• International Journal of Human Ecology
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• v.7 no.2
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• pp.53-62
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• 2006

The purpose of this study is to examine the changes in financial structure of the self-employed brought on the economic crisis in Korea.. We use financial ratio analysis, such as income to expenditure ratio, liquidity ratio, debt ratio, and capital accumulation ratio to analyze financial well-being of self-employed households. This study used a 1997 and 1998 Korean Household Panel Study collected by Daewoo Economic Research Institute. The average amount of holding of each type of asset showed that the investment of self-employed households decreased in the banking industry and the stock market in 1998 compared to 1997. On the other hand, asset allocation in bond and real estate increased, which implied preference for a stable type of asset with the increase in uncertainty of the future and economic instability. Devaluation of real estate allowed households to easily obtain real estate and increase preference for asset allocation in real estate after the crisis. The changes in financial ratio for the year 1998 shows that such ratios as income to expenditure, liquidity, and capital accumulation, decreased compared to the year 1997. Among those ratios, the income to expenditure ratio showed the biggest decline because of reduced income of self employed households. The results implied that the income structure of the self-employed is unstable, thus the self-employed were likely to be greatly affected during the economic downturn. Earners have more average income and net assets than the self-employed. However, using financial ratios, it was found that self-employed households were more stable than employees. The results shows that the financial ratio analysis is better tool to estimate households financial status. Implications for financial educators, counselors, and planners are offered. The results will provide implications for policy makers to establish appropriate policies for the self-employed and help them financially survive.

• 사회경제평론
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• no.38
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• pp.241-259
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• 2012

This paper reviews four different kinds of currency crisis models proposed to explain the Korean crisis of 1997 to examine which model is more relevant to explain the Korean crisis of 2008. According to the author's investigation, the 'Frenkel-Neftci' cycle is more relevant model to interpret the Korean crisis of 2008. In 2008, spreads opened due to, first, high interest rate policy by the Korean government aimed to suppress real estate price increase, and, second, the expectation about exchange rate appreciation, and thirdly stock market returns after recovering the crisis. Then the international capital market catastrophe due to the subprime crises produced the sudden change of expectation of the market participants. Huge capital outflows resulted from the credit crunch in the international capital markets, and the possibility of exchange rate depreciation by the Korean government to promote exports in the course of the global recession.

• Journal of The Korean Society of Clinical Toxicology
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• v.3 no.1
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• pp.33-39
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• 2005

Purpose: Nowadays the Korean society is in the center of time of the social change. Because of dissociation of traditional family, IMF (International Monetary Fund) crisis and economic recession, the mortality rate of suicidal attempts are increasing annually. The majority of suicidal attempts were by poisoning considering the characteristics of korean society. Therefore we studied to find out the characteristics of suicidal poisoning before and after social economic stress, and to suggest the direction for the proper management. Methods: We reviewed medical records of 547 patients of suicide by poisoning who visited the emergency medical centers of St. Mary's hospitals from 1997 to 2004. For the annual trends analysis, we analyzed the demographic and toxicologic data of these patients compared with before and after IMF crisis (1998) and the economic recession ($2003\~2004$). Results: At the time of IMF and the economic recession, the number of suicidal poisoning increased, especially in fifth decade. The refusal rate of toxicological emergency treatment increased. Also the mortality rate and the admission rate to ICU (Intensive Care Unit) increased during the same period. In the result of the comparison analysis, clinical severity and mortality of social problem group were higher. However they couldn't be treated appropriately because of financial problem and the family indifference. Conclusion: At the economic recession period, the severity of suicidal poisoned patients was high. But the refusal rate of toxicologic treatment also increased, so the patients had lost the chance for proper toxicologic treatment. Therefore they would be supported by medical institution and public health.

• Journal of the Economic Geographical Society of Korea
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• v.3 no.1
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• pp.53-81
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• 2000

Between 1980 and 1997 the Korean textile and clothing industry (KTCI) experienced the transformation of export-led accumulation regime rooted in domestically-derived price competitiveness into the combination between foreign mass production involving the geographical extension of productive forces and quality strategy based on upgrading technology and automation involved in the domestic market for high quality and price products. This restructuring of the KTCI is rooted at the crisis in the export-led growth regime implemented unity 1980 due to the rapid increase in wage levels by the ‘great labour movement’occurred in 1987. In particular, increased wage and collective bargaining realized through labour empowerment led to the crisis in the conjoin between mass production and mass export based on long working hours and low wage structure. The aim of this paper is to explore the transformation of development modes between 1980 and 1997 that can help us in understanding the fundamental reasons for the restructuring of the KTCI. To this end, the paper identifiles the changing accumulation regimes between 1980 and 1997 mediated by wage-labour relations, inter-firm relations and state-film relations, which are insitutional forms of the modes of regulation.

• Korean journal of communication and information
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• v.50
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• pp.164-186
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• 2010

Korean society, suffered from a severe currency crisis in 1997, had scarcely missed another market meltdown in 2008. However, neither economic fundamentals nor has political stability little to do with the recent crises. This paper thus projects the possibility of 'self-fulfilling crisis' in which the media took a critical part in amplifying 'crisis discourses.' For the purpose of understanding of media's impact on such a crisis, at first, this paper chose 'September Crisis in 2008' as a case study. While collecting news articles about the crisis, then, total 118 news articles collected from mainstream newspapers such as DongA-ilbo and Money Today have been analyzed in terms of media frame and discourse strategies. Research results showed that not only has the crisis discourse been shifted by economic situations, but the media re-constructed economic realities in way of justifying their political ideology and loyal readership. Taking those findings into consideration, in final, the authors urged the media to improve their performance by embracing more responsible and professional manners.

• Korean Journal of Social Welfare
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• v.48
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• pp.82-112
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• 2002

This study investigates the causes of poverty in Korea since the 1997 Economic Crisis by analyzing the composition and characteristics of the poor by the types of families. While the poor largely consisted of disadvantaged groups, such as the aged, the disabled, or the female-headed families before the Crisis, families headed by working-aged and non-disabled adults have represented a larger portion of the entire poor since the Crisis. The higher overall poverty rate in 1998 mainly resulted from the rapid increase in the number of the unemployed and the high poverty rate of their families. In 1999, the larger number of the unemployed poor exited from poverty by getting a job in the labor market, contributing to the reduction in the overall poverty rate. The significant number of families headed by working adults were poor in 1998, and the size of these working poor was not reduced in 1999. The poverty among this group has been caused by lowered wage rates and deteriorating job security. The findings from this study suggest that anti-poverty policies in Korea be improved to provide better income and employment assistance to the non-working poor and, more importantly, be extended to effectively reduce poverty among the working low-income families.

• KDI Journal of Economic Policy
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• v.31 no.2
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• pp.155-194
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• 2009

The Korean economy successfully overcame the macroeconomic downturns driven from the Asian financial crisis in a very short period of time. The economic shock, however, generated a variety of social problems, one of which was the increase in felonies (homicides, robbery, rape, and arson), or degradation of public safety. We argue that the Korean criminal policy has not been effective to ameliorate the rising trends in crime caused by the financial crisis. In order to substantiate this claim, we assess the effectiveness of criminal policy: policing, sentencing, and corrections. First, there has been resource shortage in policing since the 1997 financial crisis. For the past ten years, the investment of human resource and budget in the police has been virtually stagnant, as well as in prosecutors' investigation activities. The insufficient resource allocation in policing caused a huge decline in arrest rates and prosecution rates. Second, the Korean judicial system has not increased the severity of punishment. Comparing the pre- and the post-financial crisis period, the average length of prison sentence by the courts has declined. Given the degrading in the quality of crime and the decreasing amount of inputs into the policing and prosecution, the government should have increased the severity of punishment to deter crime. Third, we found that the government hired more officers and allocated larger budget into prison and probation. However, it is difficult to suggest that the increased level of resources in correctional programs have been effective in preventing released prisoners from committing future crimes. This is because the number of repeat offenders convicted of more than a third offense increased dramatically since 1997, pushing felonies upward. In sum, the government organizations failed to respond respectively or to make coordinated actions, eventually causing a dramatic increase in crimes. This research brings explicit policy implications. In order to prevent possible additional degradation of public safety, the government must put more efforts into increasing the effectiveness of policy and to investing more resources into said policies. We also emphasize the importance of the institutional mechanisms which foster policy coordination among the Police, the Prosecutor's Office, the Ministry of Justice, and other relevant government organizations.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Clothing and Textiles
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• v.36 no.12
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• pp.1285-1296
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• 2012

This study investigates the effects of changes in price, total consumption expenditures and economic sitations on Korean household demands for clothing and footwear using time-series data. The clothing and footwear category was reclassified as clothing, footwear and clothing services items for the demand analysis. This study utilized the Linearized Almost Ideal Demand System (LAIDS) model to analyze household demand. The results indicate that price and total consumption expenditures are significantly related to Korean household consumption expenditure allocations for clothing and footwear items. The effects of the IMF bailout crisis in 1997 and the global financial crisis in 2008 on household expenditure shares for clothing and footwear items were very weak and statistically insignificant. All the demand elasticities were estimated with respect to total consumption expenditures and prices. Clothing was expenditure elastic (greater than one) and other items were classified as inelastic. All the own price elasticities of demands were negative (other than clothing). Through the estimations of cross price elasticity the relationships between the demands for items and other item prices were evaluated (i.e., substitutes and complements).

• Asia-Pacific Journal of Business Venturing and Entrepreneurship
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• v.8 no.3
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• pp.17-26
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• 2013

This research examines the effect of globalization of Korean economy on small and medium-sized entrepreneurial firms. When Korea underwent the Asian economic crisis in 1997, it reconstructed Korean venture industry and had helped fuel venture firms' rapid growth. Therefore, this study shows the changed structure of Korean economy and the change of venture ecosystem due to the Asian financial crisis. In spite of a favorable turn of the industrial structure toward venture firms, their globalization level is reported still being low. In this study, we also examine how the Korean economy's globalization affects to the venture environments, focusing on the degree of Korea venture's globalization and role of venture capital. This study indicates that the globalization of Korean economy has played a positive role in the growth of the venture firms. However, with the growth of venture firms, small and medium venture companies have received relatively little focuses in Korean economy because the government policy of economic development has been oriented to large companies for several decades.

• Journal of the Korean Home Economics Association
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• v.44 no.6 s.220
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• pp.163-174
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• 2006

The purpose of this research was to examine the level and trends in household clothing expenditure in Korea. Raw data sets produced by the National Statistical Office from the Family Income and Expenditure Survey from 1991 to 2004 were used to support time-series and cross-sectional analyses. The clothing expenditures decreased severely and quickly during the economic crisis of late 1997 through 1998, then increased slowly after the economic crisis until 2003, only to slightly decrease again in 2004. The ratio of clothing expenditure to total household expenditure decreased from 8.03% in 1991 to 5.11% in 2004. This decrease in relative clothing expenditure was greater in the lower income group than in the middle and high income groups. Clothing expenditure patterns were unique and differed from other household expenditures. Although the economic crisis in the late 1990s affected Korean consumers' clothing expenditure, clothing expenditure patterns showed a more fundamental and structural change from 1991 to 2004, with the overall decrease in such expenditure resulting from the concurrent increase in educational and information-communication related expenditures. Clothing expenditure was shown to be luxurious through cross-sectional analysis, but necessary through time-series analysis.