• Environmental and Resource Economics Review
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• v.20 no.4
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• pp.827-858
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• 2011

In Korea, various environmentally harmful subsidies are granted in agriculture, fishery, energy, electricity, transportation, steel and shipbuilding industry. Examples include tax-exempt fuel for agriculture & fishery, VAT- exemption for briquette & anthracite, temporary subsidy for fuel, production stabilizing subsidy for coal mining, subsidy for briquette. Korea's yearly total subsidy in energy area is about 5,291 billion won, among them is 4,870 billion won. To reduce air pollutants and to mitigate climate change, Korea has to review the phase-out of environmentally harmful subsidies and the phase-in of environment-friendly subsidy. The reduction or removal of environmentally harmful subsidies will enhance economic efficiency and bring about environmental benefits. Economic efficiency means less use of inputs, which reduces environmental cost and improves social benefits. This paper applies the Shoven and Whalley's model to the Korean economy and analyzes the general equilibrium incidence effects of reforming environmentally harmful subsidies in the energy and electricity in Korea. We consider several counterfactual scenarios in which current environmentally harmful subsidies are reduced or abolished, compare them with the reference case in the economy, and evaluated the change in efficiency costs and distributional incidence of tax reforms related to subsidies.

• Environmental and Resource Economics Review
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• v.27 no.1
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• pp.139-160
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• 2018

Using survey data of selected 1,349 individuals nationwide in Korea, we measure the influencing factors for the acceptance of nuclear power and estimates the probability of acceptance under several scenarios with different percentages of monetary compensation. Results of panel probit demonstrate that nuclear risk aversion tendency was found to be higher in case of female, younger age, past experience of extreme event such as an earthquake. However, the residents' residency nearby the nuclear power plant was not related to the risk-aversion tendency. In addition, we found that the nuclear acceptance is improved when the monetary compensation rate is increased. Although the policy demand intended to reduce GHG emissions in South Korea, the expansion of nuclear power is not be easy due to the occurrence of recent strong earthquakes because the risk attitude of an individual is influenced by subjective assessments formed through direct and indirect experiences of natural disasters such as an earthquake. Our results suggest that the opposition to construction of nuclear power plant is expected to be further intensified especially when combined with the experiences of threatening earthquakes. As a result, the debate and policy conflicts of nuclear power plants will consistently continue and large social costs are apparent for the acceptance of nuclear power plant.

• The Journal of the Korea Contents Association
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• v.17 no.9
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• pp.449-465
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• 2017

Small and medium-sized company workers are ill-prepared for retirement due to low wages and poor working conditions, as result, are likely to get into poverty in retirement. The purpose of this study is to conduct a case study on the current status of financial and non-financial retirement preparation of the small and medium-sized company workers. The main findings are as follows. First, the small and medium-sized company workers show the anxiety about retirement. Many pre-retirees worry that their retirement savings may not generate enough income in retirement, and the level of benefits paid in public pension is inadequate. Second, they are preparing for retirement in the areas of finance, health, working after retirement and social activity. Third, they are realistic and practical in retirement decisions makings. they are considering household budget downsizing, cutting education costs, the low-waged job choice and cash flow preference in retirement. The safety and reality in preparation for retirement are top considerations. In conclusion, this case study shows that pre-retirees of small and medium-sized companies are seeking diverse retirement solutions. We need to design integrated and practical retirement planning programs to support their specific retirement needs.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.18 no.8
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• pp.8-17
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• 2017

Infrastructures such as bridges and tunnels are crucial elements of national economic growth, and sudden collapses may lead to great catastrophes with significant social and economic losses, as well as a loss of lives. Hence, an efficient maintenance technique must be applied to guarantee safety, secure budgets to maintain a certain level of service, and prevent maintenance expenditures from being concentrated in a specific time period. Developed countries have experienced rapid increases in maintenance budgets, and maintenance costs now account for about 40% of the total maintenance budget. The level of service in asset management systems is an essential element for setting management goals and making priority decisions. Therefore, this study uses fuzzy theory to develop a new way to assess the level of service.The assessment model was applied to an actual bridge to evaluate the level of service for users.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.14 no.1
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• pp.464-469
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• 2013

After city of Busan has been entered to the aging society in 2000, the city has the highest aging rate among 7 representative cities in 2011. Moreover, while entire population and number of average household are decreasing, over 65 years old of elderly population is rapidly increasing. So, it is possible to enter the super-aged society, where aging rate would be about 20% after 2020. The purpose of this study is that older housing-related analysis is consisted of dong-unit, and this led microscopic analysis has become necessary. Surveys from 2000 through 2010, census aggregate (output area) unit of spatial analysis was conducted. Take advantages of this, aging population and area, soaring area, high-density areas, such as the region of interest were primary extracted, and microscopic location and spatial distribution patterns were analyzed. Upon analysis, aging population is concentrated in the city and adjacent area, the highlands, and 10 years of increasing rate was more than 30 times in certain aggregate. Regarding the characteristic of these areas, the original city center, Busan, especially concentrated and intensified in aging population. Also, 2000 to 2010, the overall distribution pattern of Busan has identified aging population that is increasingly being distributed. This is the result, which is confronted with previous research result. Entering a super aged-society for the future is accordance with migration of social costs and improve the quality of life of elderly. And this could be the basic information to use the spatial dimension for the corresponding.

• The Korean Journal of Applied Statistics
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• v.26 no.2
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• pp.267-280
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• 2013

College tuition is a significant economic, social, and political issue in Korea. We conduct a Bayesian analysis of a hierarchical model to address the factors related to college tuition based on a survey data collected by Statistics Korea. A binary response variable is selected depending on if more than 70% of tuition costs are supported by parents, and a hierarchical Probit model is constructed with areas as groups. A set of explanatory variables is selected from a factor analysis of available variables in the survey. A Markov chain Monte Carlo algorithm is used to estimate parameters. From the analysis results, income and stress are significantly related to college tuition support from parents. Parents with high income tend to support children's college tuition and students with parents' financial support tend to be mentally less stressed; subsequently, this shows that the economic status of parents significantly affects the mental health of college students. Gender, a healthy life style, and college satisfaction are not significant factors. Comparing areas in terms of the degrees of correlation between stress/income and tuition support from parents, students in Kangwon-do are the most mentally stressed when parents' support is limited; in addition, the positive correlation between parents support and income is stronger in big cities compared to provincial areas.

• Korea journal of population studies
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• v.31 no.1
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• pp.147-164
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• 2008

The goal of this study was to examine the economic and cultural factors that influenced the intention of having a second child. In particular, this study intended to examine whether the factors related to the intention of having a child differed by the employment status of married women. The data for this study were drawn from the National Survey on the Trend of Marriage and Birth. This survey was conducted in 2005 by Korean Institute for Health and Social Affairs. The sample consisted of 690 married women who had one child(282 employed and 408 unemployed). The data were analyzed by logistic regression with SAS 9.1 program. The results showed that the employed women's intention of having a second child was affected by the husband's hours of housework, having a own mother(child's grandmother) and the perception of value of child. The employed women's intention of having a second child was affected by the perception of emotional value of child, and the sex of the first child. In sum, there were differences between the employed women and the unemployed women in the variables affecting the intention of having a second child. Perception of value of child was found important for both the employed and the unemployed women. Besides husband's hours of housework, having a mother and the needs for public support about child birth and rearing were found significant for the employed women. For the unemployed women, the costs of child care/education and the sex of the first child were found significant. The findings of this study suggested that different policy interventions be developed to satisfy the needs of the employed women and the unemployed women.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.35 no.2
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• pp.99-106
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• 2002

Objective : Until now, there have been no evidence-based guidelines produced for the mass screening of hyperlipidemia cases in Korea. This study was done to find the most efficient strategy for a hyperlipidemia-screening program among Korean adults, Method : Seven alternative strategies for hyperlipidemia screening were formulated and compared ir terms of cost-effectiveness. Cost and effectiveness were estimated from social perspectives and using a two-stage screening process (initial testing and additional testing for positives from the first test). A computerized database (based on persons who had visited a health promotion center in one teaching hospital for a routine health check-up) was used to determine the cost and the outcome of various strategies. Official data was used in calculating direct and indirect costs. Effectiveness was measured according to the number of persons who needed clinical intervention for hyperlipidemia. A stratified analysis, considering age group and sex, was then done. Sensitivity analyses, focusing on several uncertain parameters, were also done. Results : Of the seven test alternatives available, the most cost-effective strategy was a screening program, which consisted of an initial test of total cholesterol, high-density lipoprotein cholesterol and triglyceride. There was some variation in the rank of the cost-effectiveness ratios for the seven alternatives dependent on age group or gender. Conclusions : Current hyperlipidemia screening practice, for National Health Insurance beneficiaries, tests only the total cholesterol level with a cut-off value of 260mg/dl as an initial screening test. It is not the best strategy for cost-effectiveness, and should be modified. Different screening strategies taking age group and sex into account should be developed and used for the efficient mass screening of hyperlipidemia cases among Korean adults.

• Review of Culture and Economy
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• v.17 no.2
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• pp.3-28
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• 2014

The characteristics of performing arts differ from those of utilitarian goods in terms of economics. Factors other than price need to be considered to understand the demand for performing arts. Audience surveys as well as econometric demand studies have confirmed that socio-economic factors such as age, income, employment, and education are major determinants of the demand for performing arts. This study focused on the attributes of concerts rather than consumer characteristics to determine the concerts audiences select in terms of transaction cost. Genre, price, internet search trends, and the purpose of performance as well as price are tested as determinants of demand by using the data set for a major concert hall in Seoul. Genre and the specific purpose of concerts influence the demand for concerts. Internet search trends of the performer are used as indicators of popularity and information exposure, which are positively correlated with demand. This result supports the hypothesis that larger audiences would attend concerts that require lower information search costs. To note, price has a positive effect on demand in the higher price range, which means that concerts at higher prices attract larger audiences, whereas normal goods have a negative slope in the demand curve. This result can be explained by the hypothesis that consumers use price as an indicator of the quality expected of a concert. Transaction cost for selecting classical concerts thus forms an inverse-U shape curve against ticket price. These results provide some explanation of why audiences of classical music choose to attend concerts at high ticket prices while offering evidence in favor of the hypothesis that performing arts are selected in a social context.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Railway
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• v.20 no.3
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• pp.400-412
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• 2017

What is particularly noteworthy from Korean and foreign railway tunnel disaster prevention standards is that for the sake of rapid evacuation, more stringent standards for provision of evacuation passages, which require high cost, are being applied. Korean standards stipulate that passage installation should be determined in accordance with the level of risk through a QRA analysis of each tunnel with 1km or longer length. As, however, detailed application criteria as fire occurrence probability, fire occurrence scenario, size of fires and evaluation criteria for level of social risk are not available, additional costs may be incurred due to excessive design. Thus, standards of an appropriate level need to be established. With this backdrop, this study selects detailed application conditions of a reasonable and appropriate level through a study and analysis of relevant documents and analyzes the maximum length of tunnels to which the application of evacuation passages, or the application major evacuation promotion facilities, can be relaxed, together with a QRA analysis of model tunnels (for high speed rail) with different tunnel lengths. In addition, the QRA results on tunnels, including those on the Honam high-speed rail, and analysis results for the model tunnels, are compiled, ; the ultimate results are compared with Korean and other countries' standards related to evacuation promotion facilities, As a result, The appropriateness of application standards are reviewed. These results are expected to be utilized as basic material for establishing a reasonable disaster prevention plan that will consider safety and economies.