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Résumé: Les auteurs examinent l'impact de la formation professionnelle sur l'inadéquation des qualifications ‐ un sujet peu étudié ‐ dans le contexte de la République de Corée, où cette inadéquation est forte. Ils utilisent des données administratives sur la formation professionnelle (2016‐2019) et un modèle à effets fixes pour analyser les déterminants des taux d'emploi spécifiques (dans le métier ciblé ou les métiers connexes) au lieu de se cantonner au taux d'emploi total. Ils constatent que le nombre d'heures de formation a un impact positif plus grand sur les taux d'emploi spécifiques que sur le taux d'emploi total, tandis que l'inverse est vrai s'agissant des caractéristiques individuelles. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Resumen: La República de Corea presenta un fuerte desajuste de la calificación y necesita formación profesional para mitigarlo. En este artículo se analiza el impacto, en gran medida inexplorado, de la formación profesional en ese desajuste a partir de datos administrativos (HRD‐Net, 2016–2019). Se examinan las tasas de ocupación ajustada a la calificación (en contraste con la tasa de ocupación convencional) aplicando un modelo de efectos fijos para sondear sus determinantes. Se concluye que las horas de formación tienen un efecto positivo significativamente mayor sobre la tasa de ocupación ajustada que sobre la tasa de ocupación convencional, al contrario de lo que ocurre con las características individuales. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using a sample of recently graduated college students from South Korea, we estimate the effects of the between-majors and within-major gender wage gap. We use a recentered influence function to decompose the wage differential between majors and find that women face a higher rate of return to the field of study. In addition, women tend to select their program of study with the intention of optimizing their earnings potential relative to men. In calculating the within-major gender wage gap, we control for selectivity into a field of study extending the current methodology to a multinomial logit setting. We test our model using a sample of new graduates from South Korea. We consider six college majors. The within-major wage differential ranged from 8.2% for natural science graduates to 17% for social science graduates. After selection is accounted for, the gender wage gap becomes smaller in humanities graduates but increases in natural science and medicine graduates. Decomposing the selection correction term into explained and unexplained factors eliminates discrimination in medicine and points to reverse discrimination in natural science. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study analyzed the effects of COVID-19 and gender differences in depressive symptoms in older adults using data from the 7th (2018) and 8th (2020) surveys of the Korean Longitudinal Study of Aging. A panel two-way-fixed effects model was used to control for individual fixed effects and time effects. A 0.1% point increase in the intensity of COVID-19 was associated with an average increase of 1.5 points out of 10 on the Center of Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale, 10-item version (CES-D10) among older adults. The increase in depression was greater among women. Depressive factors due to COVID-19 among older adults are more likely to be related to negative emotions or interpersonal relationships than to physical and behavioral decline. Depression prevention policies for older adults should be informed by these gender differences. While older men require assistance with instrumental activities of daily living such as housework, meal preparation, etc., older women should be provided with online socialization opportunities to interact with others. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study compares labour market experiences in South Korea and the US at the outbreak of the pandemic and then again in November 2020. We found that the pandemic had the most considerable effect on the not-at-work rate in South Korea and the unemployment rate in the US. We computed concentration indices to measure inequality in the labour markets using education as a socioeconomic ranking variable. Applying a Recentered Influence Function (RIF) regression, we found that unemployment was more concentrated among less-educated workers in South Korea. Still, the not-at-work rate was more concentrated among highly educated workers. While the ability to work from home played an important role in explaining these inequalities, by November 2020, the Korean labour market showed minimal disparities. In general, US workers with lower education levels experienced higher unemployment and not-at-work rates. The capability to work remotely considerably reduced inequality in April, but it did not in November. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the impact of e-commerce on local retail employment and its heterogeneity by employment and regional types, using Korean retail survey. Our findings reveal that the positive impact of online sales expansion is mainly confined to the growth of wage workers, though its elasticity with respect to online sales is much smaller than that of offline sales. When dividing the full sample by regional type, the positive employment effect of online sales on wage workers is significant only in non-metropolitan regions. In addition, the negative impact of online sales on non-wage workers is found only in metropolitan regions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study analyzes the effect of vocational training on technology efficiency (TE) using Workplace Panel Survey data from South Korea. We apply both stochastic frontier analysis (SFA) and meta-frontier analysis (MFA) to compare the TEs of firms with vocational training against the counterpart without vocational training. Our findings from the SFA, which assumes a homogeneous level of technology across comparison groups, confirm that firms without vocational training are more efficient. MFA, which is used to compare the relative efficiencies of different skill levels, provides more intuitive estimation results. Namely, companies that conduct vocational training are closer to the meta-frontier – higher efficiency – than those that do not. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Polyethylene (PE) modification to have flame retardant and anti-dripping capabilities is indispensable for public safety and environmental protection. To the end, PE modification with flame retardant resorcinol bis(diphenyl phosphate) (RDP) is suggested but a poor compatibility of PE with RDP is problematic. In this work, a microencapsulation of RDP using melamine-urea-formalin resin as shell material was proposed to resolve the compatibility problem, making PE composites with microencapsulated RDP (MCRDP), red phosphorus (MCRP) and magnesium hydroxide (MH). Through the material characterization, it was found that the spherical MCRDP particles were fabricated in homogeneous distribution of particle sizes. The flame retardance of the PE composite samples with different compositions was tested according to the UL-94 method, finding that the PE/20%MCRDP/5%MCRP/5%MH composite has the best performance. Moreover, the thermogravimetric analysis showed that this composite exhibited higher decomposition temperature than pure PE and PE/30%MCRDP composite, revealing the P-N synergy effect on improving the flame retardance of PE composites. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Exploiting the exogenous introduction of the Non‐regular Worker Protection Act on non‐regular workers, this paper examines the impact of this law's enactment on workers' job satisfaction. Using the Korea Labor and Income Panel Study, we apply a difference‐in‐differences method combined with propensity score matching to confirm the common trends assumption and construct a comparable control group. We investigate workers' job satisfaction in terms of the following categories: satisfaction with wages, satisfaction with job stability, satisfaction with working conditions, and overall satisfaction. Our results indicate positive effects of the Non‐regular Worker Protection Act on job satisfaction for all workers affected by the law, including those who converted from non‐regular employment to regular employment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the extent to which the incidence of dual job holding is cyclically sensitive in the context of hours constraints on a worker's weekly labor supply to their main job. Random effects logit models of the probability of dual job holding are estimated separately for men and women for each of three mutually exclusive, hours-constrained regimes: overemployment, unconstrained hours, and underemployment. As measured by the deviation of each individual's current regional unemployment rate from their time-averaged mean regional unemployment rate, transitory business cycle movements have no effect on the probability of dual job holding. However, a permanent/steady-state increase (decrease) in the local unemployment rate reduces (raises) the probability of dual job holding among hours-unconstrained workers for both males and females. Furthermore, permanent employment contracts reduce the likelihood of having two jobs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examined reciprocal longitudinal effects between mobile phone dependence, friendships, and depressive symptoms using 3-year longitudinal data from the Korean Children and Youth Panel Survey. An autoregressive cross-lagged model was applied to a sample of 1,737 adolescents. Results suggested that unidirectional relationships exist between the three variables: friendships reduce mobile phone dependence (B = −0.068, p = 0.058; B = −0.118, p < 0.001) and depressive symptoms increase mobile phone dependence (B = 0.082, p = 0.001; B = 0.128, p < 0.001); however, mobile phone dependence does not affect friendships and depressive symptoms. In addition, this study provided evidence of the negative bidirectional relationship between friendships and depressive symptoms. We suggest that, to prevent or treat adolescents' mobile phone dependence, a practical approach regarding friendships and depressive symptoms is needed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examines the depressive symptom trajectories in middle-school adolescents from multicultural families in South Korea and explores their predictors from the ecological systems perspective. Using the latent growth model, we analysed a sample from the Multicultural Adolescents Panel Survey (2014–2016). Our findings revealed that depressive symptoms increased persistently with age. Girls presented a systematically higher risk of depressive symptoms than boys. Family support, two-parent families, parental monitoring, learning, friendships, positive perceptions about the residential area, and good health reduced depressive symptoms. Parental neglect, bullying, parental involvement in children's grade, and acculturative stress increased depressive symptoms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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After the increase in the minimum retirement age, South Korea introduced a wage-peak system to mitigate increases in firm costs due to the wage of elderly workers. In this study, we examined how the later retirement age has affected employment opportunities for younger workers. We also investigated the difference in impact of later retirement on employment between firms within and outside of the system. Using the difference-in-differences empirical method, we found that this system has increased employment opportunities for younger workers. Moreover, as the proportion of elderly workers increases, the effect of the wage-peak system on the proportion of young workers is enhanced. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores the association between job satisfaction and gender for workers with disabilities, using data from the Panel Survey of Employment for the Disabled, which interviews officially registered persons with disabilities in Korea. To take full advantage of the longitudinal data, we apply random-effects ordered probit models to investigate the underlying factors that affect gender differentials in job satisfaction. Our findings reveal that merely different work values between women and men do not account for the significantly higher job satisfaction among women. We suggest that workers' expectations play a role in explaining why female workers are happier in the workplace than their male counterparts; that is, holding other factors constant, women's expectations from jobs are lower than men's. This hypothesis is partially supported by the empirical analyses that gender differentials diminish among the highly educated workers, for whom there is less likely to be a gender gap in terms of job expectations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A flame-retardant agent, resorcinol bis(diphenyl phosphate) (RDP), was synthesized with resorcinol, phenol and phosphorus oxychloride under a catalytic action of magnesium chloride. Synthesized RDP was applied to cotton fabrics with a bridging agent of urea-formalin resin (UFR) to endow them with flame retardancy. The vertical flammability tests were performed, revealing that cotton fabrics treated with 25% RDP and 15% UFR could exhibit the most reasonable flame retardancy. Here, other properties of cotton fabrics, such as mass increment, color change, resistance to washing and hand feeling, were found to be almost unspoiled. The suitable heat-treating condition for temperature and duration was determined to be 160 °C and 2 min. The results of scanning electron micrography, energy dispersive X-ray and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy showed that RDP was strongly bonded to cotton fiber with a successful bridging action of UFR. Thermogravimetric analysis confirmed that the coated cotton fabrics possessed flame retardant properties. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper evaluates whether the introduction of one-stop centres – providing integrated public employment and welfare services – contributes to the employability of local residents in Korea. Exploiting a quasi-experimental assignment of one-stop centres across 162 municipalities, we apply a spatial difference-in-difference model using the Regional Employment Survey 2013–2017. Our findings reveal that the introduction of the centres has a positive impact on the local employment rate of female residents but not that of their male counterparts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Probit and logit models typically require a normalization on the error variance for model identification. This paper shows that in the context of decompositions of group sample mean proportions, error variance normalizations preclude estimation of the effects of group differences in the latent variable model parameters. This problem applies equally to decompositions of group differences in the underlying latent outcome variable. An empirical example is provided for a probit model in which the error variances are identified if an underlying random utility/latent variable theoretical model contains a variable whose coefficient is equal to 1. In the resulting probit model, for example, the coefficient of this variable is the reciprocal of the error term standard deviation. From this information, one can back out estimates of all of the coefficients in the underlying random utility/latent variable model and thereby allow the effects of group differences in the latent variable model parameters to be estimated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since the late 1990s, in South Korea, two innovation certification policies—InnoBiz and Venture certifications—have fostered the innovation activities of venture companies and small- to medium-sized enterprises.The two certifications, however, share similar features in their policy goals, targets, and main content. This study aims to evaluate how technical efficiencies of firms differ based on the types of innovation certifications it achieves and examine the result when a firm simultaneously achieves overlapping certifications. We classified information and communication technology convergence firms into four different groups by certification type and evaluated their performance based on technical efficiency (TE) by applying stochastic frontier analysis and meta-frontier analysis. Our results show that the meta-frontier TE of the group with overlapping certifications is lower than that of the group with a single certification, implying that there is no remarkable performance improvement in terms of the efficiency, particularly when certifications sharing similar characteristics are implemented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, Auricularia auricula-judae (Bull.) extract (AAE) had potent antioxidant activity in vitro and promoted the biosynthesis of procollagen, a precursor of collagen in HaCaT cells. In addition, the expression of HAS-3 (hyaluronic acid synthase), which is a moisturizing factor, was increased in HaCaT cells in response to AAE. Therefore, this work suggests that AAE has the potential to exhibit antioxidant activity and promote procollagen biosynthesis in HaCaT cells. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper develops a unified model of dual and unitary job holding based on a Stone-Geary utility function. The model incorporates both constrained and unconstrained labor supply. Panel data methods are adapted to accommodate unobserved heterogeneity and multinomial selection into six mutually exclusive labor supply regimes. We estimate the wage and income elasticities arising from selection and unobserved heterogeneity as well as from the Stone-Geary Slutsky equations. The labor supply model is estimated with data from the British Household Panel Survey 1991-2008. Among dual job holders, our study finds that the Stone-Geary income and wage elasticities are much larger for labor supply to the second job compared with the main job. When the effects of selection and unobserved heterogeneity are taken account of, the magnitudes of these elasticities on the second job tend to be significantly reduced. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines the impact of unions on the efficiency of establishments in the manufacturing industry by comparing the results from two different empirical strategies: stochastic frontier analysis (SFA) and meta-frontier analysis (MFA). While SFA concludes that union establishments show higher technological efficiency, the results are the opposite when estimating production functions with MFA. In SFA, unionized establishments appear to be more efficient because they remain closer to their own production frontier; however, in MFA – where groups with heterogeneous technology can be compared – we find that nonunionized establishments are more efficient because they are closer to the meta-frontier than their unionized counterparts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Workers with disabilities have functional limitations that affect their productivity in some, but not necessarily all, jobs. Workers who find a job that is a good match for their functional limitations (i.e. a job where their limitations have little or no impact on important job functions) should expect better employment outcomes (e.g. higher wages, longer job tenure) than workers with similar disabilities who are mismatched in their jobs. Merging data from the Survey of Income and Program Participation with O*Net data on job demands, we construct two continuous measures of job mismatch for workers with physical disabilities. We then extend the literature on disability and employment by exploring relationships between duration of disability, job mismatch, wages and hours worked. The results indicate that workers with long durations of disability are employed in jobs that are a better match to their physical limitations than are similar workers with shorter durations of disability. And, workers who are mismatched earn lower wages and work fewer hours than their counterparts whose jobs are a better match. Overall, the findings suggest that disability employment policies should include systematic efforts to help workers with disabilities find good job matches. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The paper develops a parametric variant of the Machado-Mata simulation methodology to examine quantile wage differences between groups of workers, with an application to the wage gap between native and foreign workers in Luxembourg. Relying on conditional-likelihood-based 'parametric quantile regression' in place of the standard linear quantile regression is parsimonious and cuts computing time drastically with no loss in the accuracy of marginal quantile simulations in our application. We find that the native worker advantage is a concave function of quantile: the advantage is small (possibly negative) for both low and high quantiles, but it is large for the middle half of the quantile range (between the 20th and 70th native wage percentiles). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Tmem173 was identified as a growth inhibitor associated with major histocompatibility complex (MHC) class II and a potential stimulator for IFN-β, an innate immune inducer and a negative feedback controller for RANKL-induced osteoclast differentiation of monocytic macrophage cells. In this study, we confirmed that transmembrane protein 173 (Tmem173) overexpression inhibited the expression of osteoclast-specific genes, tartrate-resistant acid phosphatase (TRAP), cathepsin K, and matrix metalloproteinase-9 (MMP-9), as well as bone resorption pit formation in RANKL-treated RAW 264.7 cells. Activation of osteoclast-specific transcription factors, c-Fos and nuclear factor of activated T cells cytoplasmic-1 (NFATc1), and RANKL-induced activation of ERK were also down-regulated by Tmem173 overexpression. Collectively, these results suggest that Tmem173 plays a regulatory role in RANKL–RANK-mediated signaling in osteoclastogenesis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Failure of participants to complete training programs is pervasive in existing active labor market programs, both in developed and developing countries. From a policy perspective, it is of interest to know if dropouts benefit from the time they spend in training since these programs require considerable resources. We shed light on this issue by estimating the average employment effects of different lengths of exposure by dropouts in a Korean job training program, and contrasting it to the ones by program completers. To do this, we employ methods to estimate effects from continuous treatments using the generalized propensity score, under the assumption that selection into different lengths of exposure is based on a rich set of observed covariates. We find that dropouts with longer exposures exhibit higher employment probabilities one year after receiving training, but only after surpassing a threshold of exposure of about 12-15 weeks. In contrast, program completers exhibit higher returns from their time of exposure to the program than dropouts, but these tend to decline for longer program durations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We examine how differences in model specifications and econometric methods affect unexplained wage differentials between workers with and without physical disabilities, where the unexplained differentials are estimates of the potential effects of disability-related wage discrimination. We apply an enhanced decomposition method (Neuman and Oaxaca, 2004) to selectivity-corrected wage equations to estimate potential discrimination effects. The decomposition separates observed wage differentials into a part explained by differences in characteristics that affect productivity and the decision to work and an unexplained part potentially attributed to discrimination. In addition to the functional limitation variables used to control for the effects of disability on productivity, we add measures of physical job demands, and interaction effects between functional limitations and job demands, to the wage models to examine how estimates of potential discrimination change. The interaction terms measure the extent to which workers’ physical limitations affect important job functions. Data come from the 2004 SIPP merged to measures of job demands from the Occupational Information Network (O*Net). With job demands and interactions included in the model, approximately 10% of the observed wage differential for men, and 20% for women, is potentially attributed to discrimination. Changes in decomposition technique substantially alter the estimates of discrimination effects. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This study investigates the internal migration of black males in South Africa over the period after the formal end of Apartheid using the 1996 census data. The two issues of our primary interests are the following: (i) whether migration patterns of black individuals are consistent with the income-maximising hypothesis as related to the destination choice; and (ii) whether the redistribution of human capital is detected in internal migration. The results from conditional logit regressions on choices among individuals in 318 districts show that individuals prefer districts with higher expected wages, conditional on other regional characteristics. In addition, there exist differing preferences on the share of population with post-secondary education by individuals with commensurate educational attainments. Black individuals with post-secondary education tend to migrate into areas with a higher share of population with post-secondary education and vice versa, which confirms the divergence of human capital levels across districts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We link information on occupation-specific job demands to data from the Survey of Income and Program Participation to provide first-ever estimates of wage discrimination against workers with sensory disabilities. Estimates are derived from wage models that control for job demands related to sensory abilities, and interactions between job demands and workers' sensory limitations. Results indicate approximately one third (one tenth) of the male (female) disability-related wage differential is potentially attributed to discrimination. The results differ from estimates of discrimination against workers with physical disabilities obtained with similar methods, underscoring the importance of accounting for heterogeneity of the disabled population in discrimination studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

High levels of the aminothiol WR-1065 protect cells from ionizing radiation, while much lower levels of this compound or its disulfide, WR-33278, impart anti-mutagenic effects. In view of the structural similarity of these agents to the essential cellular polyamines putrescine, spermidine and spermine we investigated the possibility that the aminothiols enter cells by the active polyamine transport system. WR-33278 appears to be a very close analog of spermidine or spermine in that it not only inhibits spermidine incorporation, but is also transported at the same velocity as spermidine, with a K of ˜0.8 μM compared with 0.4 μM for the polyamine. Further, repression of the activity of the polyamine transporter by antizyme or its elimination by selected mutation affected both transport of WR-33278 and spermidine equally. In contrast, WR-1065 is not a good substrate for the polyamine transporter and appears to enter cells predominantly by non-mediated passive diffusion. There appears to be no uptake of either WR-33278 or the polyamines by this non-mediated diffusion. Thus both the form of the aminothiol and the activity of the polyamine transport system need to be considered in evaluating the efficacy of low exogenous levels of this drug on mutagenesis or carcinogenesis. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

To ensure that adolescents continue to lead healthy, well-adjusted lives—"sustainable lives"—after the COVID-19 pandemic, it is important to examine the latter's impact on various aspects of their lives compared to the socio-cultural context before the outbreak. This study used national representative data on Korean adolescents to analyze the impact of the pandemic on adolescent life from various perspectives, with a focus on gender differences. Our findings confirm that during the pandemic physical activity and sitting time for study purposes decreased, while sleeping and sitting for purposes other than studying increased, with more pronounced changes among girls. Drinking and smoking decreased and boys experienced greater decreases. The findings also indicated that the pandemic generated positive outcomes for mental health: stress, sadness/despair, and suicidal ideation decreased, which was counterintuitive to our general expectations, with a greater impact seen among girls. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper draws upon influence function regression methods to determine where foreign workers stand in the distribution of private sector wages in Luxembourg, and assess whether and how much their wages contribute to wage inequality. This is quantified by measuring the effect that a marginal increase in the proportion of foreign workers—foreign residents or cross-border workers—would have on selected quantiles and measures of inequality. Analysis of the 2006 Structure of Earnings Survey reveals that foreign workers have generally lower wages than natives and therefore tend to haul the overall wage distribution downwards. Yet, their influence on wage inequality reveals small and negative. All impacts are further muted when accounting for human capital and, especially, job characteristics. Not observing any large positive inequality contribution on the Luxembourg labour market is a striking result given the sheer size of the foreign workforce and its polarization at both ends of the skill distribution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]