The Strains of Economic Growth

By the mid-1980s, Korea's economic and political situation was becoming volatile. Labour relations were especially contentious. This book is a collaborative research project between the Harvard Institute for International Development and the Korea Development Institute and provides an analytic history of the economic causes of the labour unrest and popular discontent of the late 1980s. Set against rapid increases in wages and employment, worker dissatisfaction is traced to patterns of income inequality and to non-pecuniary dimensions of working life, including the suppression of labour organizations. The desire for greater political freedom also played an important role in the unprecedented unrest of this period. The conclusions of this volume are useful for an understanding of the labour struggles that continue in Korea today and are relevant for policy makers from other emerging economies that wish to benefit from both the successes and failures of Korea's experience.