Your browser does not support the PubReader view.
Go to this page to see a list of supporting browsers.
Seoul Journal of Economics
[ Article ]
Seoul Journal of Economics - Vol. 19, No. 3, pp.297-312
ISSN: 1225-0279 (Print)
Print publication date 31 Aug 2006
Received 08 Mar 2006 Revised 29 Jun 2006

Earnings Differences in the South Korean Labor Market: Decomposing the Gender Wage Gap, 1988-98

Charlie G. Turner ; Elizabeth Monk-Turner
Associate Professor, Economics Department, Old Dominion University, 2062 Constant Hall, Norfolk, VA 23529, U.S.A., Tel: +1-757-683-3512, Fax: +1-757-683-5634 cgturner@odu.edu
Professor, Old Dominion University, Tel: +1-757-683-3817 eturner@odu.edu

JEL Classfication: F14, F16, J16, J31

Abstract

We examine gender differences in earnings among South Korean workers in 1988 and 1998. In 1988, the South Korean National Assembly enacted the Equal Employment Opportunity Act. Using OWS data, we explore the gender wage gap. Following Ronald Oaxaca's (1973) work, we decompose malefemale wage differentials. We also calculate a discrimination coefficient. Our work shows that gender earning differences decreased between 1988 and 1998. In 1988, men enjoyed a wage that was 208% of women's wages. In 1998, men earned a wage that was only 165% of women's wages. While men continue to earn a higher wage than women in South Korea. the wage gap has improved over time.

Keywords:

Country studies, South Korea, Labor markets, Gender, Wages

Acknowledgments

respectively.

References

  • Amsden, Alice. “South Korea's Record Wage Rates: Labor in Late Industrialization.” Industrial Relations 29 (No. 2 1990): 77-93. [https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-232X.1990.tb00742.x]
  • Bae, Kyu Han, and Form, William. “Payment Strategy in South Korea's Advanced Economic Sector.” American Sociological Review 41 (No. 2 1986): 120-34. [https://doi.org/10.2307/2095481]
  • Becker, Gary. “Human Capital, Effort, and the Sexual Division of Labor.” Journal of Labor Economics 3 (No. 1 1985): 33-58. [https://doi.org/10.1086/298075]
  • Bergmann, Barbara. The Economic Emergence of Women. New York: Basic, 1986.
  • Betcherman, Gordon, and Islam, R. (eds.) East Asian Labor Markets and Economic Crisis. Washington, D.C.: World Bank, 2001. [https://doi.org/10.1596/0-8213-4478-1]
  • Biggart, N.W. “Institutionalized Patrimonialism in Korean Business.” Comparative Social Research 12 (No. 2 1990): 113-33.
  • Choi, Elizabeth. “Status of the Family and Motherhood for Korean Women.” In Joyce Gelb and Marian Palley (eds.), Women of Japan and Korea. Philadelphia: Temple University, 1994.
  • Chung, Ji-Sun. “Women's Unequal Access to Education in South Korea.” Comparative Education Review 38 (No. 4 1994): 487-505. [https://doi.org/10.1086/447272]
  • International Monetary Fund. International Finance Statistics. Statistics Department, 1991.
  • Kakwani, Nanak, and Son, H. “Long-Term Trends and Economic Crisis in Korean Social Sector.” Indian Journal of Labour Economics 43 (No. 2 2000): 467-88.
  • Kearney, R. P. The Warrior Worker. New York: Henry Holt, 1991.
  • Kim, Byung Whan. Seniority Wage System in the Far East. United Kingdom: Aldershot, 1992.
  • Kim, Dae-Il. “Growth in College Education and Wage Differentials in Korea.” Seoul Journal of Economics 18 (No. 2 2005): 87-123.
  • Lee, Bun Song, and Phillips, Joseph. “The Earnings Experience of Rural-Urban Migrants in Korea.” International Economic Journal 11 (No. 4 1997): 85-101. [https://doi.org/10.1080/10168739700080028]
  • Lee, Ju-Ho, and Kim, Dae-Il. “Crisis and Reforms in Korea's Labour Market.” Indian Journal of Labour Economics 43 (No. 2 2000): 289-511.
  • Monk-Turner, Elizabeth, and Turner, Charlie. “South Korean Labor Market Discrimination against Women: Estimating Its Cost.” American Journal of Economic and Sociology 53 (No. 2 1994): 433-42. [https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1536-7150.1994.tb02615.x]
  • Monk-Turner, Elizabeth, and Turner, Charlie. “The Relative Pay of Men and Women in South Korea.” Journal of Asian Economics 11 (No. 2 2000): 223-36. [https://doi.org/10.1016/S1049-0078(00)00052-X]
  • Monk-Turner, Elizabeth, and Turner, Charlie. “Sex Differentials in the South Korean Labor Market.” Feminist Economics 7 (No. 1 2001): 63-78. [https://doi.org/10.1080/13545700010028374]
  • Oaxaca, Ronald. “Male-Female Wage Differentials in Urban Labor Markets.” International Economic Review 14 (No. 3 1973): 693-709. [https://doi.org/10.2307/2525981]
  • Palley, Marian Lief. “Feminism in a Confucian Society.” In Joyce Gelb and Marian Palley (eds.), Women of Japan and Korea. Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 1994.
  • Rodgers, Yana van der Meulen. “A Reversal of Fortune for Korean Women.” Economic Development and Cultural Change 2 (No. 2 1988): 727-48.
  • Roh, Mihye. “Women Workers in a Changing Korean Society.” In Joyce Gelb and Marian Palley (eds.), Women of Japan and Korea. Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 1994.
  • Seguino, Stephanie. “Gender Wage Inequality and Export-Led Growth in South Korea.” Journal of Development Studies 34 (No. 2 1997): 102-32. [https://doi.org/10.1080/00220389708422513]
  • Statistical Yearbook. Higher Education Statistics. Korean Government Publications, 2003.
  • Thurbon, Elizabeth. “Ideational Inconsistency and Institutional Incapacity.” New Political Economy 8 (No. 2 2003): 341-61. [https://doi.org/10.1080/1356346032000138050]
  • Won, Cho Kyung. “Overcoming Confucian Barriers: Changing Educational Opportunities for Women in Korea.” In Joyce Gelb and Marian Palley (eds.), Women of Japan and Korea. Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 1994.
  • Yang, Byong-Moo. A Study of Wage Differentials and Occupational Structure by Sex in Korea. Unpublished Ph.D. Dissertation, 1989.
  • Yoo, G. “Women in the Workplace.” Social Indicators Research 62-63 (No. 4 2003): 367-85. [https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1022661604653]