Bonuses, Overtime, and Employment: Korea vs. Japan

This paper examined the bonus and wage behavior in Korea. We found that both bonuses and wages in Korea respond to economic conditions much more than their counterparts in Japan. This finding may reflect the fact that the Korean labor market is much closer to a spot market rather than a long-term contract (lifetime employment) market. Hence the bonus/wage ratio is apparently insensitive to economic conditions in Korea, unlike in Japan (Freemand and Weitzinan). When "overtime" component of the wage is separately examined, it responds to economic conditions less than bonuses but more than base wages.