This study examines the economic causes of long working hours in South Korea. In particular, this study focus on the relation between the various labor market characteristics and working hours of the workers. To begin with, we use the firm-level data to examine the impact of the human resource management practice on the average working hours of workers. The empirical result suggest that the flexibility in employment adjustment is closely related with the shorter working hours of workers. The result therefore suggest that the labor market characteristic which is known to affect productivity and employment could also affect the working hours. In addition, we employ worker-level data to shed light on the relation between overtime work and regular rates of pay. We find a clear negative relation between overtime work and regular rates of pay. The result suggest that if the increase in overtime pay leads to the decrease in regular wage rate, then the increment in overtime rate could actually hinder the reduction in working hours.

Preface
Executive Summary

Chapter 1 Introduction

Chapter 2 Human Resource Management Characteristics of Firms and Long Work Hours
　Section 1 Literature Review
　Section 2 Business Panel Survey
　Section 3 Characteristics of Firms Human Resource Management Practices
　Section 4 Basic Statistical Analysis
　Section 5 Empirical Methodology and Results

Chapter 3 Relationship Between Overtime Work and Regular Hourly Wages
　Section 1 Introduction
　Section 2 Data
　Section 3 Empirical Analysis
　Section 4 Summary and Conclusion

Chapter 4 Conclusion

References
Appendix
ABSTRACT