성별다양성과 경제발전의 관계에 대한 연구

Abstract

Korea has been challenged by many aspects of society, economy, politics, culture, and so on, being faced with low fertility and aging regime. In Korea, the total fertility rate was dropped to 1.08 (2005), and then it is now 1.19 (2013) which is ranked very low in the world. Meanwhile, female labor force has made an important role in the Korean economy since 1960s. In 2012, the employment rate of women in Korea (53.5%) is lower than the average of all OECD countries (65.1%). There are various patterns among countries when the employment rate increases. It, however, shows that an increase in the women employment rate contributes to the employment rate in most countries. When the rate of female employment is high, the level of national income per capita is also mostly high among the OECD member countries. The purpose of this paper is to explore a relationship between gender diversity and economic development. I analyze the gender-relations from the viewpoint of economic indicators and culture. I explore if economic growth would improve gender equality. This paper uses data for HCCP (Human capital corporate panel) from Korea Research Institute for Vocational Education and Training. It estimates if the proportions of female managers affect corporate performance, even after controlling for numerous characteristics of the firm causality. The results show that the proportion of female managers has the positive effect on firm performance (ROS), which is statistically significant. It means that gender diversity positively affects corporate performance and economic development. Female labor forces are national resources which are highly qualified and capable, but cannot be replaced by men. It is necessary to approach to be considered as not social minorities but human resources. In order to be managers and directors, it should be concerned about the situation that female workers compete male workers with disadvantages. It is necessary for firms to temporarily adopt quotas to reduce the gender gap which are forced by the government, although firms might expand the number of female managers or increase female members on corporate boards as a corporate strategy. It is especially desperately required to focus on a continuous and structural policy effort to prevent career disruption occurred when trying to be promoted to the rank of middle managers as well as a workㆍfamily balance policy to support the family life of working women in the child birth and child rearing period.