What Makes Artists Happy in South Korea? An Empirical Study on Artists’ Job Satisfaction

The artistic labour market is often characterized as having the following traits: workers have a relatively low income with a high educational background, relatively high job satisfaction with a low income, multiple job holdings, and a high rate of self-employment. David Throsby’s 1994 work-preference model, which articulates these particular features of artistic labour markets, is a widely accepted theory in the academic discipline of cultural economics. He asserts that artists derive more utility from artistic work itself than from income or leisure time. As a consequence, artists still prefer to invest their time in their artistic work - rather than in their non-artistic work or free time - even though the hourly wages for non-artistic work are higher. This stands in contrast to the argument made by standard economists, who assert that workers are more motivated to supply labour when they are paid more. This contradiction raises two questions: firstly, whether this is an international phenomenon associated with the artistic labour market; and, secondly, whether there are any other aspects that allow artists to become more satisfied with their artistic work, alongside their strong preference for artistic work itself. This study aims to answer these questions by focusing on the job satisfaction of artists in the Asian country of South Korea. In order to do so, this study poses and confronts the following research questions: To what extent can Throsby’s work preference model (1994) explain the artistic labour market in South Korea? and what are the major determinants of the job satisfaction of artists? Data from the 2015 Survey on Artists and Activities, conducted by the South Korean Ministry of Culture, Sport and Tourism, is used to identify responses to both of these questions. The findings of this study demonstrated that the artistic labour market in South Korea supports Throsby’s work-preference model, as artists derive a higher job satisfaction from artistic work itself. Moreover, a number of factors were found to have a significantly positive effect on the job satisfaction of artists: income from artistic work, the ratio of working hours for artistic work to the total amount of working hours, self-employment, the possession of a separate workspace, and an awareness of the value of artistic work. Inversely, an awareness of economic, artistic and external limitations had a significant negative effect on the job satisfaction of artists in South Korea.