• Health Policy and Management
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• v.31 no.3
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• pp.364-373
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• 2021

Background: This study aims to examine the regressiveness of national health insurance (NHI) premium burdens for local subscribers. The government has established a restructuring of health insurance contributions in 2017. Therefore, insurance premium reform began in 2018 and the second national health insurance premium reform will be carried out in 2022. We will analyze local subscribers before and after the policy reform of 2018. Methods: This study used data from 'local premium imposition elements' in the health insurance statistics annual reports (2017-2019) on National Health Insurance Service (NHIS). This study was calculated contribution rates according to levels of income and property for local insured by the method of comparing. Simulations of primary and secondary reforms were conducted in the study to determine regressiveness. Results: Insurance premiums for local subscribers were analyzed separately by income and property insurance premiums. In the income premium analysis, the higher the income, the lower the premium rate, and then the fixed rate was maintained from a certain section. The regressiveness of income insurance premiums has been eased in part. On the other hand, the property insurance premium burden was found to be regressive still by income class. Conclusion: Regressiveness analysis showed that a decrease in income contributions was achieved to local insured in the first phase of reform. But in the second phase of reform, more consideration should be given to reductions of property premium portions of local subscribers. Based on the results, the author suggested policy discussions to reorganizing the new systems of NHI contribution of local Insured.

• Journal of Family Resource Management and Policy Review
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• v.12 no.1
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• pp.57-89
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• 2008

Using the data of 'middle-and old-aged people' in the 6th year(2003) of KLIPS(Korea Labor and Income Panel Study), this study compared entirely retired men's income source and amount of income divided by the time of retirement and analyzed the determinants of main income source and amount of income level using Multinomial Logit Analysis and Tobit Analysis. The results of these were as following; First, Entirely retired men has average 1.27 income source and the amount of income from main income source is positioned at 85% of total income. This result indicates the lack of variety to get opportunities of income sources for the living and also means high risk associated with the entirely retired men if he looses the main income source. Second, most of income source of entirely retired men is spouse's earned income or private income transfers, however, if we divide those as timing of retirement and characters of each individual, it is represented that the most of income source is differentiated by the position at labor market during work life and the opportunity for building the wealth, and the possibility of obtaining public pension and public support. Third, the income level depends on what sort of income source the retired men has, this shows that there is not a strong relationship between obtaining a Income source and gaining above the certain level of income.

• Health Policy and Management
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• v.19 no.2
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• pp.85-110
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• 2009

The aim of this study was to examine whether health status is different according to employment status and income level in wage-earners. We analyzed wage-earners of 2199 men and 1194 women aged 30-64 years, using data from the 2006 Korean Labor and Income Panel Study(KLIPS). The difference of health status according to employment status and income level was compared with the multiple logistic regression and the standardized concentration index of ill-health. The risk of ill-health was high when waged-earners had low income. The same is true for poor employment status when their employment status was unstable as in manual laborers, irregular workers, temporary, daily workers or part-time workers. furthermore, the wage-earners with lower income and a relatively disadvantageous employment status showed the lowest health status compared to other groups. Ill-health was relatively more concentrated in lower income group and poor employment status. This study identified the existence of health inequality among various employment status of wage-earners. It is suggested that policies that deal with the inequality in social class may have an important impact on the health of the population.

• The Journal of Asian Finance, Economics and Business
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• v.7 no.5
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• pp.111-118
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• 2020

This paper examines the impacts of credit on income inequality in Vietnam. Though it is one of the most common measures of financial development, there is a dearth of research in this area. Unlike previous studies, the paper disaggregates the impact of each type of credit on income inequality, looking at the Gini coefficient. We employ the Generalized Method of Moment (GMM) to solve the endogenous problem. The primary data set contains a panel of 60 Provincial observations, from data collected from the General Statistics Office of Vietnam from 2002 to 2016. The empirical findings show that, while commercial credit increases income inequality, policy credit contributes to reducing income inequality in Vietnam. The results also confirm the important roles of education, institutional quality and foreign direct investment in fighting against income inequality in Vietnam. However, the paper does not provide adequate evidence to support the inverted U-shaped relationship between credit and income inequality. Based on the findings, we argue that the government should direct flows of credit to real economic activities rather than speculative investment; more bank credit should be allocated to rural areas and agriculture; and favorable credit programs should be designed to promote education, especially of those living in rural areas.

• Agribusiness and Information Management
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• v.8 no.2
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• pp.16-21
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• 2016

The interest in convenience food has increased over the years. Many researchers have tried to discover what factors affect the consumption of convenience food. Despite the diversity of studies, few studies emphasize a household's income. The aim of this article is to identify the different consumption patterns between upper, middle, and lower income brackets. Generally, households with higher income consumed more convenience food or the relationship was not significant. However, many convenience foods are regarded as nutritionally unbalanced and have a lower quality. So, the hypothesis cannot be easily confirmed because there are tradeoffs not only between health, as nutrition balance and cost, but also health and convenience. Thus, there is a need to indicate the divergent attributes of buying convenience food in a distinct income group. In addition, the convenience food is subdivided into two distinct categories: convenience food as a substitution for a whole meal (unhealthy) and substitution as part of a diet (healthy). We found that higher income groups purchase healthier convenience food while lower income groups purchase unhealthier convenience food. Also there are distinct attributes that influence the consumption of healthy and unhealthy convenience food.

• Health Policy and Management
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• v.25 no.3
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• pp.240-251
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• 2015

Background: Dentist's income is quite variable. We investigate the factors underlying the distribution of dental revenue and dentist income. Methods: Financial and structural variables of private dental practices(N=13,967) were examined with 2010 Economic Census microdata which include non-insurance revenue. We conducted quantile regression method(QRM) and ordinary least square(OLS) in treating skewness and heteroskedasticity of distributions. The effective estimation for the upper and lower range of distribution becomes possible by QRM. Results: Mid-career dentists are shown to have higher revenue and income. Male dentists achieve the higher revenue and income than female dentists in all quantiles. Group practices show lower income per owner than solo practices significantly. The revenue and income are increased with increasing size of clinics. The high cost in renting the clinic office is found to have a big positive effect on the revenue but a little positive effect on the income. Interestingly the density of dentists shows negative effect on the lowest quantile of the revenue but positive effect on the highest quantile. The lowest quantile of the revenue in the capital areas have the relatively high revenue. The lowest quantile of the income in metropolitan city show higher income than those in other areas significantly. Conclusion: The suggested QRM is shown to have more effective and efficient tool in finding out determinants of dentists' revenue and income of our concern. The results of this study are expected to be employed for dentists preparing for the opening practices in their organizational settings and locational selections. The distributional efficiency of dental human resources could be accomplished if policy makers guide dentists with this knowledge.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Food Culture
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• v.29 no.4
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• pp.342-347
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• 2014

This survey was conducted to investigate consumer preferences for branded and imported pork, including favorite cooking styles. Data were collected from a total of 252 consumers and analyzed. The results are summarized as follows. Consumers of branded pork showed a moderate preference "moderate" (54%). There was no significant difference in consumer preference for branded pork according to educational level or living area. However, there was a significant difference according to yearly income (p<0.05). Consumers in the high-income group preferred branded pork more than those in the low-income group. Most consumers did not like imported pork (64.6%). There was no significant difference in consumer preference for imported pork according to educational level or living area, whereas there was in the yearly income group (p<0.05). Whereas low-income consumers did not like imported pork, high-income consumers did. The royalty for purchasing of branded pork was shown "3.65" out of 5 points. Whereas there was no significant difference according to educational level, there was for living area and yearly income (p<0.05). Consumers living in large cities or having low income showed high royalty of purchase for branded pork. The royalty for purchase of imported pork was "2.08" out of 5 points. Significant differences for purchase royalty of imported pork were observed according to educational level, living area, and yearly income group (p<0.05). Consumers responded that they liked roasted pork (47.6%). Secondly, consumers liked stew (16.7%). There were no significant differences among various cooking styles in any of the groups.

• Health Policy and Management
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• v.28 no.1
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• pp.95-97
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• 2018

Catastrophic health expenditure refers to when a household spends more than 40 percent of disposable income for out-of-pocket-expenses for healthcare. This study investigates the percentage of South Korean household which experienced the catastrophic health expenditure between 2006 and 2016 with the National Survey of Tax and Benefit and the Household Income and Expenditure Survey data. Percentage of households with the catastrophic health expenditure and tread tests were conducted with weight variable. The results of the National Survey of Tax and Benefit and the Household Income and Expenditure Survey showed 2.17% and 2.92% of households experienced the catastrophic health expenditure in 2016. In trend analysis, the National Survey of Tax and Benefit showed a statistically significant decreasing trend in the proportion of households with the catastrophic health expenditure (annual percentage change [APC]=-4.03, p<0.0001). However, the Household Income and Expenditure Survey revealed a statistically significant increasing trend (APC=1.43, p<0.0001). In conclusion, this study suggests that optimal healthcare alternatives are needed for the catastrophic health expenditure and monitoring low-income households.

• Journal of Agricultural Extension & Community Development
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• v.28 no.2
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• pp.69-83
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• 2021

Under the premise of unbalanced development between urban and rural areas, this study raised criticism that the balanced national development policies in South Korea, which had been promoted in earnest after 'the Participatory Government' has adversely deepened the development gap between urban and rural areas by promoting the development of urban. In the meantime, the agricultural economy that supported the rural economy has gradually collapsed after reckless market opening, and due to the balanced national development policy focusing on urban infrastructure construction, rural areas are facing a crisis of 'depopulation' and 'regional extinction.' For this reason, many local governments have recently recognized the public values of agriculture and have introduced 'agrarian basic income' for the sustainability of agriculture. However, there is a limit to overcoming the crisis in rural areas because the population of farmers among rural residents is only 25%. Therefore, this study proposes the necessity of introducing the basic income for rural residents as a new paradigm for balanced development between urban and rural areas beyond the existing policy limits, based on surveys of opinions of residents living in Chungchengnam-do, South Korea and experts on the introduction of 'basic income for rural residents' in the future.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.53 no.6
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• pp.439-446
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• 2020

Objectives: This study analyzed the associations of hypertension (HTN) with symptoms and diagnosis of depression by income level among Korean adults. Methods: This study was based on the 2010-2017 Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey data; a total of 29 425 adults (aged 20 years or older) were analyzed. HTN was defined as a systolic blood pressure ≥140 mmHg, diastolic blood pressure ≥90 mmHg, or use of hypertensive medications. Depression symptoms were evaluated based on a questionnaire about depression-related symptoms. A depression diagnosis was defined based on questionnaire responses indicating that a participant had been diagnosed with depression. Household income was divided into higher or lower income ranges based on the median income of the participants. Multiple logistic regression analyses were performed to assess the associations between HTN and depression symptoms/diagnosis in the higher-income and lower-income groups. Results: In the higher-income group, the odds ratio (OR) for the association between HTN and depression symptoms was 1.15 (95% confidence interval [CI], 0.97 to 1.37), and the OR for the association between HTN and depression diagnosis was 1.41 (95% CI, 1.13 to 1.76). In the lower-income group, the OR for the association between HTN and depression symptoms was 1.18 (95% CI, 1.04 to 1.34), whereas the OR for the association between HTN and depression diagnosis was 0.82 (95% CI, 0.70 to 0.97). Conclusions: The associations of HTN with symptoms and diagnosis of depression differed by income level.