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The Role of Government in the Expansion of the Contingent Workforce
Author(s) -
Kim Jiyoung
Publication year - 2010
Publication title -
asian politics and policy
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.193
H-Index - 12
eISSN - 1943-0787
pISSN - 1943-0779
DOI - 10.1111/j.1943-0787.2010.01186.x
Subject(s) - workforce , government (linguistics) , globalization , work (physics) , business , labour economics , economics , market economy , economic growth , mechanical engineering , philosophy , linguistics , engineering
This article examines the government's role in expansion of the contingent workforce in South Korea. I argue that the government played a determining role in transforming the South Korean labor market and increasing the number of contingent workers. Through the active adoption of a flexible labor market policy as a part of its globalization movement, the South Korean government directly contributed to a rise in contingent work. Also, the South Korean government indirectly supported the expanded use of non‐regular workers through its tacit approval of companies' illegal use of contingent workers. The existing literature on contingent workers has focused primarily on economic factors. This case study highlights the need to include the role of government as an important cause of the growth of the contingent workforce.