Relationship regarding the demand for labor between domestic temporary and foreign workers: Korean case

With the progress of globalization, South Korea, one of the emerging industrial countries, has recently witnessed a sharp increase in the number of enterprises that employ foreigners. However, there are only a limited number of studies on the influence that such an increase has had on the labor market in the Republic of Korea. Thus, using ‘Workplace Panel Survey’ data surveyed by the Korea Labor Institute (KLI), this paper examines the relationship concerning the labor demand of an establishment between domestic temporary and foreign workers. Analysis using a bivariate Tobit model shows that a typical Korean firm attempts to employ domestic temporary and foreign workers simultaneously. Further, the empirical analysis found that any establishment that is relatively newly established and has difficulty in recruiting domestic workers hires foreign workers, but there is no evidence that establishments hire foreign workers rather than domestic temporary workers to save on the production cost.     

UNION EFFECT ON THE USE OF NON‐REGULAR LABOR IN THE REPUBLIC OF KOREA

Our paper aims at analyzing the union effect on the externalization of employment relations, focusing on how labor unions affect management's strategic use of non‐regular labor within the Korean context of industrial relations. Our study presents several interesting implications. Firstly, the unions' motivator role for managerial use of non‐regular labor is more evident than its constrainer role. Secondly, union power exerts a “U‐type” impact on the use of indirect non‐regular labor, while affecting directly employed non‐regular labor in a positive linear way. Thirdly, labor unions in large establishments are more active and influential in representing their members' interests than their counterparts in small establishments with limited financial resources. In particular, the interactive function of the union's power and union leaders' attitudinal inclinations is found to be significant in the negative direction among large establishments.     

员工利益表达：一个研究企业劳动关系的新视角

员工利益表达是一个研究企业劳动关系的新视角.员工利益表达概念的提出主要涉及到如下四个方面的理论问题:对劳动关系本质的认识、“产业关系系统”理论、“退出—呼吁—忠诚”理论以及劳动关系与人力资源管理理论的融合发展趋势.员工利益表达的模型包含了影响员工利益表达的因素、员工利益表达的行为模式、员工利益表达的机制和员工利益表达的结果.员工利益表达问题的实践价值体现在:维护员工的合法权益,促进企业内部管理制度的完善,有利于建立合作型劳动关系.     

Northern policy and Japan: North Korea‐Japan normalization negotiations and Japanese policy towards North Korea

This paper seeks to examine the reality of the North Korea‐Japan negotiations, which have continued intermittently for more than 13 years since Kanemaru's visit to North Korea. It also analyzes Japanese foreign policy toward the North during the normalization negotiations at both international and domestic levels, and studies the effect that the normalization of relations of the two neighbor states will have on the Korean peninsula. To conclude, it argues that Japan's engagement policy would be expected to contribute to the stability and peace of the Korean peninsula and East Asia.     

Women's labor force participation and marriage: The case of Korea

In this paper, we examine the relationship between marital status and female labor force participation in Korea, and argue that marriage remains a major obstacle to young Korean women's employment. We find that an average married woman is much less likely (by 40–60%) to participate in the labor force than a single woman in urban Korea. Further investigation into the participation patterns among married women reveals that labor force participation rate (LFPR) varies with husband's occupation and her own age. Lower LFPR among the young married women is explained by demand-side factors, while relatively higher LFPR among the middle-aged married women is mostly explained by the supply-side factors.     

日韩贸易摩擦的原因、影响及趋势分析

日本对出口韩国的生产半导体零部件的3种核心原材料采取管制措施,其根本目的在于掌握半导体乃至高技术领域的主导权。出口管制实施后,部分日本企业试图通过拓展其他国家市场来弥补因对韩出口管制造成的损失,也有些企业计划在海外设厂以便避开政府管制向韩国供应原材料。出口管制还导致日本产品在韩遭到抵制、韩国赴日游客锐减等。韩国通过半导体核心部件国产化、进口来源地多元化等对策,在一定程度上减少了贸易制裁对半导体行业的负面影响,使日本被迫放宽出口管制。由于日韩处于半导体全球价值链分工不同环节中,存在紧密的"一荣俱荣,一损俱损"的依存关系,因此,日韩贸易摩擦的缓和存在内在必然性。另外,RCEP签署以及中日韩自贸区谈判等外部因素会进一步促进日韩贸易关系改善。     

当代跨国公司劳资关系发展与三方机制分析

进入20世纪90年代以来,强流动性资源主导弱流动性资源配置的特征更加明显,跨国公司携资本、技术、企业家才能等流动性较强的生产要素在全球范围内追求利润最大化,而相对不可流动的劳动力资源则面临着巨大的冲击,不同国家传统的劳动力市场及劳资关系也受到了严竣的挑战。文章从全球化进程中劳资关系的发展和三方主体入手,对其行为目标和所面临的冲突进行了分析,针对如何解决劳资冲突提出了一些观点。     

Human resource management, corporate governance structure and corporate performance in Korea: a comparative analysis of Japan, US and Korea

This paper investigates the influences of human resource management (HRM) and corporate governance structure on the corporate performance in Korean firms. Prior to the Asian economic crisis, large Korean firms mostly followed the Japanese style HRM paradigm where the practice of lifetime employment is guaranteed. However, in the aftermath of the crisis, they have pursued structural downsizing and changed their paradigm more towards the US HRM paradigm where inter-firm mobility becomes prominent in the flexible labor market. The empirical evidence introduced in this paper affirms the argument that the first step towards a HRM paradigm shift in Korea should be the establishment of an efficient corporate governance structure. This implies that a simple switch from the Japanese HRM paradigm to the US model may not improve corporate performance unless the change is accompanied by a solution to the problems posed by the minority controlling structure of Korean companies. The implications of this study for guiding policy in developing countries having labor market rigidities and underdeveloped corporate governance is clear. Corporate governance systems may provide an appropriate starting point for the development of any policies aimed at building an efficient human resource management system and a flexible labor market.     

新加坡劳动关系三方机制应对金融危机的启示

新加坡的劳资关系因其独特的劳、资、政三方机制而闻名，被誉为是亚洲最稳定和最具有弹性的劳资关系体系。遭受金融危机和经济下滑的冲击，新加坡劳、资、政三方积极应对，提出了发展和培养具有全球竞争性劳动力的任务目标，采取了一系列提升劳动力素质、建立良好雇佣关系行为规范、实行全面弹性工作安排及弹性薪酬体系等措施，以获取经济的持续稳定增长。     

INFORMALIZATION OF INDUSTRIAL LABOR IN INDIA: EFFECTS OF LABOR MARKET RIGIDITIES AND IMPORT COMPETITION

Since the 1980s, industrial labor in India has been increasingly informalized, manifested in a rising share of unorganized sector employment and the growing use of temporary and contract workers, and subcontracting in organized manufacturing. Using unit‐level data from the National Sample Survey employment–unemployment survey for 2004–5, the paper investigates econometrically whether labor market rigidities and import competition have been responsible for the informalization of industrial labor in India. The results of econometric models show that labor market reforms tend to increase the creation of regular jobs, while import competition tends to raise casual employment among workers with education levels above primary.     

Unionization,Unemployment, and Growth in Korea: A Cointegration Approach

Thanks to numerous empirical research studies, a general consensus has been reached on the effects of labor unionization on the economy such as unemployment and economic growth (GDP). However, most of the previous research examines the effects of labor unionization on the U.S. and U.K. labor markets using multiple regression models. By applying different statistical tools (multivariate cointegration analysis and vector error correction model) to Korean data, this paper finds: (1) there is a long-run equilibrium linkage among unionization, unemployment and economic growth; and (2) unionization unidirectionally and significantly Granger-causes unemployment and economic growth.     

The voluntary organizations and democracy in Korea: A civil society perspective

After achieving the dramatic progress of democracy recently, the preconditions of democracy in Korea are a major concern for scholars at home and abroad; These days, therefore, finding factors for successful democracy might be an important agenda for Korea as much as for all less‐developed countries. Among many factors conducive to democracy, this study emphasizes the important role played by voluntary associations as mediating and countervailing mechanisms to both the central government and markets. Even though there have been many factors at work in shaping political democracy, Korean experience during last three decades calls attention to the importance of the transition of the resurrection of civil society through an explosion of autonomous interest group expression and activity. The Korean experience supports that the organization of the citizenry is an indispensable condition for the development and maintenance of democracy.     

Do E‐verify mandates improve labor market outcomes of low‐skilled native and legal immigrant workers?

We examine the impact of the 2007 Legal Arizona Workers Act (LAWA) on employment outcomes of low‐skilled legal workers. We use the synthetic control method to select a group of states against which the labor market trends of Arizona can be compared. Our results suggest that contrary to its intent, LAWA does not appear to have improved labor market outcomes of legal low‐skilled workers who compete with unauthorized immigrants, the target of the legislation. In fact, we find some evidence of diminished employment and increased unemployment among legal low‐skilled workers in Arizona. These findings are concentrated on the largest demographic group of workers—non‐Hispanic white men. While they are less likely to find employment, those who do have on average higher earnings as a result of LAWA. The pattern of results points to both labor supply and labor demand contractions due to LAWA, with labor supply dominating in terms of magnitude.     

Intra‐alliance politics in Northeast Asia: The Japanese ‘defensive intervention’ towards South Korea under American pressure

Analytical interpretations of South Korea and Japan's relationship during the Cold War era and studies on the political interaction between them as an alliance game facing a common communist threat have been nearly non‐existent. This paper attempts to remedy this impoverishment of theoretical and analytical explanations by emphasizing the significant role of the Japanese Ohira cabinet on the United States‐South Korea relations from January to October 1979, the period when there was political pressure from the United States to the South Korean Park Chung‐hee regime.     

嵌入型劳资关系的分析维度探讨

作为外资企业的集中地的东南沿海,外资企业将本国的管理理念、企业文化带到东道国与当地企业和员工结合形成了特有的嵌入型劳资关系。本文将形成因素、生产与分配、冲突与合作、正式制度与非正式制度作为研究嵌入型劳资关系的四个分析维度,并根据这个四个维度对嵌入型劳资关系进行探讨。     

Price‐Setting Behavior of Korean Firms†

This paper investigates a pattern of price revision by firms in Korea and sheds light on the cause of price stickiness by providing reliable statistical estimates for calibration of the parameters of the widely‐used macro‐models. Based on firm‐level survey data and using a probit model, we identify the firm characteristics or market conditions that discourage firms from carrying out state‐dependent price adjustment. We also estimate the factors driving firms to engage in state‐dependent adjustment rather than wait until the next scheduled revision under three different shocks: demand, general cost and exchange rate shocks. We find a few interesting features, as follows. First, price revision by Korean firms tends to be time‐dependent rather than state‐dependent, with a sizable dispersion across sectors and firm sizes. Second, the pattern of price revision in Korea is not significantly different from that in selected advanced economies. Third, the reason why firms favor time‐dependent price adjustments appears to be endogenous, accounted for by a number of market institution variables. Fourth, in response to shocks, Korean firms tend to wait until the next periodically scheduled revision rather than make a state‐dependent price adjustment, unless marginal costs are affected significantly by the shock, and state‐dependent revisions are often significantly delayed when they do occur.     

Tattoos,Employment, and Labor Market Earnings: Is There a Link in the Ink?

The popularity of tattooing has increased substantially in recent years, particularly among adolescents and young adults. Moreover, tattooed images are permanent unless the individual opts for expensive, time consuming, and painful removal procedures. Given the increasing popularity of tattooing, and the permanent nature of this action, it is of interest to know whether tattooed workers are more or less likely to be employed and, conditional on employment, if they receive wages that are different from the wages of their non‐tattooed peers. To investigate these questions, we analyze two large data sets—from the United States and Australia—with measures of tattoo status, employment, earnings, and other pertinent variables. Regardless of country, gender, specific measures, or estimation technique, the results consistently show that having a tattoo is negatively and significantly related to employment and earnings in bivariate analyses, but the estimates become smaller and nonsignificant after controlling for human capital, occupation, behavioral choices, lifestyle factors, and other individual characteristics related to labor market outcomes. Various robustness checks confirm the stability of the core findings. These results suggest that, once differences in personal characteristics are taken into account, tattooed and non‐tattooed workers are treated similarly in the labor market. We offer suggestions for improving future surveys to enable a better understanding of the relationships between tattooed workers and their labor market outcomes.     

Estimating Open Economy New Keynesian Phillips Curve for Korea

We estimate the open economy new Keynesian Philips curve (NKPC) to characterize the inflation dynamics of Korea. While recent studies show that the NKPC holds for the pre‐currency crisis period, the empirical evidence is inconclusive for the post‐crisis period. Has globalization increased the role of global factors relative to domestic factors? Can labor income share still serve as a good measure of real marginal cost following the structural break? To address these issues for the post‐crisis period, we use two types of open NKPC: the relative prices model and the incomplete pass‐through model. The estimation of both models indicates that the forward‐looking behavior is important, and its role is reinforced in an open economy specification. Both NKPC models also show that the external factors are more relevant inflation drivers than the domestic factors.     

A Third World perspective on industrial decentralization: The World Bank Study on Seoul

Over the past five years the World Bank has been engaged in an extensive investigation of the implementation of policies designed to recast the urban system of South Korea and, more especially, to constrain the expansion of the capital city, Seoul. The South Korean situation furnishes an example of an active employment decentralization policy pursued in a middle‐income developing country. The task of the paper is to synthesize the extant research material on Seoul, chronicling the unfolding nature of policy intervention, the directions of industrial policy in South Korea and suggesting the broader implications for decentralization planning in South Africa.     

The impact of E‐Verify mandates on labor market outcomes

A number of states have adopted laws that require employers to use the federal government's E‐Verify program to check workers' eligibility to work legally in the United States. Using data from the Current Population Survey, this study examines whether such laws affect labor market outcomes among Mexican immigrants who are likely to be unauthorized. We find evidence that E‐Verify mandates reduce average hourly earnings among likely unauthorized male Mexican immigrants while increasing labor force participation among likely unauthorized female Mexican immigrants. Furthermore, the mandates appear to lead to better labor market outcomes among workers likely to compete with unauthorized immigrants. Employment rises among male Mexican immigrants who are naturalized citizens in states that adopt E‐Verify mandates, and earnings rise among U.S.‐born Hispanic men. There is no evidence of significant effects among U.S.‐born non‐Hispanic whites.