• Korean Journal of Labor Studies
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• v.23 no.2
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• pp.47-77
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• 2017

This paper analyzes the changes in wage inequality and its contributing factors since the mid-2000s. Although trends vary by data and wage indices, the Gini coefficient of the total wage of all workers shows an increasing trend due to the part-time increase of less than 35 hours per week, while the wage Gini coefficient of hourly wages and the total wage Gini coefficient of full-time workers showed a declining trend. Part-time increases have increased inequality based on total wages, but part-time hourly wage increases can be considered to have reduced hourly wage inequality. Therefore, as a result of decomposing the factor of Gini coefficient reduction only for full-time workers, factors that contributed absolutely to inequality reduction were variables such as job tenure, career, and occupation, and employment type variable has little effects, and the establishment size variable deepens inequality. The variables such as industry, age, and education did not contribute significantly to the inequality change. This is attributed to the decline in wage premiums for job tenure and management and professional jobs and the increase in wage premiums for large-scale businesses.

• Journal of the Korea Institute of Building Construction
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• v.20 no.2
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• pp.163-169
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• 2020

Construction is a typical labor-dependent industry. However, problems related to wage payment, which directly affects the livelihood of workers, have caused other problems in maintaining skilled workers, such as increasing the turnover rate of skilled workers, resulting in a shortage of skilled workers. Against this backdrop, this study was conducted to develop measures to improve the conventional wage payment systems in order to prevent skilled workers from leaving their jobs and to maintain them as workers. It is necessary to make the registration of non-registered small-sized construction companies in Korea mandatory, and to introduce means by which construction companies that hire workers through non-registered agents can be penalized. In addition, the project bank account (PBA) system used in the domestic banking sector can be benchmarked in operating payment systems, an approach that is expected to effectively prevent delayed wage payments in the construction industry.

• Journal of Labour Economics
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• v.44 no.1
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• pp.1-30
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• 2021

The objective of our study is investigating the effects of the minimum wage on a producer price index (PPI) and selected restaurant menu prices. As an identification strategy, we exploit inter-industrial and inter-regional variations in the share of workers who are affected by the minimum wage. Estimation results show a significant relationship between the share of workers affected by the minimum wage and prices. Specifically, a PPI and selected restaurant menu prices tend to rise by 0.77~1.68% and 0.16~1.86%, respectively as the share of workers affected by the minimum wage increase by 1%p. These estimates imply that during the period of our analysis 0.82~3.01% and 4.45~47.04% of overall changes in a PPI and selected restaurant food prices are associated with the adjustment in the minimum wage.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.52 no.5
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• pp.292-298
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• 2019

Objectives: Presenteeism is currently recognized as a significant global health issue that can potentially cause productivity losses. Hence, many studies have analyzed the relationships between workplace factors and presenteeism. However, few studies have considered non-occupational factors. This study examined the associations between presenteeism and activities outside work, including volunteering, self-development, leisure/sports, and gardening and house repair activities, in Korean wage workers. Methods: This study analyzed the fourth Korean Working Conditions Survey, in which a total of 19 294 wage workers participated. To identify relationships between presenteeism and activities outside work, multivariate logistic regression analysis was used after adjusting for general and occupational characteristics. Results: Self-development and leisure/sports activities significantly increased the odds ratio (OR) of presenteeism (OR, 1.166; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.061 to 1.282 and OR, 1.276; 95% CI, 1.181 to 1.379, respectively). Conclusions: Certain activities outside work, such as self-development or leisure/sports, were related to presenteeism among Korean wage workers. Although many previous studies have emphasized the positive effects of those activities on health, this study documented negative effects of these activities outside work on health.

• Journal of Labour Economics
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• v.29 no.3
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• pp.25-48
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• 2006

In this study, the wage differentials between standard and non-standard workers are estimated using the data from the Establishment Employment Survey of 2003. The estimated wage differentials between standard and non-standard workers become greater controlling for the fixed effects of establishments. The within-establishment wage differential is estimated to be 20.7% between male standard and male non-standard workers in unorganized establishments controlling for establishment heterogeneity. However, the estimated overall wage differential is reduced to 6.8% due to the high wages of non-standard workers in large size establishments and the low wages of standard workers in small size establishments. This difference between 20.7% and 6.8% reflects the between-establishment wage differential. In organized establishments, the wage differential becomes larger, 21.8%, between male standard and male non-standard workers. For the male workers, the greatest wage differential between standard and non-standard workers is found in unorganized large size establishments: it is 35.9%. In organized establishments, it contracts to 25.8%. The additional estimations on the probability of becoming non-standard workers are done. For the male sample, the probability of standard workers to become non-standard workers in unorganized establishments is 6.0 percentage points higher than that in small size organized establishments. The probability is 20.7 percentage points higher for the female sample. However, the signs of the interaction terms of union and large size establishments are all negative. While the effect of large size establishments reduces the effect of union on the probability to 7.3 percentage points for the males, it reduces the probability to 16.0 percentage points for the females.

• The Journal of the Korea Contents Association
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• v.19 no.1
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• pp.421-429
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• 2019

The purpose of this study is to examine factors affecting the wage of home care workers in Incheon. For this study, 306 home care workers in Incheon were analyzed. Personal factors, work environmental factors, and regional factors were entered in the analytic model. Results showed that education level, license, employment status, work hours, and service types were associated with the wage of home care workers. Also, factors related to the supply and demand of long-term care (i.e., the number of long-term care facilities per 100 care workers, the number of long-term care facilities per 100 benefit recipients, the number of care workers per benefit recipients) were positively associated with the wage. Policy implications are discussed.

• Journal of Korean Society of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene
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• v.31 no.2
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• pp.119-127
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• 2021

Objectives: We aimed to find the relationships between employment status and hs-CRP level among Korean wage workers using the 2016 Korean National Health and Nutrition Examination (KNHANE, revised). Methods: This study was conducted on 1,937 daytime wage workers over the age of 19 and within a normal weight range (18.5≤BMI≺25). Regular workers were defined as those granted an employment guarantee until reaching retirement age, and non-regular workers were defined as temporary, non-typical, dispatched, short-term workers and contractors. For hs-CRP, three divisions were classified as recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and American Heart Association (AHA) with less than 1.0 mg/L indicating low risk of cardiovascular disease, above 1.0 mg/L and below 3.0 mg/L considered moderate risk, and more than 3.0 mg/L indicating high risk. To find the relationship between work type and hs-CRP level in Korean wage workers, multinominal logistic regression analysis was performed. Results: For non-regular workers, the odds ratio of the cardiovascular moderate-risk group and cardiovascular high-risk group was statistically significant compared to regular workers. After adjusting for factors such as gender, age, subjective health status, income, education, smoking, and physical labor, the odds ratio of the cardiovascular high-risk group was statistically significant. Conclusions: In this study, the relationship between non-regular workers and high hs-CRP level was examined. Based on this, institutional strategies should be pursued to prevent and manage cardiovascular disease among non-regular workers.

• Health Policy and Management
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• v.19 no.2
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• pp.85-110
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• 2009

The aim of this study was to examine whether health status is different according to employment status and income level in wage-earners. We analyzed wage-earners of 2199 men and 1194 women aged 30-64 years, using data from the 2006 Korean Labor and Income Panel Study(KLIPS). The difference of health status according to employment status and income level was compared with the multiple logistic regression and the standardized concentration index of ill-health. The risk of ill-health was high when waged-earners had low income. The same is true for poor employment status when their employment status was unstable as in manual laborers, irregular workers, temporary, daily workers or part-time workers. furthermore, the wage-earners with lower income and a relatively disadvantageous employment status showed the lowest health status compared to other groups. Ill-health was relatively more concentrated in lower income group and poor employment status. This study identified the existence of health inequality among various employment status of wage-earners. It is suggested that policies that deal with the inequality in social class may have an important impact on the health of the population.

• Journal of Labour Economics
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• v.38 no.1
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• pp.31-65
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• 2015

This paper examines why older wage workers leave their jobs and what determine the hazard of retirement. Major results are as follows. First, aged workers leaving their jobs because of formal mandatory retirement are relatively few in number and largely males employed in large establishments. Second, a higher hourly wage is associated with a greater retirement hazard, especially among male employees of large firms. Third, informal mandatory retirement puts a strong pressure towards retirement among older female workers. Fourth, poor health is the primary reason for retirement among older workers, especially for females and small-firm employees. Finally, reasonable hours and greater flexibility of work tend to lower retirement hazard. We discuss some implications of the results for old-age labor market policies.

• Safety and Health at Work
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• v.14 no.1
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• pp.31-42
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• 2023

Background: This study analyzes the linear and non-linear effects of the hard and soft dimensions of job quality on the overall health of wage workers. It also examines the congruence or fit between the hard and soft job quality on the overall health of wage workers. Methods: This study measured thirty indicators that constitute job quality and reduced the indicators into twelve sub-dimensions of job quality using reflective factor analysis. In addition, this study derived two dimensions of job quality from the twelve subdimensions, namely the hard and soft job quality using formative factor analysis. This paper applied the response surface analysis to analyze the congruence effect between the two dimensions of job quality. Results: A logarithmic relationship was found between the dimension of hard job quality and the worker's overall health. This study also verified that the congruence effect between the two dimensions of job quality does not exist, and the combined effect of job quality is lower when the two dimensions of job quality are at the same level than the effect when either level of job quality is high or low. Conclusions: Although hard and soft job quality has independent positive effects on the overall health of wage workers, the two dimensions of job quality are not congruent or not in harmony with each other. This incongruence between hard and soft job quality, together with a higher impact of hard job quality, suggests that the role of soft job quality on overall health is relatively limited.