Entrepreneurs and the Welfare Regime: The Case of South Korea

Abstract

This article explores the social policy preferences of business organizations in South Korea. It seeks to understand whether the preferences found in these organizations (on their web pages, in statements to the press, and in an interview conducted by the author of this text) are approaching or distancing themselves from the historic and conservative pro-growth coalition of the Korean welfare regime, in front of the most recent redistributive coalition.The article is divided into five parts, in addi-tion to the theoretical and historical introduction: a contextual one on Inequality, welfare, and elites in South Korea; a second on Business organiza-tions and welfare in South Korea: the Federation of Korean Industries and the Korea Enterprises Federation; a third, business organizations and welfare in South Korea: political economy and labor protection; a fourth, business organizations and welfare in South Korea: social policies; and a fifth with the conclusions. The article concludes that the business organizations studied continue with the central propositions of the pro-growth coalition, although without showing a residual vision of social policies.