Pandemic and employment: Evidence from COVID-19 in South Korea
- 주제(키워드) COVID-19 , Pandemic , Employment , Synthetic control method , Difference-in-differences , South Korea
- 주제(기타) Economics
- 설명문(일반) [Lee, Jongkwan] Ewha Womans Univ, Dept Econ, 52 Ewhayeodae Gil, Seoul 03760, South Korea; [Yang, Hee-Seung] Yonsei Univ, Sch Econ, 50 Yonsei Ro, Seoul 03722, South Korea
- 등재 SSCI, SCOPUS
- OA유형 Bronze, Green Published
- 발행기관 ELSEVIER
- 발행년도 2022
- 총서유형 Journal
- URI http://www.dcollection.net/handler/ewha/000000190153
- 본문언어 영어
- Published As https://doi.org/10.1016/j.asieco.2021.101432
- PubMed https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34931110
초록/요약
Using two complementary approaches, this study examines the deterioration of the Korean labor market during the first 10 months of the global COVID-19 pandemic. Applying the synthetic control method, we first find that the COVID-19 outbreak has eliminated 1.1 million jobs (4.2% of nonfarm employment) nationwide in April 2020. However, a difference-in-differences approach shows that local variation in COVID-19 intensity, which captures the "regional" effect of the pandemic, explains only 9% of the national shock. The portion of the regional effect remains low until December. This is mainly because the nationwide fear and policies such as social distancing measures also have a "common" effect on local economies. Our findings suggest that the COVID19 shock may last long in the labor market due to this common effect unless the risk of infection is completely eliminated.
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