Korea Labor and Income Panel Study

Korea Labor and Income Panel Study
Name	Korea Labor and Income Panel Study
Acronym	KLIPS
Country	South Korea
Established	1998
Sponsor	Korea Labor Institute
Frequency	annual
Sample	household panel

Contents

Korea Labor and Income Panel Study

The Korea Labor and Income Panel Study is a longitudinal household survey begun in 1998 covering labor, income, and demographic dynamics in South Korea. It tracks individual and household trajectories with links to institutions such as the Korea Labor Institute, Ministry of Employment and Labor (South Korea), Bank of Korea, Seoul National University, and Korea Development Institute. The project has informed policy debates involving the National Assembly (South Korea), Korea Statistical Information Service, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, and international researchers at Harvard University, University of Tokyo, University of Cambridge, and Stanford University.

Overview

KLIPS was initiated following the 1997–1998 Asian financial crisis to provide microdata for analysis of labor markets, wages, and social mobility in the Republic of Korea. The design and management involved collaborations among the Korea Labor Institute, Korea Employment Information Service, Sejong University, Yonsei University, Korea University, and international advisors from International Labour Organization and World Bank. The panel samples urban households across provinces including Seoul, Busan, Incheon, Daegu, and Gwangju to capture regional labor dynamics relevant to policymakers in the Blue House, the Presidential Commission on Policy Planning, and think tanks like the Asan Institute for Policy Studies.

KLIPS uses a rotating household panel with stratified multistage probability sampling informed by frames from the Korean Statistical Information Service and census operations of the Korean Population and Housing Census. Survey waves employ face-to-face interviews, telephone follow-ups, and mail questionnaires executed by field teams affiliated with Korea Research Institute for Vocational Education and Training, Korea Institute for Health and Social Affairs, and university survey centers at Ewha Womans University. Respondent tracking protocols reference standards used by panels such as the Panel Study of Income Dynamics, the British Household Panel Survey, and the German Socio-Economic Panel. Weighting, imputation, and variance estimation draw on methods from researchers at London School of Economics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and the Institute for Fiscal Studies.

The dataset includes person-level variables on employment status, occupation, industry, wages, hours worked, job tenure, and unemployment spells, coded with classifications comparable to Korean Standard Classification of Occupations, International Standard Classification of Occupations, and International Standard Industrial Classification. Household modules collect income components, assets, transfers, consumption, and demographic attributes tied to registers maintained by the Ministry of Health and Welfare, National Tax Service (South Korea), and National Pension Service. Education and human capital indicators reference credentials from institutions like Korea University, Yonsei University, Hanyang University, and vocational records from the Human Resources Development Service of Korea. Health, disability, and caregiving modules permit linkage to studies at the Korea Institute for Health and Social Affairs, Seoul National University Hospital, and public health registries.

Analyses using KLIPS data have been published by scholars affiliated with Korea Development Institute, Seoul National University, Yonsei University, Sungkyunkwan University, and international journals such as Journal of Labor Economics, American Economic Review, Econometrica, Review of Economics and Statistics, and Journal of Human Resources. Findings document wage inequality, occupational mobility, the effects of the 1997–1998 Asian financial crisis and the 2008 global financial crisis on employment, gender wage gaps studied alongside work by researchers at Brookings Institution and RAND Corporation, and the impact of labor market institutions like the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions and Federation of Korean Trade Unions. Policy reports using KLIPS have influenced reforms in unemployment insurance administered by the Ministry of Employment and Labor (South Korea) and pension policy debates involving the National Pension Service (South Korea).

Researchers can request access to KLIPS microdata through application procedures overseen by the Korea Labor Institute and data deposit systems comparable to those of the Korean Statistical Information Service, Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research, and the UK Data Service. Data use agreements often require institutional affiliation with universities such as Seoul National University, Yonsei University, Korea University, or research centers including the Asan Institute for Policy Studies and Korea Development Institute. Linked administrative data projects have collaborated with the National Tax Service (South Korea), National Pension Service, and Ministry of Health and Welfare under privacy safeguards modeled on protocols from the European Union and OECD.

Critiques of KLIPS include sample attrition challenges noted in comparisons with the Panel Study of Income Dynamics, representativeness concerns outside metropolitan areas like Jeju, measurement error in self-reported wages compared with National Tax Service (South Korea) records, and lagged release schedules debated by analysts at Korea Development Institute and Asan Institute for Policy Studies. Methodological debates have involved scholars from Sejong University, Sogang University, Chung-Ang University, and international reviewers referencing standards from the International Labour Organization and World Bank on survey harmonization.

Category:South Korean surveys