Joblessness among the Highly Educated Youth in Korea: The Causes and Policy Implications

Despite continuous efforts of the government, youth joblessness in Korea has remained as a top policy priority. At this end, the study focuses on the causes of youth labor market problems and tries to seek for policy directions. While the previous research attempted to explain youth joblessness based on the labor demand and supply, this study follows a job search model which emphasizes a job matching process. A theoretical model and empirical results predict that a mean duration of unemployment could decrease if an implicit income of unemployment declines or a rate of job offer rises. From policy point of view, it is advisable to raise incentives for labor demand and to strengthen employment services because a policy to lower an implicit income of unemployment may not secure policy target efficiency.