IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/yon/wpaper/2026rwp-277.html

Workplace Norms and Fertility

Author

Listed:
  • Jungho Lee

    (Yonsei University)

  • Sunha Myong

    (Kyung Hee University)

Abstract

We examine how workplace norms shaped by supervisors affect South Korea's low fertility rates. We find that an authoritarian supervisory style-characterized by mandatory after-work gatherings and inflexible work arrangements-significantly reduces desired fertility among female workers. This decline stems from the difficulty of balancing work and family under such management, a challenge amplified by unequal household duties and rigid labor markets. Overall, our study shows that workplace interactions extend beyond wages and productivity, reshaping personal and family life with important consequences for the broader economy.

Suggested Citation

  • Jungho Lee & Sunha Myong, 2026. "Workplace Norms and Fertility," Working papers 2026rwp-277, Yonsei University, Yonsei Economics Research Institute.
    • Handle: RePEc:yon:wpaper:2026rwp-277
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://121.254.254.220/repec/yon/wpaper/2026rwp-277.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Anders Frederiksen & Lisa B. Kahn & Fabian Lange, 2020. "Supervisors and Performance Management Systems," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 128(6), pages 2123-2187.
    2. Nicholas Bloom & John Van Reenen, 2007. "Measuring and Explaining Management Practices Across Firms and Countries," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 122(4), pages 1351-1408.
    3. George A. Akerlof & Rachel E. Kranton, 2005. "Identity and the Economics of Organizations," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 19(1), pages 9-32, Winter.
    4. Matthias Doepke & Fabian Kindermann, 2019. "Bargaining over Babies: Theory, Evidence, and Policy Implications," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 109(9), pages 3264-3306, September.
    5. Sunha Myong & JungJae Park & Junjian Yi, 2021. "Social Norms and Fertility," Journal of the European Economic Association, European Economic Association, vol. 19(5), pages 2429-2466.
    6. Benjamin M. Artz & Amanda H. Goodall & Andrew J. Oswald, 2017. "Boss Competence and Worker Well-Being," ILR Review, Cornell University, ILR School, vol. 70(2), pages 419-450, March.
    7. Seongeun Kim & Michèle Tertilt & Minchul Yum, 2024. "Status Externalities in Education and Low Birth Rates in Korea," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 114(6), pages 1576-1611, June.
    8. Luis Garicano, 2000. "Hierarchies and the Organization of Knowledge in Production," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 108(5), pages 874-904, October.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Alexia Delfino & Miguel Espinosa, 2025. "Value Dissonance at Work," CESifo Working Paper Series 11690, CESifo.
    2. Mitchell Hoffman & Christopher T. Stanton, 2024. "People, Practices, and Productivity: A Review of New Advances in Personnel Economics," NBER Working Papers 32849, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    3. Mitchell Hoffman & Steven Tadelis, 2021. "People Management Skills, Employee Attrition, and Manager Rewards: An Empirical Analysis," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 129(1), pages 243-285.
    4. Laura Alfaro & Nick Bloom & Paola Conconi & Harald Fadinger & Patrick Legros & Andrew F Newman & Raffaella Sadun & John Van Reenen, 2024. "Come Together: Firm Boundaries and Delegation," Journal of the European Economic Association, European Economic Association, vol. 22(1), pages 34-72.
    5. Luis Garicano & Richard A. Posner, 2005. "Intelligence Failures: An Organizational Economics Perspective," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 19(4), pages 151-170, Fall.
    6. Lukas Mahler & Michéle Tertilt & Minchul Yum, 2025. "Policy Concerns in an Era of Low Fertility: The Role of Social Comparisons and Intensive Parenting," CRC TR 224 Discussion Paper Series crctr224_2025_705, University of Bonn and University of Mannheim, Germany.
    7. Chaparro, Juan & Lora, Eduardo, 2014. "The Economic Payoff of Creating Good Job Conditions: Theory and Evidence from Latin America," 2014 Annual Meeting, July 27-29, 2014, Minneapolis, Minnesota 169810, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
    8. Victor Manuel Bennett, 2013. "Organization and Bargaining: Sales Process Choice at Auto Dealerships," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 59(9), pages 2003-2018, September.
    9. Pinheiro, Roberto & Visschers, Ludo, 2015. "Unemployment risk and wage differentials," Journal of Economic Theory, Elsevier, vol. 157(C), pages 397-424.
    10. Wouter DESSEIN & Desmond (Ho-Fu) LO & Ruo SHANGGUAN & Hideo OWAN, 2024. "The Management of Knowledge Work," Discussion papers 24044, Research Institute of Economy, Trade and Industry (RIETI).
    11. Louise Lindbjerg & Theodor Vladasel, 2021. "Hiring entrepreneurs for innovation," Economics Working Papers 1811, Department of Economics and Business, Universitat Pompeu Fabra.
    12. Raffaella Sadun & John Van Reenen & Nick Bloom, 2008. "Measuring And Explaining Decentralization Across Firms And Countries," 2008 Meeting Papers 246, Society for Economic Dynamics.
    13. Toama Boke Aime ARNAULD & Junichi FUJIMOTO & Minchung HSU, 2026. "Marriage, Fertility, and Female Labor Force Participation in an Aging Economy," Discussion papers 26014, Research Institute of Economy, Trade and Industry (RIETI).
    14. Piero Esposito & Francesco Ferrante, 2024. "Control freaks or good parents? Entrepreneurial motivation and firms’ innovative performance," Economia Politica: Journal of Analytical and Institutional Economics, Springer;Fondazione Edison, vol. 41(3), pages 739-769, October.
    15. Siebert, W. Stanley & Peng, Fei & Maimaiti, Yasheng, 2011. "HRM Practices and Performance of Family-Run Workplaces: Evidence from the 2004 WERS," IZA Discussion Papers 5899, IZA Network @ LISER.
    16. Luis Garicano & Rosa M. Lastra, 2010. "Towards a New Architecture for Financial Stability: Seven Principles," Journal of International Economic Law, Oxford University Press, vol. 13(3), pages 597-621, September.
    17. Dalia Marin & Linda Rousová & Thierry Verdier, 2021. "Do Multinationals Transplant their Business Model?," The Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 131(634), pages 899-945.
    18. Pisch, Frank & Berlingieri, Giuseppe, 2022. "Managing Export Complexity: The Role of Service Outsourcing," Publications of Darmstadt Technical University, Institute for Business Studies (BWL) 135680, Darmstadt Technical University, Department of Business Administration, Economics and Law, Institute for Business Studies (BWL).
    19. Michael Waldman, 2012. "Theory and Evidence in Internal LaborMarkets [The Handbook of Organizational Economics]," Introductory Chapters,, Princeton University Press.
    20. Nicholas Bloom & Benn Eifert & Aprajit Mahajan & David McKenzie & John Roberts, 2013. "Does Management Matter? Evidence from India," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 128(1), pages 1-51.

    More about this item

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:yon:wpaper:2026rwp-277. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: YERI (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/eryonkr.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.