Deinstitutionalizing Overwork and Women in the Workplace

Abstract

Leverages South Korea's 2018 implementation of the 52-hour workweek rule to examine whether deinstitutionalizing overwork reduces the exclusion of women from the workplace. Using a difference-in-differences design with the restricted-access Regional Employment Survey (2016-2019), finds that firms subject to the rule saw a greater increase in the proportion of female workers than unaffected firms.