• International Journal of Human Ecology
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• v.5 no.1
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• pp.97-115
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• 2004

This paper first introduces the U. S. pension system and its current trends. Then the following two sections discuss the research on worker behavior of defined contribution plans, a popular pension plan available for American workers in recent years, and the adequacy of retirement income among American people. The last section is a summary. This paper reviews the trend of the U. S. pension system, research on worker's behavior of defined contribution retirement plans, and studies on retirement income adequacy. These themes may have common or different features in other countries, such as Korea. This paper provides helpful information for private and public policy makers and researchers of these topics in Korea to advance their understanding of pension and retirement behavior and facilitate effective policy making of pensions and retirement.

• Korean Management Science Review
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• v.32 no.3
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• pp.13-28
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• 2015

Using the most recent dataset of Korea and U.S. household finance, this study analyzed demand and adequacy of private pensions for pre-retirees. For this purpose, 2013 Korean Retirement and Income Study (KReIS) of national pension research institute in Korea and 2013 SCF (Survey of Consumer Finances) of FRB in U.S. were used. For comprehensive comparisons of the two countries, this study classified the private pension into sub-categories such as personal pension, corporate pension, and retirement benefits, and used three different criteria including ownership, accumulated present value of each pension, and income replacement ratio of each pension. After controlling for other factors, educational level of householder and household income were critical determinants of size and adequacy of private pension in both countries. Different from Korean households, householders' gender, marital status, and health status had an important effect on the private pension size and adequacy in the U.S. In addition, home ownership significantly increased only private pension adequacy in Korea, and also increased ownership rate, size, and adequacy of private pension in the U.S. Results of this study provide useful implications for future pension system and policy in Korea.

• 한국노년학
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• v.36 no.3
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• pp.809-826
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• 2016

This study analyzed private pension dependency of Korea and U.S. households using the most recent dataset of two countries. For this purpose, 2013 Korean Retirement and Income Study(KReIS) of national pension research institute in Korea and 2013 SCF(Survey of Consumer Finances) of FRB in U.S. were used. The private pension dependency was defined as the proportion of private pension wealth among total financial wealth in each household and tobit model was used to investigate determinants of private pension dependency of the two countries. After controlling for other factors, household income and net worth, age, educational attainment, and health status of householder were crucial determinants of private pension dependency for both countries. Householder's age, educational attainment, and health tend to increase the private pension dependency in Korea and U.S. However, household income and net worth affected the private pension dependency opposite direction. The private pension dependency increased with high level of income and net worth in Korea, while it decreased with high level of income and net worth in U.S. Results of this study provide useful implications for future pension system and policy in Korea.

• Korea journal of population studies
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• v.26 no.1
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• pp.115-141
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• 2003

The aim of this paper is to describe a long-term trend toward earlier retirement and its reversal since 1985 in the United States, together with changes in socioeconomic conditions and social-policy programs which have contributed to this new development. The American people's recent propensity to retire at relatively younger ages was mainly a result of secular increase in individual wealth that had made it possible for them to enjoy higher standard of living without their participation in labor market activities at older ages. In addition to the introduction of compulsory retirement system, both social security retirement pension program and corporate pension system have also contributed significantly to the declining retirement age and its reversal around the mid-1980s. This paper pays full attention to the set of social policy programs which are currently being used to sustain the recent reversal in ages at retirement. The basic question to be raised here, however, is about whether or not the U. S. government will ave to continue to implement the social policies and programs used to discourage the elderly from retiring at relatively younger ages in the future. In this paper, it is argued that labor productivity growth and improvement in work attitude prior to retirement will help the elderly find little difficulties in having higher standard of living, despite their further lengthening of life expectancy at birth and post-retirement survival chances, the latter being often called the "third life". Most American people hope that the social-policy programs that have promoted early retirement will remain unchanged in the first part of the 21st century while they will put significant financial burden on their future descendants who have to work in the paid labor market. Taking this observation in consideration, this paper concludes that the U. S. government has to focus more on developing the programs that improve work propensity and labor productivity among the currently working-age population rather than continuing to implement the programs that sustain the recent reversal in retirement ages.ment ages.

• 한국노년학
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• v.29 no.2
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• pp.563-578
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• 2009

Public pension system of western welfare states has been maintained by transfers of public resources between working-age population and old-age population. But population aging cause the problem of fiscal burden on pension financing, so cutback on public spending for the elderly has been on the issue at public agenda. The argument on public spending for the elderly is more aggressively proceeded in the United States than any other welfare states. The argument is concerned with the problems of generation and is going under the rhetoric name of 'Generational Equity' which contends unequal distribution of social resources such as federal budget within generations. This article analyzes the background of 'Generational Equity' perspective and the reason why that argument is actively going forward in the U. S. and political-economy context of that argument. Generational Equity perspective contends that the elderly are getting more benefits and high spending on the elderly has contributing to the rising poverty rate of children. But there are lots of objection to this perspective on the ground that the perspective has weak positive evidences. The reason that 'Generational Equity' perspective has the power only in the U. S. but other welfare states is mainly due to that pluralistic political regime and selective welfare system. This research presents that political-economy meaning of 'Generational Equity' perspective is related to the political regime and welfare system of the society itself. And this research has the implication that our society having a selective welfare system would take a risk of encountering 'Generational Equity' social debate in the near future.

• Korean Journal of Social Welfare
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• v.42
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• pp.169-198
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• 2000

This paper attempts to analyze the early retirement in the OECD countries and discuss implication of that in the old age policy in Korea. The increase of the early retirement in the almost all OECD countries is a common fact. Especially the rate of early retirement rapidly increased in the 1980s, mostly reflecting the high rate of unemployment and states' policies to reduce it. However, it varies across countries: the unemployment compensation pathway in France, the mixture of social assistance and private insurance in England, VUT in Netherland, the privatization of the early retirement in the U. S., and partial retirement and labor market policy in Sweden. The early retirement in the advanced countries contributes to de-institutionalization and de-standardization in life course model. It resulted in the erosion of the ordinary conception that the retirement was the beginning of the old age. And the last phase of life course became blurred. With respect to the problem of the early retirement, there is a big difference between Korea and the OECD countries. Above all, the retirement age is 55 years in many companies and the public pension is not universalized in Korea. Accordingly the policy for income security of the old age in Korea should be connected with social security policy such as the gradual extension of the retirement age and the expansion of the public pension and labor market policy such as job training for the old age, transformation of the seniority wage system etc.

• Management & Information Systems Review
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• v.7
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• pp.21-51
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• 2001

For increasing the competitiveness and efficiency of Korea's finance industry under the new e-finance paradigm, this paper compared the practical use of finance portal site' on service parts and stage between Korea and U.S.A.. The services which can be served from site are banking, mortgage and credit loan, stock, card, retirement tax, PFM(Personal Finance Management), EBPP(Electronic Bill Presentment and Payment) and Account Aggregation and so on. The stage of site can be divided as the information provide stage which only gives information about service parts, on-line transaction stage which real-time transaction is possibile and PFM services provide stage according to development process. As a result, the beginning of finance portal service in Korea was lated about 10years and more than it of U.S.A. So the development stage of domestic portal site is still staying in the first step and the providing services and contents or business model development parts are also in the same stage than U.S.A. Resides, Korea's sites mainly focus on their first service parts even though they recently aim internet finance portal, and provide not real time transaction but finance information. On the other hand, the U.S.A. site support substantially not only various on-line transactions but also distinctive personal services like PFM(Personal Finance Management), EBPP(Electronic Bill Presentment and Payment), Account Aggregation and Trans-account, brokerage, education center, mortgage loan, mutual fund, option, pension fund and IPOs and so on. Thus, the site of Korea need to establish real type of internet finance portal which provides one-stop services on every type of finance to customers in the real time and also require the strategic integration among finance institutions. The next turn, they need to build information system and education center to give best satisfaction to customers and acquire customer information and marker environment changes and need to provide distinctive services to quality customers throughout database from this. Also the site should provide various type of banking services which refereed above like PEM, EBPP and education center etc, and the government of Korea should support the building of IT infrastructure to Physical, legal, systematic, sociocultural, technical and human resource sections. This paper provided the future movement direction of the domestic finance portal through comparison and analysis on the practical use of it between Korea and U.S.A. and also wanted to contribute for developing and reading of Korea finance portal in the new era of the finance paradigm.

• Korean Journal of Social Welfare Studies
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• v.44 no.3
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• pp.177-206
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• 2013

The Korean government has implemented the senior employment policy as a direct job creation policy since 2004. A realistic discussion of policy alternatives and orientation for this has been given little attention even though senior employment policy has been carried out for the last 10 years and it will be expanded next year. This study tries to examine active labor market policy especially focusing on direct job creation programs and policies for the disadvantaged low-income elderly in OECD countries, and then it suggests some developmental alternatives for senior employment policy based on the study's results. The main results from this analysis are summarized in two points. Firstly, except pension policies, employment policy for older workers in the OECD countries is highly proportional to the tackling of objective factors reducing the demand for older workers (wage subsidies, reduced social security contribution rate etc). And the strategies of improving employability have not been relatively important and direct job creation policy has been marginal. Secondly, employment support policies for the low-income elderly can be divided into three types: support for the low-income elderly, alleviating early retirement and support for full employment according to the criteria which are determined by policy objectives and the social economic index. Korea's employment support policies belong to the type of direct job creation among them. This seems to be due to the fact that the rate of elderly poverty is extremely high and an income security system has not been developed in Korea. However, the policy objective is still uncertain. Therefore, this policy needs to set up clear objectives and establish a proper system for the achievement of its goals. If we focus on the strength of its employment characteristics, we need to modify the policy's plan in the perspective of labor market policy. But if we intend to keep both of the current objectives, it is better for this policy to be divided into two parts: social participation and income supplements. Or it also may be a solution to transform the system into an employment service, a training system which supports participants to move into unsubsidized jobs such as SCSEP in the U. S.