This paper deals with the polarization of the labor market in Korea focusing on the middle-class of the labor market. The job polarization and the wage polarization have been examined between 1993 and 2006. The jobs are rank-ordered in the industry-by...
This paper deals with the polarization of the labor market in Korea focusing on the middle-class of the labor market. The job polarization and the wage polarization have been examined between 1993 and 2006. The jobs are rank-ordered in the industry-by-occupation matrixes being indexed by earnings. The middle-level jobs are defined as 25~75% of the rank-ordered jobs in the distribution of individual workers in 1993. The middle-level wage earners are defined as those earning 67~133% of median wage each year. Not only the proportion of middle-level jobs decreased from 50% in 1993 to 41% in 2006, but also that of middle-level wage earners decreased from 47% in 2000 to 43% in 2006, which evidenced the polarization of the labor market in Korea during the last decade. The causes of the job and the wage polarization could be found from the side of labor-demand rather than from the labor-supply side. The major causes would be in the de-industrialization of the economy in terms of jobs. The large scale entries into the labor market of female and youth workforce are not the major causes of the polarization. The policy reponses to these polarizations will be to enhance the quality of low and middle level jobs as well as to generate the middle-level jobs.