• Title/Summary/Keyword: economic inequality

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The Great Depression in High School Social Science Textbooks : Critiques and Suggestions (대공황에 대한 고등학교 사회과 교과서 서술의 문제점과 개선방안)

  • Kim, Duol
    • KDI Journal of Economic Policy
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    • v.30 no.1
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    • pp.171-209
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    • 2008
  • The Great Depression is one of the most important economic incidents in the twentieth century. A significant and long-lasting impact of this event is the rise of the government intervention to the economy. Under the catastrophic downturn of the economic condition worldwide, people required their government to play an active role for economic recovery, and this $mentalit{\acute{e}}$ prolonged even after the Second World War. Social science textbooks taught at Korean high schools mostly referred to the Great Depression for explaining the reason of government intervention in economy. However, the mainstream view commonly found in the textbooks provides a misleading theological interpretation. It argues that inherent flaws of the market economy causes over-production/under-consumption, and that this mismatch ends up with economic crisis. The chaotic situation was resolved by substitution of the governments for the market, and the New Deal was introduced as the monumental example ('laissez-faire economy ${\rightarrow}$over-production${\rightarrow}$the Great Depression${\rightarrow}$government intervention${\rightarrow}$economic recovery'). Based on economic historians' researches for past three decades, I argue that this mainstream view commits the fallacy of ex-post justification. Unlike what the mainstream view claims, the Great Depression was neither the result of the 'market failure', nor the recovery from the Great Depression but was due to successful government policies. For substantiating this claim, I suggest three points. First, blaming the weakness or instability of the market economy as the cause of the Great Depression is groundless. Unlike what the textbooks describe, the rise of the U.S. stock price during the 1920s cannot be said as a bubble, and there was no sign of under-consumption during the 1920s. On the contrary, a new consensus emerging from the 1980s among economic historians illustrates that the Great Depression was originated from 'the government failure' rather than from the 'market failure'. Policymakers of European countries tried to return to the gold standard regime before the First World War, but discrepancies between this policy and the reality made the world economy vulnerable. Second, the mainstream view identifies the New Deal as Keynesian interventionism and glorifies it for saving the U.S. economy from the crisis. However, this argument is not true. The New Deal was not Keynesian at all. What the U.S. government actually tried was not macroeconomic stabilization but price and quantity control. In addition, New Deal did not brought about economic recovery that people generally believe. Even after the New Deal, industrial production or employment level remained quite low until the late 1930s. Lastly, studies on individual New Deal policies show that they did not work as they were intended. For example, the National Industrial Recovery Act increased unemployment, and the Agricultural Adjustment Act expelled tenants from their land. Third, the mainstream view characterizes the economic order before the Great Depression as laissez-faire, and it tends to attribute all the vice during the Industrial Revolution era to the uncontrolled market economy. However, historical studies show that various economic and social problems of the Industrial Revolution period such as inequality problems, child labor, or environmental problems cannot be simply ascribed to the problems of the market economy. In conclusion, the remedy for all these problems in high school textbooks is not to use the Great Depression as an example showing the weakness of the market economy. The Great Depression should be introduced simply as a historical momentum that had initiated the growth of government intervention. This reform of high school textbooks is imperative for enhancing the right understanding of economy and history.

A Servicism Model for A New Democracy (서비스주의 민주주의 모델 연구)

  • Hyunsoo Kim
    • Journal of Service Research and Studies
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    • v.12 no.1
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    • pp.1-24
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    • 2022
  • This study was conducted to derive a new model for popular democracy in the modern society. The problem is exacerbated as the original model of democracy, isonomia, has faded and modern democracy is operated as a democracy in which the masses rule. Democracy is exposing a bigger problem due to the economic inequality caused by the majority rule and the capitalist economic system. Popular democracy, in which all the masses are equally qualified as sovereigns, is a structure in which cunning politicians can easily seize power if the voters are not wise. Isonomia is a system in which free people who solve economic problems on their own and have honesty, courage, dedication, sacrifice and sincerity set laws with the same qualifications, and keep the laws themselves, is a system that depends heavily on the conscience and virtue of free people. Modern popular democracy embodies the absolute equality of the sovereign regardless of economic power, but without the spirit of sacrifice and dedication to the community, those who can win popularity by wrapping themselves up as if they are sacrificial and capable people may seize power. This study presents a service-oriented democracy as a system that can maintain the merits of modern popular democracy while embodying the essence of isonomia. The system was implemented focusing on the qualifications for virtue, such as honesty, courage, sacrifice, integrity, etc., fair to all regardless of wealth. Human imperfections have been supplemented by the use of artificial intelligence. The assumption about the nature of the sovereign and public officials' agents was newly established, and the winner-take-allism problem was solved. This study proved that both the philosophy of Isonomia and the merits of Democracy can be realized through service-oriented democracy based on the common principle of humanity and the philosophy of service. Service-oriented democracy can be called revision democracy.

The Association Between Number of Remaining Teeth and Health-related Quality of Life(GOHAI) by Economic Activity Status in Elderly: Ninth Wave of the Korean Longitudinal Study of Ageing(KLoSA) (노인의 경제활동 상태에 따른 잔존치아수와 구강 건강관련 삶의 질(GOHAI)의 관련성: 고령화연구 패널조사 9차 자료를 이용하여)

  • Han-A Cho
    • Journal of Korean Dental Hygiene Science
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    • v.7 no.1
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    • pp.1-15
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    • 2024
  • Background: This study aims to determine the association between the number of remaining teeth and oral health-related quality of life according to economic activity status in elderly. Methods: Data from the 9th Korean Longitudinal Study of Ageing (KLoSA) were used to analyze 6,004 older adults aged 59 years and older. The number of remaining teeth was categorized as less than 20 and more than 20, and the Geriatric Oral Health Assessment Index (GOHAI) was used to measured the oral health-related quality of life of the elderly. Independent t-tests were performed to compare demographic, economic, sociodemographic, and health characteristics, as well as GOHAI scores, between economically active and inactive individuals. In the case of ANOVA analysis, Scheffe's post hoc analysis was performed to confirm statistical significance between groups. Linear regression analysis was conducted to determine the influence of the number of remaining teeth on GOHAI according to economic activity status. Results: Among the study population, 33.9% were economically active, which is approximately half the proportion of those were not economically active. The mean GOHAI scores were 43.32 and 40.15 for economically active and economically inactive individuals with 20 or more residual teeth, respectively (p<0.001). Simple linear regression analysis revealed that having more than 20 remaining teeth was associated with a statistically significant increase in GOHAI by approximately 4.56 times and 4.92 times compared to having fewer than 20 teeth for economically active and non-economically active individuals, respectively (p<0.001). Multiple linear regression analysis, adjusted for demographic, economic, sociodemographic, and health characteristics, showed that having more than 20 remaining teeth was associated with a statistically significant increase in GOHAI by approximately 3.62 and 2.97 times compared to having fewer than 20 teeth in economically active and non-economically active individuals, respectively (p<0.001). Conclusion: This study explored economic activity status as one of several approaches to enhance the oral health-related quality of life of the elderly. By using the number of remaining teeth as an indicator of oral health status. supporting economic activity could potentially improve both oral health and overall quality of life for older individuals. Such interventions may have positive effects on policy outcomes, including reducing economic inequality by promoting economic engagement among the elderly.

Effect of Urban Planning on Spatial Equity - An Analysis on the Accessibility Change to Urban Cultural Facilities by Income Class Factor in the Daejeon Metropolitan City Using GIS - (도시계획사업이 공간적 형평성에 미치는 효과 - GIS를 이용한 대전광역시 도로건설사업의 소득계층간 접근성 변화 분석 -)

  • Leem, Youn-Taik;Seo, Chang-Woo;Lee, Sang-Ho
    • Journal of the Korean Association of Geographic Information Studies
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    • v.15 no.2
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    • pp.23-34
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    • 2012
  • As the quality of life grows, the role of cultural facilities in urban areas is becoming more important. However, due to various reasons, the location of these facilities shows the geographical imbalance between urban regions. Even though provision of road network can improve this kind of urban problem, in many countries, the provision of urban infrastructure plays a role which is magnifies the cultural gap between regions and socio-economic classes. The findings of this study are as follows. First of all, the inequality of accessibility to cultural facilities is shown over the period. Cross-sectional data shows that the higher the income of a region, the higher the accessibility index(AI) of the zone to cultural facilities at any time. Next, the provision of road network contributes the improvement of AI of high income region. Finally the provision of new facilities has a tendency that these kind of facilities are located to make AI of high income zone better. It means that the decision making by city government intensifies the geographical inequality. This result would be very useful in the decision making process for determining the number and the location of cultural facilities and other similar urban infrastructure as well. Also it will be helpful for the selection of optimal location which considered not only physical distances but also social equalities.

Entrepreneurial Local Governance and the Changing Regional Policy in Chonnam Region (기업가적 지방정치와 지역정책의 변화)

  • Kim, Jae-Chul
    • Journal of the Korean association of regional geographers
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    • v.5 no.2
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    • pp.29-45
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    • 1999
  • This study reviewed theories on entrepreneurial local governance and inquired the changing regional policy in Chonnam region. The region became exposure as the direct investment unit of global capital by globalization of capital, the inter-regional competition and the relative reduction of the role and function of nation state. Therefore local government have the relative autonomy and the region is effected as the chosen space by capital according to the free movement of capital. It has been argued that there has been a reorientation of urban governance away from the local provision of welfare and services to a more outward-orientated stance designed to foster and encourage local growth and economic development. These profound changes in the way that cities operate have seen the public sector taking over characteristics once distinctive to the private sector leading many commentators to term such modes of governance as entrepreneurial. In Chonnam region, many local governments are introducing entrepreneurial policies for regional development. It appears as place marketing strategy to attract capital and tourists. This strategy is very important to used identity or culture of region in order to make the attractive region. The entrepreneurial characteristics and strategies appear as image unification of region, commodity development of natural or cultural resource, event and business projects. From this point of view, the entrepreneurial policy that is based upon regional growth can cause the problem of social justice like distributional distortion and inequality.

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A Study on Digital Divide from Socio-Technical Convergence: With Focus on Korean Women's Travel Activities (사회기술융합적 관점에서 살펴본 디지털기기 이용한계에 대한 연구: 한국 여성의 관광유형을 중심으로)

  • Lee, Seung-Jae
    • Journal of Digital Convergence
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    • v.13 no.5
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    • pp.177-185
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    • 2015
  • The gender difference in social roles affects digital devices' utilization differences in man and woman even in the 21st Century. Prior studies analyze the digital divide (genders, ages, etc.) from the assessment perspectives of digital equipment, such as PCs. In the area of high speed internet, most functions of PCs have been replaced with smartphones, and around 80% of the mobile phone users adopt smartphones. Subsequently the inequality of physical access to the digital devices is no longer a criterion for digital divide. The focus on digital divide should be shifted from the physical access to other factors, such as socio-technical or socio-cultural ones. This paper examines utilization of women's digital equipment, in particular, preparing for tourism activities, which is popular but sensitive to the technology. A survey was conducted with participants of [Suncheon Garden Expo] 2013. The results of this study capture the inactive use of digital devices particularly women over 50s. This phenomenon (high utilization of the digital devices for social or informative purposes, but low utilization of the digital payment) implies other aspects of Korean women (economic independence, low self-assertion, technical difficulties, etc.), which is considered from the socio-technological convergence perspective. This study also has a practical implication on the side of the digital device developers as well as marketing, where the qualitative communication is likely to be incorporated for the women over 50s.

The Relationship between Regional Material Deprivation and the Standardized Mortality Ratio of the Community Residents Aged 15-64 in Korea (우리나라에서의 지역의 물질적 결핍수준과 15-64세 인구 표준화사망비의 관계)

  • Jeong, Baek-Geun;Jung, Kap-Yeol;Kim, Joon-Youn;Moon, Ok-Ryun;Lee, Yong-Hwan;Hong, Young-Seoub;Yoon, Tae-Ho
    • Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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    • v.39 no.1
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    • pp.46-52
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    • 2006
  • Objectives: This study was performed to investigate the relationship between regional material deprivation and the standardized mortality ratios(SMRs) of community residents aged 15-64 in Korea. Methods: SMRs were investigated using the registered death data from 1995 to 2000 that was obtained from the Korean National Statistics Office with the denominators being drawn from the 1995 to 2000 census. Material deprivation was measured using the Townsend score that was calculated from the 1995 to 2000 census. The relationship between the regional material deprivation and the SMRs of the community residents aged 15-64 was investigated by using ANOVA, Spearman's rank correlation analysis and Pearson's correlation analysis. The trends in mortality inequality were investigated using the concentration index. Results: On the ANOVA, the SMRs of the men and women residents in the least deprived areas were the smallest and those in the most deprived areas were the largest. Spearman's rank correlation analysis, Pearson's correlation analysis and the concentration index revealed that significant positive relationships exist between the regional material deprivation and the SMRs of the community residents aged 15-64. Conclusions: This study suggests that there are mortality inequalities among the communities in Korea and part of this difference is due to the material deprivation of the community. Strategies aimed at reducing mortality inequalities among the communities will be needed to address economic inequalities. Further studies are needed to explore the mechanisms of how the regional deprivation influences on health and how the other factors of the community influence on the health of the community residents.

A Life-History Approach to the Practice of Early Marriage in Ethiopia (에티오피아의 조혼 관습에 대한 생애사적 접근)

  • Seol, Byung-Soo
    • Cross-Cultural Studies
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    • v.42
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    • pp.69-106
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    • 2016
  • Early marriage in contemporary society has brought about many problems. The practice is encouraged by gender inequality, poverty and social norms. It reproduces social power imbalances including increased economic vulnerability of women, low educational attainment of girls, gender inequality at home and in the labor market, physical and sexual violence against women and their health problems. The Ethiopian government increased the minimum legal age of marriage for women from 15 to 18 years, by revising its family code in 2000 and newly adopting a criminal law in 2005 that includes punishment against any harmful tradition. Nonetheless, early marriage is still widely practiced in many parts of rural Ethiopia. This is because the practice has long been embedded and deeply rooted in the lives of the people. Earlier literature on early marriage in Ethiopia tends to focus only on women's experiences and regard that all early-married people, particularly women, are unhappy with their lives. This paper attempts to explore the issue of early marriage through voices of people with diverse socioeconomic backgrounds, in order to address the limitations of the previous literature. This article aims at examining why early marriage has occurred in Ethiopia and how it has affected family life and women's educational attainment, focusing on the case of Meki town. As seen from this study, it is true that early marriage generally had negative influences on the lives of women. However, it is equally true that some men are also victims of the practice while some women have improved their lives by means of it. This implies that we need to listen to the voices of diverse people when we examine early marriage.

A Study on the Library Services for the Solution of the Information Inequality of the Low-Income People in Korea (저소득계층의 정보불평등 해소를 위한 도서관서비스 관련 연구)

  • Ahn, In-Ja;Noh, Younghee;Chang, Rosa
    • Journal of the Korean BIBLIA Society for library and Information Science
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    • v.29 no.4
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    • pp.113-137
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    • 2018
  • This study examined relevant literature to review the concept of low-income class, its criteria and types. Based on the cases surveyed, the service status of public libraries for low-income class in South Korea was determined. Based on the findings of this study, we proposed new library services necessary for low-income class, such as the implementation of relevant programs aimed at resolving the digital information divide of low-income class, the introduction of employment programs for the self-economic-support for low-income class adults, and the introduction of reading and counseling therapy services. In addition, this study proposed five policies for activating library services for the low-income class: (1) To revise the act on library law so as to clarify the concept of low-income class, its criteria and types, (2) to revise the master plan for library development so as to bolster the library services for low-income class, (3) to conduct a national-level survey of the low-income class status and of the library service status, (4) to determine the actual features of the low-income class and their information demands, and (5) to prepare library services tailored to the diverse types of low-income class.

Impact of Information and Communication Technologies on Spatial Structure (정보화와 정보기술이 공간구조에 미친 영향)

  • 박삼옥;최지선
    • Journal of the Economic Geographical Society of Korea
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    • v.6 no.1
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    • pp.119-144
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    • 2003
  • This study attempts to figure out the impact of Information and communication technologies (ICTs) on spatial structure and to speculate on spatial strategies in the electronic economy from a geographical perspective. The unprecedented development of ICTs based on the explosive use of the Internet was enough to lead to the expectation that physical distance would not be a significant barrier in business activities. In fact, however, at least at a current stage, the development of ICTs has not automatically removed the inequality in spatial structure. The accessibility to electronic space is different by economic and social status within a country as well as between countries. The importance of place, locality, and place-specific assets has been strengthened in the global economy. Physical proximity is still of great importance because it helps to minimize transaction costs, to exploit place-specific social networks, and to accumulate credibility for successful businesses. Likewise, the development of electronic commerce such as B2B and B2C EC also does not necessarily result in the ignorance of place and locality. Rather, the recognition of the importance of spatial strategies is extremely important for the success in online businesses. As a conclusion, the spatial dimension becomes more important in the digital era for successful businesses and balanced regional developments than ever before. The need for the improvement of ICT infrastructures, the development of human resources, and the establishment of regional innovation systems in peripheral areas cannot be overemphasized even in the digital era.

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