earticle

영어

The purpose of this study is to investigate the economic effects of a shorter working hours in Korea. In order to analyze the economic effects, this study uses the past data from 1985 to 1998 because the working hours decreased during the period. This study also introduces 4 equations: employment equation, productivity equation, wage equation for normal work, and wage equations for overtime. Then, those four equations are estimated by 2SLS. Based on the results, this study tries to predict the economic effects of a shorter working hours on some important economic variables such as employment, productivity, and wages. According to the empirical results, a shorter working hours increases the level of employment and wages. However, it decreases productivity for the group of entire workers. On the other hand, a shorter working hours increases the level of employment, wages, and productivity for the group of worker in a manufacturing sector. The same results are derived for the group of full-time workers.