• Journal of Labour Economics
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• v.38 no.2
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• pp.25-58
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• 2015

This paper compares income and consumption inequalities in Korea and applies the permanent income hypothesis to interpret the linkage between the two inequalities. Income inequality has been increasing since 1990 while consumption inequality had been decreasing until the early 2000s when the two inequalities started to co-move. Permanent income hypothesis explains reasonably well the consumption pattern in the recent period, which reflects the increased access to asset markets by the Korean households. Consequently, the co-movement of income and consumption inequalities in the recent period implies that inequality in permanent income components are fluctuating.

• Journal of Labour Economics
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• v.30 no.3
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• pp.77-102
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• 2007

This paper compares income and consumption for their relative effectiveness in measuring inequality. Although income inequality has received more attention in the literature, the permanent income hypothesis links consumption to welfare more directly than income. To the extent economic agents smooth their consumptions, consumption inequality is a better indicator for an economy's welfare inequality, and it is especially so when income volatility is high. The empirical analysis in this paper indicates that the income and consumption patterns among the Korean wage/salary worker households are quite consistent with the permanent income hypothesis. Further, it is found that consumption inequality tends to be lower than income inequality, and more importantly, that the two inequalities do not always vary in the same direction. These results call for stronger emphasis on consumption inequality in inequality literature.

• The Journal of the Korea Contents Association
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• v.20 no.6
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• pp.392-405
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• 2020

The aim of this study is to investigate the effects of income inequality on consumption expenditure in other to understand income-led growth policy. This is basically resulted in the income inequality had gotten worse since global financial crisis in many economies. Malthusian hypothesis which signifies the relationship between the income inequality and the consumption expenditure revisited for this purpose. The paper utilizes multiple break points regression and TGARCH model, and these methodologies are tentatively applied to the case of U.S and U.K. This is because that long-run time series data enables to formulate a stylized fact in general. Empirical evidence suggests that there does not exist a solid relationship among APC, income inequality by Gini coefficient, and consumption expenditure before the year of 2000, but Malthusian hypothesis is supported by weak basis in U.S while strong basis in U.K after since then. It implies that the income inequality has to be alleviated to maximize its effectiveness of the income-led growth policy.

• Korean Journal of Social Welfare Studies
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• v.40 no.1
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• pp.235-260
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• 2009

This study aims to analyze consumption inequality of Korean elderly households. The justification for analyzing consumption inequality during old age could be summarized as follows. First, due to the rapid growth of elderly population, the intra generational inequality of older people will bring greater consequences to the society in the coming years. Second, inequality is more actualized during old age when income stops playing a major role and the everyday lives are based mostly on consumption activities. For analysis, this study used the 2nd, 5th, 7th and 9th wave of 『Korea Labor and Income Panel Study』. The findings are as follows. First, total consumption inequality of elderly households is gradually decreasing after the economic crisis. Also, the gini coefficient of consumption items representing modern consumption culture, such as expenditures on eating out and car maintenance is decreasing. However, the inequality contribution rate of such items is continually rising, indicating that whereas the elderly households in general are being assimilated to the mainstream consumption culture, the disparity between classes is continually expanding. Second, gini coefficient and inequality contribution rate of the essentials such as food and housing has decreased indicating that basic livelihoods in general has risen. Third, the inequality of education expenditure is increasing after the year 2000 which implies that the problem of education inequality in general might have an effect on elderly households.

• KDI Journal of Economic Policy
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• v.10 no.2
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• pp.117-140
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• 1988

본(本) 연구(硏究)에서는 1984년 한 해의 "도시가계연보(都市家計年報)"(전산(電算)테이프자료(資料))를 이용해 도시가구(都市家口) 계층간(階層間) 및 계층내(階層內)의 소득(所得) 및 소비(消費) 후생불평등도(厚生不平等度)를 추정하였으며 그 요인(要因)을 근로소득(勤勞所得)의 측면(側面)에서나 찾아보았다. 본(本) 연구(硏究)의 주요실증분석(主要實證分析) 결과(結果)는 다음과 같다. (1)도시가구(都市家口)의 불평등(不平等)을 크게 좌우(左右)하는 것은 재산소득(財産所得) 유무(有無)이며 (2)근로소득(勤勞所得)의 불평등(不平等)은 주로 학력간(學歷間) 임금격차(賃金格差)에서 비롯되고 있으며 (3)재산소득(財産所得)의 불평등(不平等)은 자본이득(資本利得)(capital gain)을 좌우(左右)하는 일반물가수준(一般物價水準)의 불안정(不安定)에서 비롯되고 있다. 따라서 불평등(不平等)의 개선(改善)을 위해서는 무엇보다도 먼저 물가수준(物價水準)의 안정(安定)이 최우선 조건이며 이와 더불어 학력간(學歷間) 임금격차(賃金格差)를 완화(緩和)시키는 노력도 병행되어야 할 것으로 보인다.

• Journal of Labour Economics
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• v.38 no.3
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• pp.23-51
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• 2015

This paper estimates the effect of household size and its changes on income inequality. Household formation is an important inequality-reducing mechanism through income pooling and collective consumption. The increase in small households, reflecting lower fertility rate and the increase in both nuclear and old families, has weakened the inequality-reducing effect of household formation. In contrast, additional workers in households and their income have strengthened the inequality-reducing effect of household formation. Given the increasing trend of old families, these results suggest for a balanced policy package that promotes employment and does not discourage co-habitation in order to maintain the inequality-reducing effect of household formation.

• Journal of rehabilitation welfare engineering & assistive technology
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• v.8 no.4
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• pp.239-244
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• 2014

This research was carried out for the purpose of providing basic data to establish a policy for improving health and medical service inequality in the disabled's households, by analyzing it according to composed groups through the application of data about the panel survey of the employment for the disabled, from 2010 to 2012. The results of analysis showed that as for Gini's coefficient, disabled women, the disabled without participation in economic activities, the disabled in their 40s, physically handicapped people and severely disabled people had more and more inequality in expenditure of health care expenses, and inequality in North Gyeongsang Province continued to be on the rise. As for the entropy coefficient, disabled women, the disabled without participation in economic activities, the mentally disabled and severely disabled people had more and more inequality in consumption of health care, and the inequality got severe in Ulsan and North Gyeongsang Province. And as for the decomposition of factors by composed group, inequality in health care expenses were higher inside a group than between groups. Based on these results, research limitations and implications were suggested.

• KDI Journal of Economic Policy
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• v.27 no.1
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• pp.1-38
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• 2005

Our paper aims to estimate a household consumption function in the presence of liquidity constraints as well as household characteristics. Empirical findings from a Korean cross-sectional data (National Survey of Household Income and Expenditure) reveal that several family characteristics, such as household size, number of working members, children in school, and educational level and age of the household head, turn out to be critical determinants of household consumption. Especially, the influence of household size on consumption decision is shown to be highly significant, not only indirectly through its impact on household income, but also directly by affecting the household's preference for consumption itself. While, the other family characteristics primarily influences household income. Our paper distinguishes itself from existing literature in that it greatly improves the explanatory power of the estimated household consumption function by measuring the degree of the liquidity constraint rather than simply identifying its presence. Based on the assumption that the present value of human capital is a function of household characteristics, the degree of the liquidity constraint is represented by the underestimated portion of the human capital. Such a method of implementing the liquidity constraint is useful in treating various types of assets according to their liquidity. Finally, our estimated household consumption function is applied to decompose cross-sectional variances of consumption inequality. The analysis confirms that the overall alleviation in liquidity constraints in Korea after the 1997 currency crisis reduced consumption inequality despite the worsening of income inequality and changes in the demographic composition of family characteristics during the same period.

• Journal of Labour Economics
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• v.37 no.3
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• pp.1-44
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• 2014

This paper investigates the effect of household formation on the mapping from wage inequality to income inequality, which usually is smaller than the former. Added workers, income pooling among household members, and shared consumption are the factors that make income distribution less inequal than wage distribution, and the effect of income pooling appears to be the greatest. This suggests than the increase in nuclear families and the resulting increase of old families have a potential effect of worsening income inequality at the absence of sufficient private income transfers among the two households. A simple counter-factual estimate indicates that income pooling among the children's and parents' households can efficiently and sizeably reduce income inequality.

• Korean Journal of Social Welfare Studies
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• v.44 no.2
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• pp.437-463
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• 2013

As polarization and class reproduction between generations are considered to be serious problems in Korean society, increasing number of assortative mating, which means marrying between homogeneous family background, income class, and educational background, is on the spotlight socially. Some worry that the increase of assortative mating can reinforce closure of social mobility so it deepens inequality and limits class mobility between generations. This research analyzes the effects of accomplishment characteristics of husbands and wives and ascriptive characteristics of parents which consist the concept of assortative mating, on income, consumption, and assets those represent economic status of a family. The purpose of this research is to suggest empirical understanding on the role of assortative mating that affect on inequality within generations and income mobility between generations in Korean society. In the result of multiple regression analysis on the effect of assortative mating on income, consumption, and assets, high educational background was the factor that increase income and consumption level as accomplishment characteristics of assortative mating. As ascriptive characteristics of assortative mating, educational homogeneous of fathers was the factor that increased asset level. While accomplishment characteristics affect income and consumption, ascriptive characteristics of homogeneous had significant effect on assets. Thus, it was found that transfer between generations had effects around asset rather than income. In particular, ascriptive characteristics in young husbands and wives aged 20s or 30s had significant effect only on the assets.