• Journal of Labour Economics
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• v.30 no.3
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• pp.103-138
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• 2007

The purpose of this study is: (1) to compare the awareness of inequality concept between Korea and other countries using the survey, (2) to identify whether several inequality measures, which have diverse concepts, are different in empirical aspect, and (3) to suggest the direction for the income distribution policy in Korea. The results of the survey has shown a surprising fact in that the majority of respondents do not agree with the basic assumptions outlined by Gini coefficient, which is the relative inequality measures that had been generally accepted in the past. These results are very similar to those of other countries. However, the major difference with other countries is that the Koreans feel that absolute income inequality-the income gap between the poor and rich, has increased more than relative income inequality, when all incomes of social members are doubled. From the result it is difficult to say that the bi-polarization index is different from Gini coefficient in statistical aspect although it has different theoretical background. The national development strategy should seek to promote "the pro-poor growth" since the change of inequality affect differently on the change of growth and inequality depending on whether the inequality change is relative or absolute.

• KDI Journal of Economic Policy
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• v.28 no.2
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• pp.199-237
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• 2006

The relationship between growth and distribution, which has been revealed through many empirical evidences, is that growth is distribution neutral on average and high asset inequality could be a hindrance of economic growth. The growth versus distribution dichotomy is false, as poverty reduction requires blending policy of growth and distribution both theoretically and empirically. At this present, the pro-poor growth policy, which has been recommended by the World Bank, should be urgently needed in Korea to achieve the reduction of absolute poverty through the harmony between growth and distribution. However, it is not easy to expect the reduction of absolute poverty if the Korean government, in means of reducing absolute inequality, pursues anti-polarization policy. Specifically, we cannot deny the existence of negative correlation between absolute poverty and absolute inequality on average.

• Korean Journal of Social Welfare Studies
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• v.41 no.1
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• pp.65-84
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• 2010

The purpose of Inequality Index Decomposition is to know the cause of overall inequality through decomposing aggregate inequality index into relevant components. Previous studies have mostly focused on the absolute contribution meaning that how much each component possesses out of overall inequality. However it could be more important to know the marginal contribution and inequality effect of each component in order to implement policies reducing overall inequality effectively. For this, we decomposed Gini Coefficient as representative inequality index into income sources or social welfare programs and calculated each Gini Income Elasticity(GIE). Analysis result says that regular employee income and employer(or the self-employed) income, of which GIE are 1.205 and 1.867, are classified as inequality-increasing income source. GIE can be one of good methods to analyse the inequality effect of various income sources and social welfare programs.

• Korean Journal of Labor Studies
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• v.23 no.2
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• pp.47-77
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• 2017

This paper analyzes the changes in wage inequality and its contributing factors since the mid-2000s. Although trends vary by data and wage indices, the Gini coefficient of the total wage of all workers shows an increasing trend due to the part-time increase of less than 35 hours per week, while the wage Gini coefficient of hourly wages and the total wage Gini coefficient of full-time workers showed a declining trend. Part-time increases have increased inequality based on total wages, but part-time hourly wage increases can be considered to have reduced hourly wage inequality. Therefore, as a result of decomposing the factor of Gini coefficient reduction only for full-time workers, factors that contributed absolutely to inequality reduction were variables such as job tenure, career, and occupation, and employment type variable has little effects, and the establishment size variable deepens inequality. The variables such as industry, age, and education did not contribute significantly to the inequality change. This is attributed to the decline in wage premiums for job tenure and management and professional jobs and the increase in wage premiums for large-scale businesses.

• Korean Journal of Legislative Studies
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• v.23 no.2
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• pp.5-36
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• 2017

"The Candle Revolution" impeached the Park government and elected the Moon government. The candlelight protesters demonstrated public anger associated with accumulated corruption and deep-rooted irregularities. Complete political reform is required to perform deep fundamental reform. It aims to transform democracy in a way that is more inclusive. Inclusive democracy contributes to making welfare state stronger. Inclusive democracy is made possible by proportional representation that allows progressive parties more seats and leverages. Proportional representation systems are characterized by higher degrees of redistribution and larger welfare state. Constitutional reform has to be focused on introducing parliamentary government. "Imperialistic" presidential system in Korea has no mechanism of checks and balances which are key characteristics of presidential systems. It has failed to attend the poverty and social inequality arising from globalization and neoliberal change since 2000s. Parliamentary government is supposed to deliver social policy when parties are more disciplined than in presidential system where political parties remain weak.

• Korean Journal of Social Welfare
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• v.56 no.4
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• pp.57-78
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• 2004

The economic crisis in $1997{\sim}1998$ caused massive unemployment and unprecedentedly increased the number of the poor in Korea. As many unemployed families fell into poverty, the poverty rate skyrocketed to higher than 10 percent. Not later than 2000, unemployment late got back to normal and real average income among urban households approached to the income level prior to the economic crisis. Although the economic crisis has been passed through, poverty was not decreased to the low level prior to the crisis by 2000. Why does it remain high? This study attempts to provide an answer to this question by analysing the poverty trend over the 1990s. Data come from the National Survey of Household Income and Expenditures 1991, 1996, and 20001. Results show that poverty was rapidly reduced in the first half period of the 1990s. This reduction in poverty is largely explained by steady and rapid economic growth. Modest improvement in income inequality also contributed. In contrast, the poverty rate considerably increased in the latter half of the 1990s. Average income was not fully recovered to its prior level, which reflected the economic crisis and the subsequent economic stagnation. Worsened income inequality led to higher poverty rate too. In addition, demographic changes increased the share of economically vulnerable types of families, such as families headed by single parents and the elderly. The most significant factor in explaining the higher poverty rate was extended income differential among non-elderly adults, while the next was the increased number of the elderly families. Yet, findings a little differ depending on which concepts of poverty to adopt. In the analyses based on the concept of absolute poverty, economic growth the most significantly affected the poverty trends in the 1999s. Changes in income inequality played the most important role in explaining the trend in relative poverty. Adopting the concepts of quasi-absolute poverty, which is preferred in this study, results show that rapid economic growth significantly reduced poverty in the first half of the 1990s and both worsened income inequality and stagnated economic growth increased poverty in the latter 1990s.

• Korean Journal of Social Welfare Studies
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• v.41 no.3
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• pp.185-212
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• 2010

This study simulates the effects of basic income on income redistribution in Korea, and compares the redistribution effects of basic income models with the effect of the current welfare system. Using the Korea Welfare Panel Study(2008), absolute/relative poverty rate, poverty gap ratio, gini coefficients are measured. As a result of simulation, the basic income models reduced poverty more effectively than the current system. And among the three basic income models, the basic income model combined with flat-rate tax reduced poverty more effectively. And the basic income model combined with progressive tax reduced inequality more effectively. The results of the study reported in this paper confirm the paradox of redistribution which suggest that the effect of universal welfare program on redistribution is the most noticeable.

• Journal of the Economic Geographical Society of Korea
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• v.17 no.3
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• pp.502-516
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• 2014

This study has decomposed the Gini coefficient using Korean Labor & Income Panel Study data and empirically analyzed the impact of demographic characteristics and source-specific income of householder on the household income gap using panel analysis. The scope of areas were divided into 'nationwide,' 'metropolitan areas,' and 'non-metropolitan areas,' and the period before and after the global financial crisis was examined. The analysis findings are as follows. First, when the entire period was examined by income source using Gini decomposition with division of areas into 'nationwide,' 'metropolitan areas,' and 'non-metropolitan areas', the following results were revealed. The absolute and relative contribution level of property income to the gross income was the largest in the category of 'nationwide' and 'metropolitan areas,' while the contribution level of earned income was the largest in the category of 'non-metropolitan areas'. In addition, property income worsened the household income gap the most in the category of 'nationwide' and 'metropolitan areas.' Second, property income worsened the household income gap less after the financial crisis than before the crisis. It is probably because the price of real estate skyrocketed before the global financial crisis, worsening the household income gap, whereas the price drop after the crisis temporarily alleviated the gap. Third, a correlation analysis revealed that households with older householders whose education is high school graduation or below had relatively low gross income, and households with higher source-specific income, especially earned income, had relatively high gross income. Fourth, when the household income determinants were compared through panel analysis with division of areas into 'nationwide,' 'metropolitan areas,' and 'non-metropolitan areas,' the following results were obtained. While the impact of earned income, financial income, and other incomes was greater in non-metropolitan areas than in metropolitan areas, the impact of property income was greater in metropolitan areas than in non-metropolitan areas. To reduce the income gap, the government should impose higher taxes on the high-income class and provide tax benefits to the low-income class, with efforts to create a wide variety of jobs. In addition, since income inequality gets worse as the proportion of incomes generated through asset holdings becomes higher, the government should focus on stabilizing property prices while paying attention to the regional differentiation when carrying out related policies.

• Journal of Digital Convergence
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• v.16 no.12
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• pp.77-86
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• 2018

This study was carried out by using the concentration index calculation method from 1996 to 2016 by using the household trend survey data to confirm the difference of income transfer income and inequality in public transfer income. The main results are as follows. First, the public transfer income concentration index in 1996 was concentrated on the high income group with +0.2774, but since 2009, the concentration index has been negative (-), which has concentrated on the low income group. However, the effect of redistribution of income was small. Second, the average public transfer income of low - income households increased significantly while the number of high income earners decreased. It is gradually improving that public transfer income did not play a role in the improvement of income inequality. Third, public transfer income has been continuously increasing in all income classes, and the rate of increase is low in the low income class and slow in the high income class, so the public transfer income of the low income class is higher than that of the high income class. In sum, the inequality of public transfer income by income class in Korea is gradually improving, but it is not considered to be a level that can improve the inequality between income groups.

• Journal of Digital Convergence
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• v.16 no.5
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• pp.75-84
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• 2018

The purpose of this study was to analyze the regional distribution of the number of social welfare facilities per 100,000 population by using the concentration index(CI) and to evaluate the relationship with the local welfare environment. The results of the analysis are as follows. First, the distribution of social welfare facilities between urban and rural area were distributed in rural areas. And concentration of rural area was gradually decreasing. Second, the concentration index of the social welfare institution was calculated as the negative index. Therefore, social welfare facilities are concentrated in rural areas. However, the absolute value of concentration index decreased. Finally, there are many social welfare facilities in areas with poor economic conditions, low incomes, low welfare budget input, and poor social demolition indicators. In the future, the relationship between inequality of regional distribution of welfare resources and the relationship between local welfare environment should be continuously monitored.