Effects of the Labor Market Structure on Employment Transitions in South Korea

This study examines the value that employers and workers place on stable employment and that workers place on more desirable transition outcomes, as modified by various individual and structural factors, particularly the labor market structure. Results of the analysis show that the internal labor market structure has increased employment stability and the desirability of transition outcomes in Korea over time. This means that Korea's industrialization has enabled the internal labor market structure to mature enough to increase employment stability and the desirability of transition outcomes. They also show, however, that the internal labor market structure has had little influence on the ways in which other factors affect employment stability and the desirability of transition outcomes. This implies that Korea has experienced industrialization in such a short period that the internal labor market structure has not matured enough to influence the ways in which other factors affect employment transition patterns. Results of the effects of the labor market structure and other factors on employment transition patterns imply that Korea's industrialization has had mixed effects on workers' economic and social well-being. On the one hand, it has improved the overall level of workers' well-being; on the other hand, it has increased heterogeneity in well-being among different types of workers