• Korean Journal of Social Welfare
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• v.64 no.2
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• pp.185-212
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• 2012

This study examines changes in income inequality and income mobility associated with a transition to old age. In understanding the dynamics of income distribution over the later life course, it is important to explore the changes in income dispersion and the changes in relative income positions jointly. Data come from Korean Labor and Income Panel Study(KLIPS) 2nd, 7th, 12th wave. The results are as follows. First, a transition to old age is associated with an increase in income inequality. The Gini index of inequality increased steadily over the life course. Second, a transition to old age is associated with substantial income mobility. The Spearman's rank correlation coefficient between two periods was the lowest at the time of the transition. Increasing income dispersion and significant income mobility can be conceptualized as "income insecurity", since the older population are less likely to cope with income fluctuations. Third, in explaining such changes over time, changes in work life during old age and a subsequent decrease in earnings seem to be the most influential factor.

• Korea journal of population studies
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• v.25 no.1
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• pp.33-50
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• 2002

This study examines cross-national patterns of asymmetry of marriage tables with respect to educational level and tries to measure the degree of gender inequality across nations. A Primary assumption of the study is that gender inequality inhibits symmetric marriage between men and women. As men and women differ more in status, the rate of symmetric marriage between them declines thus producing asymmetric marriage with respect to social status. More specifically, the main object of the study is to develop statistical models and index with which to assess the patterns and degree of asymmetric marriage. Additionally, it is intended to assess the appropriateness of several theoretical perspectives for explaining these variations identified by the statistical models. Two most important such perspectives are industrialism and theory of politics and culture. To answer these questions, this study relies on twenty-seven marriage tables with respect to educational level, some from published tables, and some extracted from other sources. The main findings of the study are: (1) compared to less industrialized countries, more industrialized countries have lower degrees of asymmetric marriage(gender inequality) with respect to educational level, and (2) other things being equal, differences in politics and culture seem to have the some impact on marriage pattern; for instance, social democracy and state socialism reduce the degree of asymmetric marriage while the high emphasis on gender-based hierarchy in Asian countries seems to increase it In short, these results suggest a weaker or modified version of industrialists That is, while with economic growth most nations show a decline in the degrees of asymmetric marriage with respect to social status, for some nations the degrees of asymmetric marriage are affected by their specific politics or cultures.

• Journal of the Economic Geographical Society of Korea
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• v.26 no.3
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• pp.289-309
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• 2023

While South Korea's universal healthcare system has garnered attention in public health, the issue of inequality in healthcare service provision among different age groups has incessantly become a significant concern. The focus of this concern is primarily on essential healthcare services, encompassing fundamental aspects of healthcare such as internal medicine, family medicine, and pediatric and adolescent care. This inequality is not limited to differences among age groups (both junior and senior demographics) but also extends to potential disparities in healthcare services based on geographic location, particularly in urban and rural contexts. This paper aims to investigate disparities in primary healthcare service resources in South Korea's evolving economic landscape between 1995 and 2021. We utilize a set of inequality indices with a spatial perspective through geographic cluster analysis. The findings reveal that concerns about inequality have been amplified during various economic events, including the IMF crisis in 1999, the global financial crisis in 2008, and the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. These years are identified as significant phases that have contributed to manifesting spatial disparities in primary healthcare provisions, with a particular emphasis on the senior-aged population rather than junior or all population groups. Our findings underscore the pressing need to address the unequal distribution of essential healthcare resources as part of preparedness for potential economic impacts, requiring a comprehensive consideration of the interconnected nature of demographic and spatial dimensions in healthcare services.

• 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.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.38 no.3
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• pp.267-275
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• 2005

Evidence on the relation of socioeconomic position (SEP) with health and illness is mounting in South Korea. Several unlinked studies and individually linked studies (longitudinal study) showed a graded inverse relationship between SEP and mortality among South Korean males and females. Based on the mortality relative ratios by occupational class reported in the published papers of South Korea and western countries, the magnitude of the socioeconomic inequality in mortality in South Korea seems to be similar to or even greater than that in western industrialized countries. A potential contribution of health related selection, health behaviors and psychosocial factors to explain this socioeconomic inequality in mortality was discussed. It was suggested that early life exposure measures would demonstrate a greater ability to explain socioeconomic inequalities in all-cause mortality than the above pathway variables in South Korea. This is based on the cause-specific structure of mortality among the South Korean population who have a relatively greater proportion of stomach cancer, hemorrhagic stroke, liver cancer and liver disease, and tuberculosis, which share early life exposures as important elements of their etiology, than western countries. However, the relative contribution of early and later life socioeconomic conditions in producing socioeconomic inequality in health may differ according to the outcome, thus remains to be investigated.

• East Asian Economic Review
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• v.25 no.4
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• pp.361-401
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• 2021

This paper sets up a two agent small open economy with monopolistically competitive firms and catching up with the Joneses to investigate the labor and capital Laffer curve, taking into account aging population along the line of Auray et al. (2016), Galí and Monacelli (2005), and Trabandt and Uhlig (2011). The paper finds that the higher the market power of firms is, the larger the consumption inequality between asset holders and non-asset holders is in the economy with aging population. It also finds that there is room for government to increase the tax revenue by raising tax rates under the economy with higher markup, as households will work more hours to compensate for their loss of labor income to tax hikes. The expected maximum tax revenue is likely to shrink with progressive taxations, since non-asset holders with additional dividend income work less and consume more. The paper finds that the fiscal multiplier decreases with the degree of progressive redistribution.

• Health Policy and Management
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• v.6 no.1
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• pp.110-143
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• 1996

The purpose of this study is to assess the extent of inequality in health outcomes and the distribution of health services according to health need under National Health Insurance System in Korea. For the empirical analysis, data were collected through an interview survey during one month of October, 1994. Interview were conducted with a total of 10, 875 of the employees and the self-employed selected through cluster, systematic sampling. The major findings of this research are as follows: 1. The analysis of the differentials in morbidity rates by socio-economic group showed that health inequality in the pro-higher groups existed in all self-reported morbidity indicators. 2. The findings of the conventional use measures showed that the lower socio-economic groups had more ambulatory and inpatient services than the higher groups. In contrast to the level of the medical care utilization, however, the higher socio-economic groups were more likely to use the high-quality source of care in terms of their treatment place compared to the lower groups. 3. By using the need-based use measures, the results were different from each use-disability ration indicator. Using the use-disability ration measured by physician visits per 100 restricted-activity days in the population, it was found that there was no evidence favoring the higher socio-economic groups. In contrast, the use-disability ration based on physician visits per a chronic patient in one year displayed that there was remarkable relative difference by income group as well as the evidence of the pro-higher income groups. 4. The results of logistic regression analysis and two-stage estimation method indicated that although the utilization is significantly affected by type and duration of insurance coverage, the use or nonuse of service and the volume of physician care consumed is determined by health need and demographic characteristics rater than economic status. In sum, these findings suggest that physician service is equitably distributed according to health need under national health insurance system in Korea. As there were some evidences of inequality including the differential in physician visits of chronic patients by income group, however, the government should strengthen the activities to guarantee the equity of health services utilization.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.40 no.5
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• pp.381-387
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• 2007

Objectives: This study was conducted in order to determine how the association between socioeconomic position(SEP) and health status changes with age among Seoul residents aged 25 and over. Methods: We utilized the 2001 and 2005 Seoul Citizens Health Indicators Surveys. We used self-rated 'poor' health status as an outcome variable, and family income as an indicator of SEP. In order to characterize the differential effects of socioeconomic position on health by age, we conducted separate multivariate analyses by 10-year age groups, controlling for sociodemographic covariates. In order to assess the relative health inequality across socioeconomic groups, we estimated the Relative Index of Inequality (RII). Results: The risk of 'poor health' is significantly high in low family income groups, and this increased risk is seen at all ages. However, the magnitude of relative socioeconomic inequality in health, as measured by the odds ratio and RII, is not identical across age groups. The difference in health across income groups is small in early adulthood (ages 25-34), but increases with age until relatively late in life (ages 35-64). It then decreases among the elderly population (ages more than 65). When the RII reported in 2005 is compared to that reported in 2001, RII can be seen to have increased across all ages, with the exception of individuals aged 25-34. Conclusions: The magnitude of health inequality is the greatest during mid- to late adulthood (ages 45-64). In addition, health inequalities have worsened between 2001 and 2005 across all age groups after economic crisis.

• KIEAE Journal
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• v.17 no.1
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• pp.29-36
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• 2017

Purpose: Residential differentiation is often considered to be one of the social problems that intensify urban inequality. The purpose of the study was to analyze the changes in the Gwangju urban landscape due to foreign inflows after reviewing the different frameworks about the causes of residential segregation and verifying compliance through case analysis. Method: This study analyzed the increase of Gwangju Foreign Population based on the data of the Statistics Korea and derived the concentrated areas of foreign population using GIS program. Then through the field research around the target areas, the changes of urban landscape by the foreign residents was analyzed. The foreign population in Korea recently surpassed 1.5 million is expected to increase further, and has already raised numerous social issues especially in urban area. Result: Therefore, basic and systematic analyses on foreign population and its impacts on urban residential landscape are necessary to resolve the issues. Since Gwangju is also in a similar situation, this research is first, to address the current situation and identify the problem, and then to suggest the directions for resolving them. It is also expected to be helpful provide a basic reference for related further researches.

• Communications for Statistical Applications and Methods
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• v.8 no.1
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• pp.185-192
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• 2001

Using the Lorenz curve that is proved to be a powerful tool to measure the income inequality within a population of income receivers, we propose the normalized sample Lorenz curve for the goodness-of-fit test that is very important test in statistical analysis. For two hodgkin's disease data sets, we compare the Q-Q plot and the proposed normalized sample Lorenz curve.