The effects of ubiquitous healthcare service on the south Korean Economy: using input–output analysis

Abstract

Due to the rapid market penetration of smartphones and the development of context-aware ubiquitous healthcare services, the demand for ubiquitous healthcare service--to monitor patients' longitudinal health data continuously and cope with emergency situations--has rapidly increased. Recent developments have suggested that researchers need to provide policy-makers with accessible and reliable information regarding the role of ubiquitous healthcare services. The objective of this study is to investigate the impact of ubiquitous healthcare services on the South Korean economy, using a static input---output approach. We address topics relating to the input---output model, such as the demand-driven model and inter-linkage effects, and the components inherent in an unconventional input---output model, such as the supply-driven model and the Leontief price model. The results indicate that the ubiquitous healthcare industry as a final primary production sector has strong production-inducing effects, weak price ripple effects, and marginal backward and forward linkage effects. It is also found that the industry is closely related to the electric and electronic device sector and the precision machinery sector. This is largely attributable to the convergence characteristics of industries that use wireless telecommunications, as well as those of the medical and measurement device and medical service sectors.