Why did gender inequality lag GDP per capita and human development growth in Korea over 1976-1996?

Teresa Song

LSE Research Online Documents on Economics from London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library

Abstract: South Korea’s economic growth (EG) miracle has been a source of discussion since the 1990s. The assumption of relatively equitable distribution of resources should be contested, as a growing base of evidence shows that human development (HD) and gender parity improvements are not automatic. To that effect, this dissertation asks the question of why the gender equality index (GEI), a subset of the historical index of human development (HIHD) lagged, despite GDP per capita and HIHD growth. It is hypothesised that the widening of the gender pay gap (GPG) during 1976-1996, was predominantly responsible for worsening the GEI, leading to the divergence between GDP, HIHD and GEI. The occupational wage survey (OWS) conducted annually since 1971, by the South Korean Ministry of Labour is used to perform econometric analysis to understand the GPG time trend and how it was impacted by marital status and the introduction of trade unions. The results demonstrate that whilst earnings increased, the GPG widened, with marital status and trade unions offering explanations for increased discrimination. My findings provide support for analysing the benefits of redistribution on a gendered basis and making a case for gender equality improvements on both an intrinsic and instrumental level. Much further research can be done in this area, especially in the quantification of culture and its ongoing legacy on societal gendered roles in determining GPG inter alia.

Keywords: gender pay gap; gender equality; economic growth; human development; South Korean growth; marital status; trade unions (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: J16 O15 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 57 pages
Date: 2024-02
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-gro, nep-his and nep-lab
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/122006/ Open access version. (application/pdf)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:ehl:lserod:122006

Access Statistics for this paper

More papers in LSE Research Online Documents on Economics from London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library LSE Library Portugal Street London, WC2A 2HD, U.K.. Contact information at EDIRC.
Bibliographic data for series maintained by LSERO Manager ().