• Journal of the Economic Geographical Society of Korea
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• v.22 no.2
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• pp.196-213
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• 2019

This paper attempts to analyze the contribution of different socioeconomic factors such as income, age, gender, household composition, education and employment status etc. to the difference between the Capital and Non-Capital Regions in the net wealth inequality of household in Korea. To this end, a two-stage Oaxaca-Blinder type decomposition is employed regarding the regional gap in the inequality of net wealth based upon the Recentered Influence Function of the Gini index for 'the 2018 Household Finance and Living Conditions Survey.' Despite the shortcomings of the survey data on wealth, the findings reveal that regional differences in income, marriage status (divorce), job type (agriculture, forestry and fishery related, and technical and assembly), family type (multi-cultural) variables deepen the regional gap in the net-wealth inequality, but employment status (full-time), job type (administrative and specialized, and service sales), household size variables mitigate the gap, and that regional differences in life cycles play an offsetting role.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.42 no.5
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• pp.275-282
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• 2009

Objectives : This study aimed to verify the association between wealth or income level and health status after adjusting for other socio-economic position (SEP) indicators among Korean adults aged 45 and over. Methods : Data were obtained from the 1st wave of Korean Longitudinal Study of Ageing (households: 6,171, persons: 10,254). We used self-rated health status and activities of daily living (ADLs) as dependent variables. Explanatory variables included both net wealth measured by savings, immovables, the other valuated assets and total income including pay, transfer, property and so on. Binary logistic regression was conducted to examine the relationships. Also, in order to determine the relative health inequality across economic groups, we estimated the relative index of inequality (RII). Results : The inequality of health status was evident among various wealth and income groups. The wealthiest group (5th quintile) was much healthier than the poorest group, and this differential increased with age. Likewise, higher income was associated with better health status among the elderly. However, these effects, as measured by the odds ratio and RII, showed that wealth was more important in determining health status of elderly people. Conclusions : This study suggests that economic capability plays a significant role in determining the health status and other health-related problems among the elderly. Particularly, our results show that health status of the aged is related more closely to the individual s wealth than income.

• Korean Journal of Labor Studies
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• v.24 no.3
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• pp.1-34
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• 2018

This paper attempts to provide a new theoretical approach and an empirical analysis based on it to interrogate the structure of household income inequality and its changes in South Korea in the 2010s. Previous research on inequality in sociology, labor economics and feminism has focused on local inequalities which derive from specific spaces of society. For a comprehensive understanding of social inequality in totality, it requires a discussion of global inequality beyond local inequalities. Thus, a synthetic approach that integrates local inequalities, encompassing class, the labor market, population, and family. By using regression-based inequality decomposition, we decompose the contribution of gender, level of education, employment status, occupation, household composition and wealth to household income inequality. This paper shows that household and wealth, as well as the factors discussed in the previous research, are significant factors affecting household income inequality in South Korea.

• Journal of Labour Economics
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• v.27 no.2
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• pp.67-89
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• 2004

In this paper, I examine the impacts of father's education, a proxy for family wealth and income, on the individual's education, occupational choice and labor force status. I find that father's education influences the level of individual educational investment and occupational choices directly, whose findings are quite different from those of Blau and Duncan(l967) and Phang and Kim(2000). I also find that father's higher level of education induces an individual to withdraw from the labor force, which results in erosion of inequality among family. Therefore I argue that the inheritance of inequality in family wealth tends to persist, while the erosion of inequality proceeds, as well.

• Asian Journal for Public Opinion Research
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• v.6 no.1
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• pp.1-17
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• 2018

As societal interest in inequality increases in Korea, both public and academic discussion on inequality is also on the rise. In order to more effectively discuss the problems of rising inequality, however, it is essential to study the consequences and implications of inequality. This study examines one of the consequences of inequality, particularly on individuals - the relationship between an individual's perception of inequality and his/her evaluation of societal health, such as social trust and social mobility. According to a statistical analysis of the Korean Academic Multimode Open Survey for Social Sciences (KAMOS), those who perceive the level of income and wealth inequality in Korea as more unequal tend to have a lower level of trust toward Korean society and Korean people, as well as a lower expectation for both intra- and intergenerational social mobility. This study, which shows that rising inequality could have a negative impact at the individual level, not only extends the scope of the consequence-of-inequality studies from the society-oriented toward the individual-oriented, but it also has significant implications for the field, suggesting a new direction for future studies.

• Cross-Cultural Studies
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• v.50
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• pp.131-172
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• 2018

It is noted that nowadays, the bride wealth custom takes an extremely distorted form in African society. Such a phenomenon is a result that the male-dominant culture, Western religions, and capitalist economic system have been negatively combined into dynamic factors seen as bride wealth. This means that the concept of bride wealth has been incessantly reconstructed in the middle of clash and conflict of tradition and modernity. There is also little doubt that the practice is inextricably tangled with the common and current ways of livelihood, early marriage, polygyny, kinship/family structure, poverty, and migration labor. Bride wealth has become an increasingly commercialized element under a capitalist economic system. Accordingly, its traditional symbolism is seen to be subsequently weakening, whereas a tendency towards the reification of women is strengthening more in modern society that embraces modern customs bent on the protection of women's human rights. Its commercialization has produced a result, which instigates the noted violations of women's basic human rights, gender inequality, and promotion of domestic violence. The ways that people perceive bride wealth vary according to their own sex, generation, stratification, and ethnic background. Those people who negatively recognize bride wealth will increase with the deepening of its commercialization due to the influence of capitalism. Its color and effect will deepen and depend on how its agents correspond to socioeconomic changes. They will constantly reinterpret and reconstruct it within their own environments, but the basic human rights efforts are constantly under review by concerned individuals seeking to promote equality for women as a global effort.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.51 no.6
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• pp.289-297
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• 2018

Objectives: Obesity is a considerable and growing public health concern worldwide. The present study aimed to quantify socioeconomic inequalities in adult obesity in western Iran. Methods: A total of 10 086 participants, aged 35-65 years, from the Ravansar Non-communicable Disease Cohort Study (2014-2016) were included in the study to examine socioeconomic inequalities in obesity. We defined obesity as a body mass index ${\geq}30kg/m^2$. The concentration index and concentration curve were used to illustrate and measure wealth-related inequality in obesity. Additionally, we decomposed the concentration index to identify factors that explained wealth-related inequality in obesity. Results: Overall, the prevalence of obesity in the total sample was 26.7%. The concentration index of obesity was 0.04; indicating that obesity was more concentrated among the rich (p<0.001). Decomposition analysis indicated that wealth, place of residence, and marital status were the main contributors to the observed inequality in obesity. Conclusions: Socioeconomic-related inequalities in obesity among adults warrant more attention. Policies should be designed to reduce both the prevalence of obesity and inequalities in obesity by focusing on those with higher socioeconomic status, urban residents, and married individuals.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.14 no.11
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• pp.6965-6969
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• 2013

Background: Tobacco consumption has been identified as the single biggest cause of inequality in morbidity and mortality. Understanding pattern of socioeconomic equalities in tobacco consumption in India will help in designing targeted public health control measures. Materials and Methods: Nationally representative data from the India Global Adult Tobacco Survey (GATS) conducted in 2009-2010 was analyzed. The survey provided information on 69,030 respondents aged 15 years and above. Data were analyzed according to regions for estimating prevalence of current tobacco consumption (both smoking and smokeless) across wealth quintiles. Multiple logistic regression analysis predicted the impact of socioeconomic determinants on both forms of current tobacco consumption adjusting for other socio-demographic variables. Results: Trends of smoking and smokeless tobacco consumption across wealth quintiles were significant in different regions of India. Higher prevalence of smoking and smokeless tobacco consumption was observed in the medium wealth quintiles. Risk of tobacco consumption among the poorest compared to the richest quintile was 1.6 times higher for smoking and 3.1 times higher for smokeless forms. Declining odds ratios of both forms of tobacco consumption with rising education were visible across regions. Poverty was a strong predictor in north and south Indian region for smoking and in all regions for smokeless tobacco use. Conclusions: Poverty and poor education are strong risk factors for both forms of tobacco consumption in India. Public health policies, therefore, need to be targeted towards the poor and uneducated.

• The Journal of Asian Finance, Economics and Business
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• v.7 no.10
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• pp.433-442
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• 2020

This study investigates the impact of fiscal transfer, specifically the Village Fund Transfer, on rural income inequality and rural poverty. Studies on fiscal transfer offers contrasting outcomes, some argues that fiscal transfer suppresses wealth disparity, while others argue that it tends to widen disparity. This study employs descriptive analysis in estimating the elasticity of income inequality and poverty rate before and after the Village Fund Transfer. It develops multiple regressions model on panel datasets of 33 provinces in Indonesia before and after the implementation of Village Fund Transfer. This study suggests that the elasticity of income inequality is higher after the implementation of village fund transfer. Rural poverty tends to decline annually, however, the elasticity changes is lower after the implementation of village fund transfer. Furthermore, this study suggests that village fund transfer is insignificant in coping with the issue of income inequality, while education and the level of labor productivity of agricultural sector appears to be the determinant factor in tackling the issue of income inequality in the rural areas. This study further reveals the significance of village fund transfer in suppressing the rural poverty rate. This study also highlights the significance of human resources quality and agricultural sector in reducing poverty rate in rural areas.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.52 no.4
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• pp.214-223
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• 2019

Objectives: Equity in financial protection against healthcare expenditures is one the primary functions of health systems worldwide. This study aimed to quantify socioeconomic inequality in facing catastrophic healthcare expenditures (CHE) and to identify the main factors contributing to socioeconomic inequality in CHE in Iran. Methods: A total of 37 860 households were drawn from the Households Income and Expenditure Survey, conducted by the Statistical Center of Iran in 2017. The prevalence of CHE was measured using a cut-off of spending at least 40% of the capacity to pay on healthcare services. The concentration curve and concentration index (C) were used to illustrate and measure the extent of socioeconomic inequality in CHE among Iranian households. The C was decomposed to identify the main factors explaining the observed socioeconomic inequality in CHE in Iran. Results: The prevalence of CHE among Iranian households in 2017 was 5.26% (95% confidence interval [CI], 5.04 to 5.49). The value of C was -0.17 (95% CI, -0.19 to -0.13), suggesting that CHE was mainly concentrated among socioeconomically disadvantaged households in Iran. The decomposition analysis highlighted the household wealth index as explaining 71.7% of the concentration of CHE among the poor in Iran. Conclusions: This study revealed that CHE is disproportionately concentrated among poor households in Iran. Health policies to reduce socioeconomic inequality in facing CHE in Iran should focus on socioeconomically disadvantaged households.