Half success, half failure in Korean Affirmative Action: An empirical evaluation on corporate progress

Korean Affirmative Action was first introduced in Korea in 2006. Using a novel data set containing information on corporate performance, we evaluate whether the initial phase of Korean Affirmative Action has been successful. Unlike the affirmative action in other countries, which is usually based on race, ethnicity, and/or gender, Korean Affirmative Action focuses on the elimination of gender discrimination. Our empirical results suggest that the introduction of affirmative action in government and business service sectors has not been entirely successful. We identified at least two factors that prevent Korean Affirmative Action from functioning effectively. First, the institutions where unskilled female workers are concentrated are generally small enterprises and are not properly equipped to address the issue of gender segregation in the labor market. Furthermore, sectors with a relatively high concentration of female workers have not assumed leadership roles in promoting affirmative action. We provide several suggestions for institutional redesign to improve the implementation of effective affirmative action.