Globalization and Corporate Elites in South Korea: Education and Career Mobility

Abstract

Mainstream globalization literature has maintained that a rapidly globalizing economy and neo-liberal reforms will lead to the emergence of a transnational business elite. The South Korean economy has implemented neo-liberal policies and reforms since the Asian financial crisis and has rapidly integrated into the global economy; these developments have occurred simultaneously with the globalization and growth of the Korean economy. Have these transitions led to the transnationalization of the corporate elite in South Korea? Using life-course data for top Korean managers from the top 100 industrial enterprises in 2010 and 2015, including information on educational background, career and mobility patterns, and the share of globally recruited top managers, we explore the evidence for the emergence of a transnational business elite in Korea. Our analysis indicates that nationally recruited company men – not global job- and company-hoppers – are still predominant in the South Korean economy.