Import Demand in Developed Economies & Korean Exports (in Korean)

This paper investigates the effects on Korean exports of demand in developed economies, and how these effects have changed since the global financial crisis. As a measure of import demand, we use import intensity-adjusted demand to take into account heterogenous import intensities across components of aggregate demand. Our estimation of a dynamic panel regression model reveals that Korea’s exports to the G7 countries were elastic with respect to the import demand of these countries until the global financial crisis, but have shifted to become inelastic since. Furthermore, we separately estimate the effects of the different components of the G7 countries’ aggregate demand (private consumption, public consumption, investment and exports). The results show that the decrease in private consumption in the G7 countries during the crisis had a significant impact in causing the decline in Korea’s exports to them, but that the increase in their public consumption since the crisis has had a significant effect on driving increased Korean exports to them. The effects of the G7 countries’ exports on Korea’s exports to them remain positive and significant during both the pre- and post-crisis periods. The effects of the G7 countries’ investments on Korea’s exports are also positive and significant, but the positive effect has weakened since the crisis. Our findings suggest that the overall effect of changes in the G7 countries’ import demand on Korea’s exports to them has weakened compared to the pre-crisis period.