Rethinking South Korea’s Shared Growth Policy for Cooperative Partnership

Jongwon Shin
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Jongwon Shin: Korea Institute for Industrial Economics and Trade

Industrial Economic Review from Korea Institute for Industrial Economics and Trade

Abstract: South Korea’s shared growth policy emerged as a response to structural imbalances between large firms and small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) embedded in the country’s industrialization model. While the policy initially aimed to correct unfair trade practices and mitigate economic polarization, its early implementation was overly paternalistic, characterized by heavy-handed government interventions.

Today, digital transformation driven by artificial intelligence (AI), economic security, supply chain restructuring, and expanding ESG requirements demand a fundamental shift in policy toward an ecosystem-based cooperation model to strengthen innovation, build resilience, and enhance sustainable competitiveness across the country’s industrial ecosystem.

Keywords: small and medium-sized enterprises; SMEs; SME policy; large enterprises; chaebol; fair competition; competition policy; fair trade; antitrust policy (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: D22 D30 D43 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2026
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Published in KIET Industrial Economic Review Vol. 31, No. 2

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