• Communications for Statistical Applications and Methods
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• v.26 no.1
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• pp.57-67
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• 2019

Income distribution is a major concern in economic theory. In regional economics, it is often of interest to compare income distributions in different regions. Traditional methods often compare the income inequality of different regions by assuming parametric forms of the income distributions, or using summary statistics like the Gini coefficient. In this paper, we propose a nonparametric procedure to test for heterogeneity in income distributions among different regions, and a K-means clustering procedure for clustering income distributions based on energy distance. In simulation studies, it is shown that the energy distance based method has competitive results with other common methods in hypothesis testing, and the energy distance based clustering method performs well in the clustering problem. The proposed approaches are applied in analyzing data from China Health and Nutrition Survey 2011. The results indicate that there are significant differences among income distributions of the 12 provinces in the dataset. After applying a 4-means clustering algorithm, we obtained the clustering results of the income distributions in the 12 provinces.

• Korea Trade Review
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• v.44 no.6
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• pp.217-230
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• 2019

This study investigates the impacts of international trade and foreign direct investment (FDI) on income distribution both nationally as well as provincially in Vietnam. This study uses panel data of 63 provinces in Vietnam for the period of 2008-2016 and a time series dataset from 1992 to 2016. We found the following results. First, the income distribution is significantly affected by per capita income. When we consider the Kuznets hypothesis, the intra-provincial income inequality of Vietnam's 63 provinces follows a regular U-shaped relationship. In contrast, the income distribution in Vietnam exhibits an inverted U-shaped relationship between the Gini coefficient and per capita income. Second, the inward FDI tends to reduce income gaps in each province through the employment of predominantly low-skilled workers. FDI, however, seems to increase income inequality throughout Vietnam. This result is potentially due to the strong concentration of FDI into a very few areas. Third, the effect of trade openness exhibits a decrease in inequality both within each province and in the whole country of Vietnam.

• The Journal of Fisheries Business Administration
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• v.35 no.2
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• pp.31-51
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• 2004

The reduction of fishing grounds due to the establishment of EEZ system among China, Japan and Korea together with the depletion of fish resources by pollution of waters and successive reclamation projects along the east and the south coastal lines has made many problems in coastal communities including the decrease of population, the deepening aging phenomenon in the fishery society and the fall of relative income level compared with those of rural and urban residents. Especially, the income level of a fishing household is 90%. of a rural resident and 70% of a urban resident. The income of a fishing household consists of 55% of fishing income, 20% of a agricultural source, 20% of income from non-fishing areas, and 10% of transferred income. Compared with that of a Japanese fishing household which has more diverse income sources such as 62% of income coming from non-fishing areas through being hired in manufacturing firms, etc., that of Korean ones is highly dependent upon fishery and agriculture, so that the diversification of income sources is urgently needed, especially in non-fishing areas. This paper shows that as a model to upgrade fisherman's income level, firstly, it is necessary to enhance the value-added of fishing products through processing and new innovation of distribution process and, secondly, to promote tourism in fishing villages. To ascertain this model, a questionnaire survey to fishermen was carried out and showed that they expressed a strong support for the increase of income by the value-added process through processing and innovative distribution system and the active introduction of tourism in fishing villages. A case study on Gosan cooperative in Jeju was also introduced to identify the rationale of the suggested model and this study proved the validity of the model again. Conclusively speaking, to level up the fisherman's income requires the value- added activities through the introduction of product processing and new distribution system together with the introduction of marine tourism in fishing villages.

• Journal of Labour Economics
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• v.28 no.3
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• pp.77-109
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• 2005

On the basis of the Korea Labor and Income Panel Survey for the 1997 through 2003 period, this paper investigates if the income distribution has become more bi-polarized since the recent financial crisis. The polarization measure developed by Esteban and Ray(l994) and Duclos, Esteban, and Ray(2004) indicates that the distribution of total income has become much more bi-polarized than unequalized for the entire sample period. Second, the rapid increase in the bi-polarization measure is attributed to the enhanced within-group homogeneity among the lower-income group as well as the widening gap between the two groups in the mean income level. Third, no such pattern exists in the distribution of labor income. Overall, the findings in the current study would support the hypothesis of a centrifuging society which is characterized by the slow disappearance of the middle class and the formation of two poles and which is observed in the United States and the United Kingdom among others.

• STI Policy Review
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• v.6 no.1
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• pp.1-23
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• 2015

Based on the work of Anand et al. (2013) we measure inclusive income growth, which combines growth in gross domestic product (GDP) per capita and growth in the equity of the income distribution. Extending the work of Causa et al. (2014), we estimate a dynamic simultaneous structural equations model of GDP per capita and inclusive income on panel data for 63 countries over the 1990-2013 period. We estimate both equations in error correction form by difference GMM (generalized method of moments). Among the explanatory variables of the level and the distribution of GDP per capita we include R&D (research and development) expenditure per capita. In OECD countries we obtain a large positive effect of R&D on GDP. R&D is found to have a positive effect on the social mobility index but its impact on the income equity index at first decreases, then switches around to become slightly positive in the long run. In non- OECD countries, R&D is found to decrease inclusive income, mostly through a negative growth effect but also because of a slightly increasing income inequity effect.

• The Journal of Asian Finance, Economics and Business
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• v.9 no.1
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• pp.241-248
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• 2022

This study examines changes in income for Vietnam's service labors during COVID-19. A person's income depends on several factors, such as educational level, working area, the number of activities creating jobs, the cost of living, investment, etc. This research was based on a survey of 479 workers in Vietnam's service sector, who were evenly distributed across sectors (tourism and aviation) and workplaces (State and private). Based on the collected data, the REM regression model was used to analyze the factors influencing employee income when COVID-19 took place. The research returns show that the COVID-19 pandemic has had a considerable influence on labor incomes, and there are income disparities that exist between workers by work area and by gender. This study indicates that workers' wages in Vietnam decreased by an average of 12.22 million VND per month after the outbreak of COVID-19. In addition, the results also show that the income of workers after COVID-19 differs depending on their position (the average salary of laborers working in the public sector is about 3.946 million VND higher than the average salary of laborers in the private sector); furthermore, the incomes of workers also vary by gender.

• The Journal of Asian Finance, Economics and Business
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• v.7 no.7
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• pp.489-495
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• 2020

Income inequality is a problem that is not only faced by developing countries such as Indonesia, but also developed countries. The difference lies in the proportion of an inequality that occurs and the solution to the level of difficulty experienced. Thus, this study aims to empirically analyze the unequal distribution of population income in Java island, Indonesia, by including the human development index, open unemployment rate, foreign investment, and the degree of fiscal decentralization. The research model used in this study was multiple linear regression to analyze the panel data with a fixed-effect model approach. The results of the study showed that human development index, open unemployment rate, and the degree of fiscal decentralization had a positive and significant effect on income inequality in Java island. Meanwhile, foreign investment had a negative and insignificant effect on income inequality in Java. It is because the value of the investment is more invested in the capital-intensive sector. The government is expected to be more selective in accepting foreign investments that enter the country, especially in Java, and it should be labor-intensive investments. In addition, the government has to equalize locations for foreign investment without reducing good cooperation with these foreign investors.

• KDI Journal of Economic Policy
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• v.43 no.2
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• pp.1-22
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• 2021

The effects of social distancing measures on income distributions and aggregate variables are examined with an off-the-shelf heterogeneous-agent incomplete-market model. The model shows that social distancing measures, which limit households' labor supply, can decrease the labor supply of low-income households who hold insufficient assets and need income the most given their borrowing constraints. Social distancing measures can therefore exacerbate income inequality by lowering the incomes of the poor. An equilibrium interest rate can fall when the social distancing shock is expected to be persistent because households save more to prepare for rising consumption volatility given the possibility of binding to the labor supply constraint over time. When the shock is expected to be transitory, in contrast, the interest rate can rise upon the arrival of the shock because constrained households choose to borrow more to smooth consumption given the expectation that the shock will fade away. The model also shows that social distancing shocks, which diminish households' consumption demand, can decrease households' incomes evenly for every income quantile, having a limited impact on income inequality.

• Journal of Labour Economics
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• v.37 no.3
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• pp.1-44
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• 2014

This paper investigates the effect of household formation on the mapping from wage inequality to income inequality, which usually is smaller than the former. Added workers, income pooling among household members, and shared consumption are the factors that make income distribution less inequal than wage distribution, and the effect of income pooling appears to be the greatest. This suggests than the increase in nuclear families and the resulting increase of old families have a potential effect of worsening income inequality at the absence of sufficient private income transfers among the two households. A simple counter-factual estimate indicates that income pooling among the children's and parents' households can efficiently and sizeably reduce income inequality.

• Asia-Pacific Journal of Business
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• v.8 no.2
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• pp.15-30
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• 2017

This study analyzes the relationship between income inequality and economic growth. Gini coefficient (market income), the deciles income inequality index and per capita real GDP were analyzed. Furthermore, various cointegration tests were tried to improve the reliability of the test results. From the weak exogeniety test of between per capita real GDP and the Gini coefficient (market income), per capita real GDP has a weak exogeneity while the Gini coefficient is endogenous. From the various cointegration tests, we found out that there is a cointegration between Gini coefficient and per capita real GDP. Moreover, it is estimated that per capita real GDP has a positive effect on the Gini coefficient (market income). In the VAR Granger causal analysis, per capita real GDP affects the Gini coefficient (market income), but it is difficult to say that the Gini coefficient (market income) always has an effect on per capita real GDP. Also, the impulse-response function of the VAR model shows that per capita real GDP temporarily reduces the Gini coefficient (market income), and then increases it over time. Accordingly, it is necessary for the policies to improve not only the distribution structure but also income distribution through economic growth.