The growing productivity gap between large corporations and SMEs stems from work force cuts, not increased levels of value added by larger companies. They are using their superior bargaining power to organize a division of labor between companies that allows for both high productivity and high...

"Having made a retirement age of 60 mandatory through the revision of the law this time has obviously arranged a turning point in relation to utilization of middle/high-aged human resources. But, extension of retirement age which does not accompany wage adjustment may increase corporate labor...

"Creative workers-defined here as those with jobs that require creative skills-made up around 12 percent of the total Korean workforce in 2012. While the number of creative workers increased overall between 2008 and 2012, the increase was particularly noticeable among technical creative workers...

"Because there is a significant mismatch between low wage and low income, policies tackling the poverty issue must focus on low income households rather than low-wage workers and emphasize the EITC or labor market policies that support low income households rather than the role of the minimum...

"The objective of a minimum wage increase is to improve the quality of low-wage jobs and to narrow wage gaps. The sharp minimum wage increase in 2018 has so far produced no significant declines in employment. However, if drastic increases continue in the next two years, the level of the minimum...

From 1980 to 2016, Korea exhibited ups and downs in wage inequality and a slowdown in wage growth. - Wage inequality fell in the 1st phase (1980-1994), rose in the 2nd (1995-2007), and fell again in the 3rd (2008-2016). - The annual growth rate of the real median wage plummeted from 9.2% in the...