Labor Market Duality in Korea
Author | : Johanna Schauer |
Publisher | : International Monetary Fund |
Total Pages | : 36 |
Release | : 2018-06-01 |
ISBN-10 | : 9781484357934 |
ISBN-13 | : 1484357930 |
Rating | : 4/5 (930 Downloads) |
Download or read book Labor Market Duality in Korea written by Johanna Schauer and published by International Monetary Fund. This book was released on 2018-06-01 with total page 36 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Labor market duality is a complex and critical issue for many countries that can lower productivity, contribute to inequality and result in negative externalities. In this paper, I study duality in the Korean labor market and analyze its sources and potential policy options. I find that employment protection legislations and large productivity differentials are the key drivers of Korea’s duality. In addition, applying a general equilibrium search-and-matching model and calibrating it to the Korean economy, I show that well-calibrated flexicurity policies can significantly reduce duality and inequality and raise welfare and productivity. Notably, the introduction of all three pillars—flexiblity, a strong safety net and active labor market policies—is critical for its success. If only one pillar is introduced it can result in negative side-effects and might not reduce duality.