The viability and vulnerability of Korean economic governance

This study addresses the question of how Korean economic governance has been shaped over time. Primarily. it analyzes the four inter-related dimensions of economic governance: organizational vitality, size dispersion, managerial hierarchy, and market integrity. Although economic governance is quite viable in that the young members dominate the population of organization in numbers, the analysis of size dispersion illustrates the pattern of dominance of large-scale production units across a wide range of industries. Korean economic governance is distinctively characterized by large-scale business groups whose managerial hierarchies are highly concentrated and vertically integrated. Finally, the governance of the national economy also shows aggressive strategies of vertical integration and horizontal predation without the establishment of extensive networks of subcontracting relationships. The current economic crisis raises the question of whether Korean economic governance is viable enough to survive through or vulnerable enough to he replaced by an alternative form under the pressures of financial liberalization and domestic restructuring. An analysis of economic governance will illuminate the unique nature of Korean capitalism and further assist us in understanding the historical roots of the current economic turmoil.