Job Reallocation in Korean Manufacturing: 1984-2014

Abstract

This paper investigates the patterns of job reallocation in Korean manufacturing during the period 1984–2014. Utilizing establishment-level data from the Mining and Manufacturing Survey, we construct job flow measures, and then use them to document the trend of job reallocation and test its efficiency. We find evidence that jobs were reallocated from less productive to more productive establishments. Such productivity-improving reallocation occurred on the extensive margin for young establishments and on the intensive margin for mature establishments. The Asian Financial Crisis of 1997 strengthened the efficient job reallocation mechanism. However, during the Great Recession of 2008-2009, reallocation was neither intense nor efficient.

Publication
Journal of Asian Economics