Regional business cycles and employment resilience in Korean regions

Monthly employment data were used to analyze regional business cycles and measure the regional employment resilience of 16 South Korean metropolitan areas and provinces in the aftermath of the 2008 global economic crisis. Indicators of resilience in both a shock-induced contraction phase and a post-shock recovery phase enabled the classification of regions into four groups. An analysis of these groups showed that industrial diversification, research and development expenses and regional investments were conducive to stimulating regional employment resilience, while labour and financial markets that had a low level of heterogeneity across regions were associated with no observable impact.