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Economic Crisis and Income Inequality in Korea

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  • Kwang Soo Cheong

    (Department of Economics, University of Hawaii at Manoa)

Abstract

Using quarterly data for urban worker-households in Korea, I investigate trends in income and consumption inequality since the eruption of the recent economic crisis. I find evidence of sharply increasing income inequality while consumption inequality does not show any apparent trend. There is also evidence that severe deterioration in between-(income-decile)group inequality has more than offset minor improvement in within-group inequality, resulting in deterioration of overall income inequality. It is, therefore, believed that the worker households in Korea are undergoing a distinct process of income stratification parallel with the concentration of income after the economic crisis.

Suggested Citation

  • Kwang Soo Cheong, 1999. "Economic Crisis and Income Inequality in Korea," Working Papers 199906, University of Hawaii at Manoa, Department of Economics.
    • Handle: RePEc:hai:wpaper:199906
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    File URL: http://www.economics.hawaii.edu/research/workingpapers/996.pdf
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Simon Feeny & Heather Mitchell & Christine Tran & Matthew Clarke, 2013. "The Determinants of Economic Growth Versus Genuine Progress in South Korea," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 113(3), pages 1055-1074, September.
    2. Jinjing Li & Yogi Vidyattama & Hai Anh La & Riyana Miranti & Denisa M Sologon, 2020. "The Impact of COVID-19 and Policy Responses on Australian Income Distribution and Poverty," Papers 2009.04037, arXiv.org.
    3. Peterson K. Ozili, 2020. "COVID-19 pandemic and economic crisis: the Nigerian experience and structural causes," Journal of Economic and Administrative Sciences, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 37(4), pages 401-418, October.
    4. Inyong SHIN & Eiji YAMAMURA & Hyunho KIM, 2012. "The Cubic Form Hypothesis And The Flying Geese Pattern Hypothesis Of Income Distribution: The Case Of Korea," Theoretical and Empirical Researches in Urban Management, Research Centre in Public Administration and Public Services, Bucharest, Romania, vol. 7(3), pages 5-23, August.
    5. Almas Heshmati & Robert Rudolf, 2014. "Income versus Consumption Inequality in Korea: Evaluating Stochastic Dominance Rankings by Various Household Attributes," Asian Economic Journal, East Asian Economic Association, vol. 28(4), pages 413-436, December.
    6. Ragayah Haji Mat Zin, 2005. "Income Distribution in East Asian Developing Countries: recent trends," Asian-Pacific Economic Literature, The Crawford School, The Australian National University, vol. 19(2), pages 36-54, November.
    7. Mario Holzner, 2013. "Inequality and the Crisis: A Causal Inference Analysis," wiiw Balkan Observatory Working Papers 110, The Vienna Institute for International Economic Studies, wiiw.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Income inequality; the Gini coefficient and Income distribution in Korea;

    JEL classification:

    • D31 - Microeconomics - - Distribution - - - Personal Income and Wealth Distribution
    • D63 - Microeconomics - - Welfare Economics - - - Equity, Justice, Inequality, and Other Normative Criteria and Measurement
    • O15 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Economic Development: Human Resources; Human Development; Income Distribution; Migration

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