Employment Destination Choices of University Graduates in South Korea: Job Values and Regional Mobility

• In Event: Student Forum Roundtables Session
  In Refereed Roundtable (90 minute): Roundtable 15: Labor Markets and Mobility

Abstract

Metropolitan concentration remains a defining feature of South Korea’s labor market, yet the mechanisms shaping early career spatial mobility remain insufficiently understood. This study examines how employment location outcomes differ by educational origin, distinguishing between graduates from non-metropolitan high schools and those from the Seoul Metropolitan Area (SMA). Using nationally representative survey data and multinomial logistic regression models, we estimate the likelihood of employment in the Chungcheong region and other non-metropolitan regions relative to the SMA.
The results reveal heterogeneous spatial sorting processes. Among non-metropolitan-origin graduates, metropolitan employment is positively associated with internationally transferable skills and career development-oriented job values, whereas regional employment is more strongly linked to occupation-specific certifications and intrinsic work preferences. In contrast, for metropolitan-origin graduates, non-metropolitan employment is strongly associated with large firm employment and, in some cases, stronger academic performance, indicating selective regional mobility rather than structural exclusion from the metropolitan core.
University location exerts a substantial anchoring effect across both groups, suggesting that higher education institutions play a central role in structuring spatial employment trajectories. Job values further differentiate employment outcomes, demonstrating that spatial mobility reflects preference-based and institutionally mediated processes in addition to economic incentives.
These findings challenge a simplistic core–periphery interpretation of metropolitan concentration. Instead, early career employment patterns reflect differentiated opportunity structures shaped by origin, human capital composition, firm characteristics, and work-related values. The study contributes to debates on regional inequality by highlighting the complexity of spatial labor market sorting and its implications for regional development policy.

Author

• Hyeok Beom Kwon, Yonsei University