Two decades of earnings inequality and dynamics in South Korea

초록

Using administrative data from the National Health Insurance Service and the National Tax Service, we document the evolution of individual earnings inequality in South Korea from 2002 to 2022. We find that South Korea experienced a sustained decline in income inequality throughout this period. While this trend was broad-based across genders and age groups, it was primarily driven by compression in the lower half of the distribution. To investigate the underlying drivers, we employ a “beta” approach to estimate heterogeneous responses to changes in the minimum wage and economic growth. Our results suggest that sustained increases in minimum wage are associated with a reduced inequality in the lower half of the distribution. Although economic growth benefited all groups, its impact on reducing earnings dispersion was modest. © 2026 Elsevier Inc.

키워드