Labor Market Effects of the Minimum Wage in South Korea
by Alec Ashforth
This paper analyzes survey data from businesses regarding individual worker earnings, hours, and characteristics from 1971 to 1998 in order to estimate the labor market effects of the minimum wage in South Korea. Since the minimum wage was only implemented in manufacturing, construction, and mining industries, we are able to compare earnings and hours of workers in these industries with workers in other industries using both a difference-in-differences and a synthetic control approach. Additionally, we test to see if the minimum wage had heterogeneous effects based on an individual worker’s gender, level of education, experience, and payment period.
Advisors: Professor Arnaud Maurel, Professor Kent Kimbrough | JEL Codes: J31, J38, O15
Undergraduate Education and the Gender Wage Gap: An Analysis of the Effects of College Experience and Gender on Income
By Kelsey Siman
Labor and education economists have long been interested in the link between undergraduate education and earnings. In addition, studies have addressed the connections between gender and college major and GPA, as well as between gender and income. This paper brings all of these together in order to show that college major choice does have a significant effect on earnings, and that this effect differs with gender and across majors. The results show that controlling for college major, ability measures, graduation year, and GPA can help to explain a majority of the gender pay gap. Finally, the thesis then utilizes the Oaxaca-Blinder Decomposition to break down the price and composition effect of undergraduate education on the gender pay gap.
Advisor: Arnaud Maurel, Kent Kimbrough | JEL Codes: A22, J16 | Tagged: College, Gender, Income
