ABSTRACT
The government's power over the Korean economy remains formidable, but the business community's clout has increased in conjunction with greater market deregulation and greater market liberalization. According to data from the Korea Institute of Economics and Technology, the growth rate of liberalized imports from Japan in the late 1980s was much lower than the growth rate of liberalized imports from the United States. The average wage in Korea hid sharp discrepancies in pay among workers in different industries, and between male and female workers. According to data from the International Labor Organization, the wage gap between men and women in Korea, on the order of 45 percent or 50 percent, was among the highest in the world. The model South Korea has followed since the 1960s is neither fish nor fowl when compared to either the Anglo-Saxon or central-planning paradigm.
