POLITICKA EKONOMIE, sa.Forthcoming, ss.1-17, 2023 (SSCI)
Purpose: This study examines the long-run relationship
between the unemployment rate and labor force participation rate in South Korea
from June 1999 to January 2023.
Design/methodology/approach: The study utilizes the
traditional Johansen cointegration test and augments it with Fourier terms to
control for an unknown number of breaks in the cointegration system.
Findings: The empirical findings suggest a significant
long-run relationship between the unemployment rate and labor force
participation rate in South Korea, which provides evidence against the
unemployment invariance hypothesis. The study also finds evidence of the discouraged
worker effect for males and the added-worker effect for females. The findings
of this study have important implications for policymakers in creating more
effective plans to lower unemployment and foster economic growth in South
Korea.
Originality/Value: This study contributes to the literature
by clarifying the validity of the unemployment invariance hypothesis in the
Korean economy, which is regarded as a growth miracle in the literature.
Instead of using the standard configuration of dummy variables, the Johansen
cointegration technique now has the ability to adjust for an unknown number of multiple
structural breaks in the cointegration system.