• 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.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.

• 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.

• Journal of the Korean Regional Science Association
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• v.31 no.3
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• pp.19-37
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• 2015

The purpose of this study is to confirm a structural relationship on factors affecting ratio of public transportation spending to a car-owning household's total transportation expenditure. For this purpose, informations of household's attributes and activities were gathered using the 13th Korean Labor and Income Panel Study (KLIPS), and information of land-use and transportation conditions on their residential locations was collected and processed. A structural equation model (SEM) on determinants affecting ratio of public transportation expenditure was constructed, based on an execution result of factor analysis using the analyzing database. The latent variables were derived as land-use/transportation characteristic, household's attribute and household's activity. In the analyzing result of the SEM, the entire latent variables were significant. And, the first two latent variables had positive influences, and the last latent variable had a negative impact. To promote public transportation use of the car-owning households, this study suggests that the policies such as enhancement of convenience in public transportation use for the household's activities and improvement of the land-use/transport conditions are required.

• Economic Analysis
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• v.25 no.1
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• pp.66-122
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• 2019

As the Korean economy grew, employment expanded steadily, with the number of economically active people increasing and the employment-to-population rate also increasing. However, the working age population started to decline in 2017, and the employment of women and young people has been sluggish. The proportion of non-salaried workers in Korea is much higher than in other OECD countries, and is also excessive, considering Korea's income levels. In addition, the proportion of non-regular workers and the proportion of workers employed at small companies are particularly high among salaried workers. In light of these characteristics of Korean employment, the urgent problems facing the employment structure can be summarized by the deepening dual structure of the labor market, the increase in youth unemployment, sluggish female employment figures, and an excessive share of self-employment. Overall, it is seen that labor market duality is the main structural factor of the employment problems in Korea. Therefore, in order to fundamentally address this employment problem, it is necessary to concentrate policy efforts on alleviating labor market duality.