Research

Working Papers

Fertility and Labor Market Responses to Increased Leave Generosity: Evidence from South Korea

I study how access to and generosity of paid parental leave affect fertility and maternal labor supply using South Korea's 2011, 2017, and 2019 reforms. The 2011 reform replaced a flat benefit with wage-proportional payments; later reforms front-loaded benefits and raised post-month-3 generosity. Exploiting discrete policy shifts and time-varying eligibility, I employ multi-reform difference-in-differences with novel measurement strategies for leave-taking, including a joint outcome capturing births paired with part-year work and birth-centered event studies. I find that the 2011 wage-proportional reform increased births and temporary work reductions among eligible women, with effects concentrated in the wage-proportional tier where replacement rates rose substantially. Later marginal adjustments yield muted gains. The reforms facilitate short-run leave-taking without permanent labor force detachment, underscoring the importance of replacement rates at the relevant margin for high-attachment, low-fertility economies.

Work in Progress

Costless Leave? Employer Financial Incentives and Parental Leave Uptake

I study how Korea’s 2011 parental-leave reform changed employer incentives by altering payroll cost-sharing. Using firm-size thresholds and variation in payroll rates, this project examines how employer-side financing affects leave uptake and fertility responses.

Household Labor Supply Responses to Parental Leave Policy

This project analyzes how husbands adjust labor supply when their wives gain access to paid parental leave. Using the 2011–2019 Korean reforms, I estimate spousal hours and months worked around childbirth in EI-covered versus uncovered households.

Nonlinear Fertility Responses to Paid Leave Benefits: Evidence from South Korea

I develop a stylized model linking fertility to benefit generosity, wages, and household income, and test it using multi-reform variation in Korea. The project documents nonlinear fertility responses consistent with income effects and quality–quantity trade-offs.

Parental Leave and Long-Run Career Outcomes: Evidence from Manager-Level Data

Using the Workplace Panel Survey and Korean Woman Manager Panel, I study whether short-run labor market recovery after childbirth translates into long-run career progression. I examine effects of parental-leave reforms on the number and promotion rates of female managers.

Dissertation Abstract

Fertility and Labor Market Responses to Paid Leave Policy: Evidence from South Korea 

This dissertation examines how monetary generosity in paid parental leave systems affects fertility and labor market outcomes across three critical dimensions: government policy design, individual benefit thresholds, and employer cost-sharing mechanisms. Motivated by South Korea's demographic crisis—marked by one of the lowest fertility rates in the OECD—I investigate how the level and distribution of financial benefits shape women's fertility decisions and career trajectories through the interaction of policy generosity, institutional capacity, and employer incentives.

My first chapter, which serves as my job market paper, examines monetary generosity from the government policy dimension by evaluating the 2011 Paid Parental Leave Reform that replaced a flat-rate benefit with a wage-proportional replacement scheme. Using longitudinal panel data from 2005–2017 and a difference-in-differences design comparing Employment Insurance–covered women to ineligible women, I find that the reform increased the annual probability of childbirth by 2.1 percentage points from a baseline of 3.2%. Effects concentrated among women whose wage-based benefits exceeded the prior cap, and labor supply analysis reveals that treated women reduced participation during childbirth years (consistent with increased leave uptake) while ineligible women experienced more persistent employment declines. Heterogeneity analysis shows stronger responses among women at large firms and those with higher payroll contributions, highlighting how institutional and financial capacity affect policy effectiveness.

Building on these findings, my second chapter explores the individual dimension of monetary generosity by examining how fertility responds to different benefit levels under the reformed wage-based system. I find that fertility responses are concentrated among women receiving the maximum capped benefit, with little to no effect at lower tiers. This threshold-based pattern reveals that benefits must exceed a critical financial level to influence childbearing decisions, demonstrating that the absolute level of monetary generosity—rather than marginal increases—drives fertility behavior and policy effectiveness.

The third chapter examines the employer dimension of monetary generosity by analyzing how cost-sharing arrangements affect the effective benefits workers receive. Focusing on a 2006 reform that transferred maternity leave costs from employers to the government for workers at subsidy-eligible firms, I use firm-level eligibility rules and variation in insurance coverage to examine how employer financial incentives shape their willingness to accommodate leave and workers' subsequent labor market outcomes. This analysis reveals how employer cost burdens can undermine even generous government policies, affecting the true monetary value of benefits that workers experience.

Together, these chapters provide a comprehensive examination of how monetary generosity in paid leave systems—examined through government policy design, individual benefit thresholds, and employer cost-sharing—shapes fertility and labor market outcomes. The findings demonstrate that effective fertility policy requires not only generous government benefits but also coordination across all three dimensions to ensure that monetary incentives reach workers at sufficient levels. These insights offer crucial guidance for countries seeking to address demographic decline while improving work-family compatibility through strategically designed financial incentives.