hour decreasing, and with the number of available family-friendly policies increasing. Married women's income encouraged them to hold on their career, though husband's income and household income were not significant. Third, married women tended to leave their job before giving birth. Women who remained in the labor market at child birth or until a year after birth were inclined to continue their job thereafter. Fourth, maternity leave and childcare leave diminished the probability of employment discontinuity. Many working wives could not use a maternity leave or childcare leave. This study shows married women usually underwent labor market exit in their newly married time. They cannot help facing conflict between the role of mother's and a worker's. Family-friendly policies could encourage working wives to rear child and continue work at the same time. The findings of this study could serve as fundamental material for further studies and would be a key to find effective solution for problematic issues on reconciling work and family.

• Korea journal of population studies
• /
• v.29 no.1
• /
• pp.133-156
• /
• 2006

This paper tries to explore the overall profile of Korean female labor force over the period of 1960-2000. A particular emphasis is put on portraying major over-time characteristics of female labor force, following five different political regimes--that of Park, J.H.(1960 and 1970s), of Chon D.H. (early and late 1980s), of Roh T.W. (late 1980-early 1990s), of Kim,Y.S. (early 1990-1ate 1990s), and of Kim. D. J. (late 1990-early 2000s), respectively. Discussions have centered around: 1) utilization of young single girls from rural areas during the early industrialization process of 1960-1985; 2) the beginning of married women's entry into labor market and issues of the socalled &M-curve& thesis in Korean experiences since 1990s; 3) the emergence and enlargement of non-regular workers; and 4) the launching of labor related legal measures such as the Equal Employment Act of 1988 and its successive revisions, the Maternity Leave Acts, the On-the-Job Chi1dcare Centers, and the prohibition of sexual harassments on the job setting, and so on. All in all, although it is undeniable that the Korean female labor force has experienced much progress over the period of time in terms of &equality and protection& issues, overall industrial reality we are facing with has not been so prosperous in the sense that most women workers have become the victims of industrial polarization, as time goes by.

• International Commerce and Information Review
• /
• v.7 no.4
• /
• pp.387-407
• /
• 2005

This paper is to study globalization motives and strategies of Japanese and Korean industries by analyzing the causes and patterns of foreign direct investment (FDI) of the firms of the two countries during the 1980s and 1990s. First we develop a FDI function from the profit maximizing model of firms. Then we use regression analysis to determine internally driving-out factors and externally-inducing factors. Japanese FDI strategy has gone through three different stages; from natural resource-seeking investment in the 1950s and 1960s to market-expansion investment in the 1970s and 1980s and to a combination of cost-reducing (low-cost labor-seeking) investment and market-penetrating investment in the 1990s. On the other hand, Korean FDI behavior has gone through four different stages; from the learning stage with small investments in the 1970s, to natural resource-seeking investment in the early and mid 1980s, to the growth stage in the late 1980s and the early 1990s, to the maturity stage of the mid and late 1990s. The last two stages were characterized by a combination of cost-reducing investment and market-seeking investment. As a late comer, Korea began its FDI two decades later than Japan, but caught up the patterns of Japanese FDI by the mid 1990s and is in a competing position with Japan. Our findings show that both Japanese FDI and Korean FDI in Asia and other developing countries tendto be in labor-intensive sectors where their firms are losing their comparative advantages at home. The main motive for FDI into these regions is low-cost resource seeking. On the other hand, both Japanese FDI and Korean FDI in the U.S. and Europe tend to be knowledge-intensive sectors where Japanese and Korean firms attempt to internalize transaction and information costs by globalizing its production. The main motive for FDI into these regions is market-seeking. Firms in both countries have increased their investments in Mexico and Western and Eastern Europe in order to penetrate large economic blocs such as the EU and NAFTA area. Korean firms are more aggressive in expanding into new and untested markets than are their counterpart in Japan. Evidence of this can be seen in the scarcity of Japanese FDI and abundance of Korean FDI in Eastern Europe and China.

• International journal of advanced smart convergence
• /
• v.9 no.1
• /
• pp.82-89
• /
• 2020

This study is a design study related to the application of 3D printer technology for garment printing. Knitting, which used to be a home industry in the early days, originally comes from hand-knitting. This evolved with various personal devices as a small job for the self-sufficiency of early European housewives. In addition, since the Industrial Revolution, mechanical production entered the mass production mass supply system, and various apparel products were provided to consumers in accordance with mass standardized dimensions. This is similar to the development process in Korea. In addition, it has formed a considerable market with the situation that it can produce and supply apparel products at low labor costs of first-generation Namdaemun and Dongdaemun merchants. As the production shifted to the Southeast Asian region due to the increase in labor costs in the domestically developed social situation, the production of garment products in Korea is now almost 5%. As a result, apparel-related production facilities and related companies are constantly moving to other countries to move production facilities sensitively due to rising labor costs. Recently, smart factory automation has been planned to explore new possibilities. In addition, in recent years, with the evolved appearance of consumers, the appropriate supply of the right amount of production has appeared, and the 3D printer applied to personal garment output has attracted considerable interest in the customized market. Therefore, in order to become a new hope and a small addition to various clothing workers, this study conducted related research on the following 3D printers for clothing output and attempted to proceed with a new design.

• Journal of Labour Economics
• /
• v.25 no.2
• /
• pp.109-128
• /
• 2002

Korean economy has contains many economic problems during past 2-3 years. One of these problems is unemployment rate rise rapidly. So Korean government has proposed many programs to deal specifically with male and female unemployment. But important things are not only administratoin's programs but also unemployed persons' reservation wage. Accordingly the purpose of this thesis is to analyze why reservation wages differ between male and female. The data we are going to use is the unemployment survey by researcher in 1998. By the result of the estimation of reservation wage functions, we are found two fact. The first is the principle of determinants reservation wage are different between male and female. In esimation of male reservation wage function, early wage and age, education level, unemployment period are very important determinants. But in esimation of female reservation wage function, early wage and education level, age, licence are very important determinants. The second is the reservation wage-setting mechanisms are different between male and fermale. Therefore we conclude that because Korean labor market is stratified labor market, reservation wage-setting mechanisms are much different by sex.

• Fashion & Textile Research Journal
• /
• v.12 no.3
• /
• pp.291-301
• /
• 2010

Today Korean clothing companies are experiencing difficulties in the global market due to unfavorable business conditions including poor production environments, labor shortage, rising costs, the further opening of the domestic distribution market, and increased competition among them. As a result, this has caused many of Korean clothing companies to transfer their production bases abroad in search of relatively inexpensive labor force, instead of using domestic plants. This study attempted to examine how Korean clothing companies perceive production environments and labor standards with regard to their offshore outsourcing. In such an attempt, in-depth interviews were conducted with 24 brand-name clothing firms. Those interviewed firms were the brands for the domestic or foreign market that were found to produce more than 200,000 pieces of clothing per year, and also the group of interviewees included some promotion service providers. The key findings from this study are as follows: First, a large number of the interviewed clothing companies were found to manage their foreign contract manufacturers by "visiting their factories regularly on a seasonal basis" or "stationing their personnel in factory for management purposes." Second, in relation to quality control in their foreign manufacturers, the most frequent response was to "have personnel stationed in those manufacturers." A smaller number of the clothing companies answered that they had "engaged their production management teams in quality control from time to time," or "used their inspectors to inspect products." Third, when asked about labor standards in foreign contract manufacturers, the largest number of the clothing companies responded, "we apply our own standards." The results of this study suggest that most of domestic clothing companies still use offshore sourcing just as a means of reducing their initial labor costs. However, in the continuously changing environment of the global clothing industry, clothing businesses are required to escape from the early phases of their manufacturing environments and set up more globalized standards.

• The Journal of the Korea Contents Association
• /
• v.10 no.9
• /
• pp.387-398
• /
• 2010

Recently SMEs(small and medium enterprises) in Korea have experienced severe labor shortages. In particular, college graduates avoiding SMEs are widely spotted. According to previous studies, the main causes of the evasion by college graduates are the inferior working environment and low wages. Some studies also state that SME workers experience discrimination. However, most studies have focused only on unemployment issues of the young graduates. In this research, the results of follow-up surveys on the employment status and job conditions of recent college graduates was linked as a panel data, and the performance of the graduates was analyzed. Based on the analysis, we found college graduates who are employed SMEs are likely to have their initial career fixed to the SMEs. Second, the job separation records of the young SME workers does not show positive labor market performances such as upward movements or wage increases, and the process itself turned out to be entailed frequent separation. Third, the inferior wage level at SMEs and the fact that this effect is cumulatively amplified has been a key factor for evading SMEs. Thus, it is difficult to say that the early-stage careers in SMEs are constructive in future career development. On the contrary, the early careers at SMEs result in lower labor market outcomes, and frequent job separation.

• 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.