2000년대 노동시장변화와 시간당 임금의 불평등

The paper examines the causal relationship between labor market flexibility and hourly wage inequality in the first half of the 2000s in Korea. After the economic crisis, there increased the number of contingent workers and several ways of payment system. The impact of this flexibility on the wage distribution is distinctive. The wage distribution shows the tendency towards growing inequality and polarization after the 1997 crisis. The economic status of high income groups contrasts to the economic status of the middle and lower groups. One of the main causes of this inequality is the growing share of contingent employment. Within the same occupational or industrial groups, part-timers and temporary employees are paid a lower hourly wage than full-time or regular employees. The net effects of flexible staffing and wage system on wage suggest that labor market flexibility is very important for understanding and interpreting wage inequality. The relationship between flexibility and inequality is mediated by the change of the traditionally-existing internal labor market in Korea. The flexible employment practices and wage systems have significant impacts on the internal labor market. While a much reduced set of core employees are benefited by the traditional life-long employment and seniority-based wage system, many contingent employees or external workforces received lower wages in Korea.