热浪与有限的补偿性工资调整：来自韩国建筑业的证据

摘要

Extreme heat has emerged as an important occupational risk under climate change, particularly for workers engaged in physically demanding outdoor labor. This paper examines whether cumulative heatwave exposure is associated with working-environment satisfaction and wage responses within a compensating wage differentials framework in South Korea’s construction sector. We combine panel data from the Korean Labor and Income Panel Study (2001–2022) with regional weather observations across 16 areas. Cumulative heatwave exposure is measured as the number of days with daily maximum temperature at or above 35 °C during the 30 days preceding each interview. We estimate mixed-effects ordered probit models for working-environment satisfaction and individual fixed-effects models for real hourly wages. The results indicate an asymmetry between working-environment satisfaction and wage adjustment. Cumulative heatwave exposure is associated with lower working-environment satisfaction among day laborers, while corresponding wage adjustment remains statistically insignificant. Overall, the findings are broadly consistent with limited compensating wage adjustment under cumulative heatwave exposure in relatively weakly protected segments of the construction labor market. The results further suggest that market-based wage adjustment alone may be insufficient to fully offset heat-related deterioration in perceived working conditions among vulnerable construction workers.