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Pandemic and employment: Evidence from COVID-19 in South Korea

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  • Lee, Jongkwan
  • Yang, Hee-Seung

Abstract

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 COVID-19 shock may last long in the labor market due to this common effect unless the risk of infection is completely eliminated.

Suggested Citation

  • Lee, Jongkwan & Yang, Hee-Seung, 2022. "Pandemic and employment: Evidence from COVID-19 in South Korea," Journal of Asian Economics, Elsevier, vol. 78(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:asieco:v:78:y:2022:i:c:s1049007821001603
    DOI: 10.1016/j.asieco.2021.101432
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    Cited by:

    1. Roy Cerqueti & Raffaella Coppier & Alessandro Girardi & Marco Ventura, 2022. "The sooner the better: lives saved by the lockdown during the COVID-19 outbreak. The case of Italy," The Econometrics Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 25(1), pages 46-70.
    2. Jung, Haeil & Kim, Jun Hyung & Hong, Gihyeon, 2023. "Impacts of the COVID-19 crisis on single-person households in South Korea," Journal of Asian Economics, Elsevier, vol. 84(C).
    3. Han, Joseph, 2021. "Who's Hit Hardest? The Persistence of the Employment Shock by the COVID-19 Crisis," KDI Journal of Economic Policy, Korea Development Institute (KDI), vol. 43(2), pages 23-51.
    4. Shah, Sayar Ahmad & Garg, Bhavesh, 2023. "Testing policy effectiveness during COVID-19: An NK-DSGE analysis," Journal of Asian Economics, Elsevier, vol. 84(C).
    5. Nguyen Duc Kien & Pham Xuan Hung & Truong Tan Quan & Nguyen Minh Hien, 2023. "The COVID-19 Pandemic Impact and Responses in Emerging Economies: Evidence from Vietnamese Firms," Economies, MDPI, vol. 11(1), pages 1-16, January.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    COVID-19; Pandemic; Employment; Synthetic control method; Difference-in-differences; South Korea;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • E24 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Consumption, Saving, Production, Employment, and Investment - - - Employment; Unemployment; Wages; Intergenerational Income Distribution; Aggregate Human Capital; Aggregate Labor Productivity
    • I15 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Health and Economic Development
    • J21 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Labor Force and Employment, Size, and Structure

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