Paper on 'Negative Effects of South Korea's Minimum Wage Increase' in International Academic Journal

Fighterchi Research Institute Publishes Impact Analysis Paper

Source: Fighterchi Research Institute

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Daeseop] Fighterchi Research Institute announced on the 15th that it has published a paper analyzing the negative effects of the rapid minimum wage increase in a renowned international academic journal.

The paper was published online on December 31 last year in the Journal of Policy Modeling, an academic journal indexed in the Social Sciences Citation Index. According to the institute, this is the first time a paper revealing that the rapidly increased minimum wage over the past two years has had a negative impact on overall employment in South Korea has been published in an international academic journal.

According to the analysis in the paper, the average minimum wage increase of 13.6% in 2018 and 2019 reduced jobs for simple laborers receiving the minimum wage by 16.46% and jobs for non-simple laborers by 0.157%, respectively.

Fighterchi Research Institute is a non-profit foundation established in 2016 with permission from the Ministry of Strategy and Finance to study the overall economy.

Ra Jeongju, head of Fighterchi Research Institute, said, "Amid ongoing controversy, it has been objectively confirmed through a global academic journal that the rapid minimum wage increase is having a negative impact on South Korea's economy," adding, "I hope this research will greatly assist future decisions on minimum wage increases."