Dynamic Interactions between Regional Unemployment, Self-employment, and Minimum Wage

• 발행기관: 서울대학교 경제연구소
• 저자명: David Kim Woo-Yung Kim
• 간행물 정보: 『Seoul Journal of Economics』Volume 38 No.3, 239~281쪽, 전체 43쪽
• 주제분류: 경제경영 > 경제학
• 파일형태: PDF
• 발행일자: 2025.08.31

국문 초록

This study examines the relationship among unemployment, self-employment, and minimum wage changes in Korean regions from 2008 to 2023 using fixed effects, dynamic panel, and panel vector autoregressive (PVAR) models. We find that relatively high minimum wages reduce self-employment by increasing opportunity costs while also raising unemployment. Effects vary by region and type of self-employment - own-account workers are more vulnerable than employers, and metropolitan cities experience stronger labor market disruptions than provinces, where informal sectors absorb shocks. Although minimum wage increases initially discourage self-employment, our PVAR analysis indicates a gradual recovery of self-employment after three years, suggesting potential long-term entrepreneurial activity. Robustness checks using alternative measures of the minimum wage confirm the consistency of our findings. These findings highlight the need for minimum wage policies that consider regional labor market differences and support small businesses to mitigate adverse effects.

목차

I. Introduction

II. Literature Review

III. Model Framework

IV. Data

V. Dynamic Panel Model

VI. Panel Vector Autoregression

VII. Conclusion

References

키워드

self-employment unemployment minimum wage panel VAR region