Inequality In Korea Research Articles

Monetary Policy and Income Inequality in Korea

This paper analyzes the relationships between monetary policy and income inequality in Korea. We calculate Gini coefficient for various income range using data from the Household Income and Expenditure Survey and then estimate a block-exogeneity VAR representing Korean and US economies to examine the effects of monetary policies on income inequality. The results show that following a one-standard deviation contractionary (expansionary) monetary policy shock, market income Gini coefficient increases (decreases) significantly after one year, reaching its peak to 0.0014 (0.14%p) while GDP and CPI decrease (increase) significantly by 0.48% and 0.15%, respectively. The contributions of monetary policy shocks to income inequality are found to be small as shown by forecast error variance and historical decompositions. In addition, earnings heterogeneity channel is most important among various channels through which monetary policy affects income inequality. Finally, a counterfactual analysis implies that if Bank of Korea held the call rate constant at 5.13% from 2008:Q3 and thereafter, the average of market income Gini coefficient would be higher by 0.009 (0.9%p) during 2008:Q4 - 2015:Q1 under the assumption of static expectations.

(A Study on the Effects of Economic Openness on Korea's Income Distribution)

Korean Abstract: 본 연구에서는 한국의 분배구조에 대한 이해를 높이기 위하여 국내 소득불평등 현황과 원인을 정리하고 분배구조를 다양한 지표를 이용하여 분배구조를 측정하고 분해하였다. 또한 대외개방이 분배구조에 미치는 영향을 살펴보기 위해 이론분석과 실증분석을 실시하였다. 이를 통해 분배관련 자료정비, 중소기업 해외진출 활성화, 사회통합형 개방정책 추진, 무역조정지원제도 개선, 노동이동 활성화 등에 관한 정책을 제안하였다. English Abstract: The official statistics on income inequality in Korea are known as underestimated, the actual level of Korea is lower than that of the United States, but somewhat higher than those of Europe and Japan. Although their differences in the level of income inequality, government survey data show the same trends; inequality has risen since the mid 1990s, but it has been declining or stagnating since the beginning of 2010. The reasons for the changes in the income inequality in Korea include ① changes in the structure of the exporting industry, ② slowing of employment, ③ skill-biased technological change, ③ slowing of personal income growth, ④ proliferation of performance-based pay system, ⑤ population aging and changes in household composition.

Growth, inequality and structural changes in Korea: Egalitarian growth and its demise

This article examines structural changes in the Korean economy and their implications for inequality and growth. Korea is well known for rapid economic growth and equal income distribution in the past. It has been called the East Asian miracle, the result of historical initial conditions and government policy efforts. However, after the 1997 financial crisis and economic restructuring, Korea’s egalitarian growth model is over. In the neoliberal growth model of the postcrisis period, the Korean economy has suffered from a vicious cycle of rising income inequality and stagnant economic growth. This article also discusses how structural changes such as industrialization and deindustrialization of the economy are associated with the historical changes in inequality in Korea. It argues that we can observe Kuznets waves in Korea with the upswing of inequality in the recent period. The author calls for efforts of the Korean government to expand social welfare, strengthen workers, and implement democratic structural reform for inclusive growth.

International trade and within-sector wage inequality: The case of South Korea

This paper studies which factors contributed to the changes in wage inequality in Korean manufacturing over the last three decades. By adopting Akerman et al. (2013)’s decomposition method, we examine the relative importance of within-sector and between-sector wage variations in Korean manufacturing over the period of 1980–2012. Our analytic results confirm that within-sector wage variation explains the lion’s share of overall wage inequality. Taking this finding into account, we estimate the impacts of international trade, skilled-biased technological change and labor market conditions on within-sector wage inequality in Korea. Our estimation results suggest that there was a structural change in determinants of wage inequality before and after the mid-1990s. The influence of international trade mainly through heightened import competition on wage dispersion became relatively more conspicuous over the last two decades.

Labor Market Rigidities and Social Inequality in Korea: The Role of Legal, Economic and Social Governance

Hlasny, Vladimir.October, 2016.Labor market rigidities and social inequality in Korea,Report,Washington, DC, U.S.Korea Economic Institute of America,13

International Trade and Within-Sector Wage Inequality: The Case of South Korea

This paper studies which factors contributed to the changes in wage inequality in Korean manufacturing over the last three decades. By adopting Akerman et al. (2013)’s decomposition method, we examine the relative importance of within-sector and between-sector wage variations in Korean manufacturing over the period of 1980-2012. Our analytic results confirm that within-sector wage variation explains the lion’s share of overall wage inequality. Taking such finding into account, we estimate the impacts of international trade, skilled-biased technological change and labor market conditions on within-sector wage inequality in Korea. Our estimation results suggest that there was a structural change in determinants of wage inequality before and after the mid-1990s. The influence of international trade mainly through heightened import competition on wage dispersion became relatively more conspicuous over the last two decades.

Gender Inequality and Economic Growth in Korea

AbstractCalibrating an endogenous‐growth model to Korean data, we analyse the impact of gender inequality in Korea on long‐term economic growth. We find that gender equality policies that lower discrimination in the labour market or that increase the time spent by a father on childrearing can contribute positively to female labour market participation and per capita income growth. The simulation results show that when the disparities between men and women at home and in the labour market are completely removed, the female labour force participation rate increases from 54.4 to 67.5%, and the growth rate in per capita income rises from 3.6 to 4.1% on average over a generation.

Legislative Response to Constituents’ Interests in New Democracies: The 18th National Assembly and Income Inequality in Korea

Legislative responses to social changes signify how representative democracy works. Yet research is still needed to find out whether and how representatives innewdemocratic countries address the constituents’ interests and demands. We revisit the 18th National Assembly in Korea (2008–12) to examine legislative activities surrounding the issue of economic inequality. To understand how lawmakers in the new democracy like Korea respond to the demands of redistributive policies, we turn to representatives’ co-sponsorship behaviour. We find that Korean lawmakersdorespond to constituents’ preferences. More specifically, Korean lawmakers representing conservative districts tend to care less about economic inequality than other representatives while controlling their partisanship. This study fleshes out the link between the represented and the representatives in a new democracy where party discipline at the expense of constituency connection has long dominated legislative politics.

Wage Inequality in Korea in Comparative Perspective

이 논문은 한국 임금불평등의 양상을 외국과 비교하여 그 특징을 해명했다. 한국, 미국, 영국, 독일의 노동통계 원시자료를 분석하여 전반적 임금불평등도와 함께 여러 차원의 임금격차의 양상을 비교했다. 임금 10분위배율을 통해 전반적 임금불평등 정도를 보면 한국의 임금불평등도는 영국, 독일은 물론 미국에서보다 크다. 주요 설명변수를 통제한 후의 임금불평등 양상을 비교해 보면 타국에 견주어 한국에서 성별 격차와 기업규모별 격차가 크다. 그 중에서도 성별 격차가 더 두드러진다. 고용형태가 임금에 미치는 효과는 한국에서 유독 크다고 말할 수 없다. 그 외에 학력이나 직종별 격차도 한국에서 특별히 큰 것으로 분석되지 않는다. 무조건 분위회귀분석(unconditional quantile regression) 기법을 활용하여 임금분위별 임금불평등의 양상을 네 나라에 대해 비교해 보면 공통점과 함께 여러 가지 차이점이 발견된다. 특히 성별, 기업규모별, 노조유무별 임금격차에서 한국과 여타 국가 사이에 뚜렷한 차이들이 나타난다.

Real Income Inequality in Korea and Costs of Living by Income Classes

Real Income Inequality in Korea and Costs of Living by Income Classes

Income Inequality in Korea: An Analysis of Trends, Causes, and Answers. By Chong-Bum An and Barry Bosworth . Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Asia Center, 2013. xi, 174 pp. $39.95 (cloth).

Income Inequality in Korea: An Analysis of Trends, Causes, and Answers. By Chong-Bum An and Barry Bosworth . Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Asia Center, 2013. xi, 174 pp. $39.95 (cloth).

Generation and Multidimensional Inequality in Korea

Generation and Multidimensional Inequality in Korea

Unequal New Democracies in East Asia: Rising Inequality and Government Responses in South Korea and Taiwan

Abstract This paper explores the growing trend in income inequality in Korea and Taiwan. The two recent East Asian democracies have witnessed rising inequality since the 1990s but with cross-national differences. We find that market inequality is higher in Taiwan than in Korea, yet the Taiwan government’s efforts to reduce this disparity are stronger than similar moves in Korea. By applying the logic of economic, social, and political effects, we find both similar trends and divergent paths in the politics of inequality in the two countries.

The Political Consequence of Citizens' Perceptions of Economic Inequality in Korea: Focusing on Its Effect on the Efficacy of Democracy

The Political Consequence of Citizens' Perceptions of Economic Inequality in Korea: Focusing on Its Effect on the Efficacy of Democracy

EFFECTS OF TAXES AND BENEFITS ON INCOME DISTRIBUTION IN KOREA

This paper examines the redistributive effects of Korea's fiscal policies, including consumption taxes and in‐kind benefits. Using the Household Income and Expenditure Survey of 2007, we find that taxes and transfers reduce income inequality in Korea by 13.8 percent. Contrary to the popular belief that direct taxes are the key tool for redistribution, in‐kind benefits, direct taxes, and social security contributions all decrease the Gini coefficient by 6.7, 4.7, and 2.9 percentage points, respectively. The redistributive effect of consumption taxes is small and negative (−0.5 percentage point). Policy simulations indicate that education spending financed by the personal income tax has a positive redistributive effect and that the lower 70 percent of households enjoy positive net benefits. Spending targeting the poor has a strong redistributive effect, which implies low popularity because the majority of households face net losses.

Income-Related Health Inequalities in Korea

Data from the 2001 Korean National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey and the ill health concentration index (CI) were used to examine income-related health inequalities among Koreans. Participants (>19 years old) were requested to provide information regarding monthly household income, expenditures, subjective living conditions, and health status. Ill health was determined both subjectively through self-rated health (SRH) scores and objectively through the number of diseases (ND). At the individual level, the CIs for SRH and ND were -0.147 and -0.093, respectively; age-gender adjusted CIs were -0.065 and -0.071, respectively. These values remained unchanged when estimating CI for grouped data. These results indicate that ill health was more pronounced among lower income groups in Korea. However, avoidable health inequality in Korea was smaller than in the United Kingdom and the United States, larger than in Sweden, Eastern Germany, Finland, and Western Germany, and roughly equal to the Netherlands, Spain, and Switzerland.

Regulatory Contradictions: The Political Determinants of Labor Market Inequality in Korea and Japan

Growing labor market inequality in Korea and Japan is often blamed on increased trade competition with China, the information technology revolution, and aging populations. This study shows that labor market inequality is not simply driven by such structural changes but by the nature of the ways in which new labor market regulations were created and the resulting regulatory contradictions. Although its state-centric strategies designed new labor market regulation favoring marginal workers, the Korean government failed to resolve labor market inequality. This is because the government's new regulatory goal was not backed by sufficient policy resources or adequately coordinated with other policy areas. Conversely, Japanese authorities prioritized the employment stability of regular workers on the basis of consensus among labor and business groups and the government. However, this narrow goal continues to inhibit progress in closing the gap of labor market inequality.

Time Use and Gender Inequality in Korea: Differences in Paid, Unpaid and Non-productive Activities

This paper examines trends and gender differences in rime use in Korea. The economic/bargaining approach suggests thar changes in women’s employment, the delay in marriage and decline in fertility have reduced demand for unpaid work. In addition, improvements in women’s employment and wages have given women more bargaining power in relation to men consequently men spend more time on unpaid care work. As a result, the amount of time spent on paid and unpaid work between men and women is converging. Ar the same time, the gender perspective argues thar due to changes in economics, demographics and norms the differentiated time use between men and women can be fine-tuned, but the gender inequality remains fundamental. This research examines the Korean case in light of these explanations. In traditional Korean society, gender roles were rigidly divided. In post industrial society, however, changes in women’s role and in the family are evident, These changes have been facilitated by the decline in fertility, the increase in divorce, the increase in women’s labor marker participation, and the decrease in the number of extended families. This research uses the national representative time use survey data of 1999 and 2004 and examines how much time women and men spent on paid work, unpaid work and non-productive activities, This paper argues thar women’s increased involvement in paid work, changes in gender role, and in family forms may have increased the amount of time thar men spend on unpaid care work. However, the increases are far from meaningful for gender relations in practice despite the significant social and economic changes.

Health Inequality Measurement in Korea Using EuroQol-5 Dimension Valuation Weights

Despite various government initiatives, including the expansion of national health insurance coverage, health inequality has been a key health policy issue in South Korea during the past decade. This study describes and compares the extent of the total health inequality and the income-related health inequality over time among Korean adults. This study employs the 1998, 2001 and 2005 Korean National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys (KNHANESs). The self-assessed health (SAH) ordinal responses, measured on a five-point scale, rescaled to cardinal values to measure the health inequalities with using interval regression. The boundaries of each threshold for the interval regression analysis were obtained from the empirical distribution of the EuroQol-5 Dimension (EQ-5D) valuation weights estimated from the 2005 KNHANES. The final model predicting the individuals' health status included age, gender, educational attainment, occupation, income, and the regional prosperity index. The concentration index was used to measure and analyze the health inequality. The KNHANES data showed an unequal distribution of the total health inequality in favor of the higher income groups, and this is getting worse over time (0.0327 in 1998, 0.0393 in 2001 and 0.0924 in 2005). The income-related health inequality in 2005 was 0.0278, indicating that 30.1% of the total health inequality can be attributed to income. The findings indicate there are health inequalities across the sociodemographic and income groups despite the recent government's efforts. Further research is warranted to investigate what potential policy actions are necessary to decrease the health inequality in Korea.

Changes in Korean Wage Inequality, 1980-2005

Korea is known not only for rapid economic growth but also relatively low wage inequality. It is one of the few countries in which wage inequality decreased during the 1980s, though in recent years wage inequality has increased. This paper studies what factors contributed to the changes in wage inequality during the last two decades. This paper implements a recently developed Oaxaca-type inequality decomposition method to decompose U shaped changes in inequality into characteristics (quantity), coefficients (price) and residuals effects at both overall and detailed levels. The results of decomposition analysis show that changes in the wage structure significantly contribute to the changes in wage inequality in Korea. The coefficients effect of human capital factors has played a major role not only in increasing wage inequality from mid-1990s, but also decreasing wage inequality in 1980s and early 1990s.