The aim of the paper is to compare the relationship between distribution, growth, accumulation and employment in Turkey and South Korea. These countries represent two different export-oriented growth experiences. Thereby they provide examples for comparing different economic policies. The paper tests whether accumulation and employment are wage-led in these two countries by means of a post-Keynesian open economy model. The model, in addition to the goods market, includes a demand-driven labor market and a reserve army effect in the Marxian sense. The model is estimated in a structural vector autoregression form. The results show that decreasing the wage share does not stimulate accumulation, growth and employment.