Unbalanced Development: The Origin of Korea's Self-Employment Problem from a Comparative Perspective

Yun, Ji Whan

doi:10.1080/00220388.2010.514329

Cited by 11 publications

(8 citation statements)

References 15 publications

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“…Most small shopkeepers in urban areas fit into the first type of precarious people mentioned previously. They were once within the working class but have now been crowded out from workplaces as the result of employment reductions (Yun, 2011). Particularly, there has been a sharp increase in the proportion of small shopkeepers aged 40-50 years.…”

Section: Precariatization and The Benefactor State In South Koreamentioning

confidence: 99%

Democracy in Myth: The Politics of Precariatization in South Korea

Yun¹

2019

InS

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After undergoing a series of mass demonstrations during the past three decades, including the 2016–2017 candlelight protests that led to the impeachment of President Park Geun-hye, many commentators in South Korea are confident that their country has become a land for what Karl Marx called “free men.” Korean citizens are portrayed as being ready to participate in voluntary political associations and collective actions and to pursue their interests in the public sphere. However, the data are showing the opposite to be true: citizen participation in public-sphere activities has substantially decreased since the mid-2000s, while the government has managed to improve or at least maintain its political responsiveness during the same period. Explaining the unnoticed background to this imbalance, this essay sheds light on the myth of the benefactor state in Korean democracy, arguing that this has emerged because neoliberalism has not only placed an increasing number of people in precarious positions but also neutralized them politically. The Korean government has capitalized on this situation to mythicize itself as a benefactor state that possesses an incomparable administrative capacity to take care of precarious people. By investigating the period of Park’s presidency (2013–2017) and the current rule of President Moon Jae-in (2017–), this essay shows how the myth of the benefactor state has emerged and created a unique cycle of Korean democracy.

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Section: Precariatization and The Benefactor State In South Koreamentioning

confidence: 99%

Democracy in Myth: The Politics of Precariatization in South Korea

Yun¹

2019

InS

Self Cite

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“…A variable with three employment status categories was generated: unemployed, self-employed and salaried. The self-employed were defined as those who own a small business with less than five employees, or salaried and unpaid family workers (who work 18 h or more per week for family members or relatives without being paid) who are employed in those small businesses (Yun, 2011). Anyone who is employed but not self-employed was defined as a salaried worker.…”

Section: Variablesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Korea has one of the largest populations of selfemployed workers among the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries, as approximately one-third of the employed have been reported to be self-employed, whereas other countries with a similar level of national economy have much lower proportions, e.g. Taiwan at 19.5% and New Zealand at 20.8% (Yun, 2011). Almost half of the self-employed in Korea are middle-aged, whose proportion increased to 58.4% in 2004 from 45.9% in 1993 (Sohn, 2007).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Those who were laid off or retired early became self-employed rather than entering different salaried job. Furthermore, most of the self-employed jobs in Korea are concentrated in the low-skilled service and sales sector such as in retail shops (25%), small restaurants (66%), lodging (2%), freighting services (5%), or taxis (2%) (Yun, 2011). These statistics imply that the self-employed in Korea are not likely to be small entrepreneurs who willingly run their own businesses with available resources such as household assets, inheritances, technology and social networks, which are important for successful businesses (Nisbet, 1997;Blanchflower & Oswald, 1998;Moog & Backes-Gellner, 2006).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…These statistics imply that the self-employed in Korea are not likely to be small entrepreneurs who willingly run their own businesses with available resources such as household assets, inheritances, technology and social networks, which are important for successful businesses (Nisbet, 1997;Blanchflower & Oswald, 1998;Moog & Backes-Gellner, 2006). In addition, employment insurance or job training programmes are still limited for the self-employed in Korea (Yun, 2011).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Body Mass Index and Self-Employment in South Korea

Han

Kim

2016

J. Biosoc. Sci.

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This study assesses differential labour performance by body mass index (BMI), focusing on heterogeneity across three distinct employment statuses: unemployed, self-employed and salaried. Data were drawn from the Korean Labor and Income Panel Study. The final sample included 15,180 person-year observations (9645 men and 5535 women) between 20 and 65 years of age. The findings show that (i) overweight/obese women are less likely to have salaried jobs than underweight/normal weight women, whereas overweight/obese men are more likely to be employed in both the salaried and self-employed sectors than underweight/normal men, (ii) overweight/obese women have lower wages only in permanent salaried jobs than underweight/normal weight women, whereas overweight/obese men earn higher wages only in salaried temporary jobs than underweight/normal weight women, (iii) overweight/obese women earn lower wages only in service, sales, semi-professional and blue-collar jobs in the salaried sector than underweight/normal weight women, whereas overweight/obese men have lower wages only in sales jobs in the self-employed sector than underweight/normal weight women. The statistically significant BMI penalty in labour market outcomes, which occurs only in the salaried sector for women, implies that there is an employers' distaste for workers with a high BMI status and that it is a plausible mechanism for job market penalty related to BMI status. Thus, heterogeneous job characteristics across and within salaried versus self-employed sectors need to be accounted for when assessing the impact of BMI status on labour market outcomes.

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Employment Quality: A Social Determinant of Health and Well-Being in a Changing Labor Market in Korea

Vanderleyden,

Seo,

Vanroelen

et al. 2024

Soc Indic Res

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Against the background of increased labor market flexibilization, health issues amongst employees have become a pressing social concern in Korea. Yet, little is known about the diversity in employment experiences and the associated health implications amongst employees. To accurately gauge labor market segmentation, whilst simultaneously accounting for health-risk factors, we employ the multidimensional Employment Quality (EQ) concept in a typological manner. This method differentiates various employment segments, with the Standard Employment Relationship (SER) serving as a benchmark. Using the 2017 Korean Working Conditions Survey (KWCS), we employ Latent Class Cluster Analysis on a sample of the salaried workforce (N = 25.376) to construct a typology of EQ. Via logistic regression, we link the EQ typology to poor mental well-being and poor self-rated general health. As a result, we find six distinct types of EQ arrangements in Korea: SER-like, Instrumental, SER Intensive, Instrumental Intensive, Precarious Intensive, and Precarious Unsustainable. We find that deviations from the SER-like segment are associated with poorer health and well-being outcomes, even when accounting for confounding factors, with precarious EQ segments showing the most pronounced adverse health and well-being associations. This study furthers our understandings of health disparities within the salaried workforce. Our findings underscore the need for targeted reforms of workplace- and employment-related health policies to foster a healthier working population in Korea.

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Unbalanced Development: The Origin of Korea's Self-Employment Problem from a Comparative Perspective

Cited by 11 publications

References 15 publications

Democracy in Myth: The Politics of Precariatization in South Korea

Democracy in Myth: The Politics of Precariatization in South Korea

Body Mass Index and Self-Employment in South Korea

Employment Quality: A Social Determinant of Health and Well-Being in a Changing Labor Market in Korea

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