• The Journal of the Korea Contents Association
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• v.17 no.9
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• pp.396-405
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• 2017

Main purpose of this study is to analyze determinants of household debt among middle and old individuals aged between 32 and 76 that include Korean baby-boomers(born between 1955 and 1963), using a HAPC (Hierarchical Age-Period-Cohort) model and Korean Welfare Panel Study 2006-2016. This study includes 86,056 individuals. Research findings indicate that aging and period effects have statistically significant relationships with household debt levels, however, cohort effects including a baby-boomer generation do not. While household debt increases by 3,530,000 Korean won as age increases by one year, the rate of increase in household debt reduces as individual ages. In addition, employment and health status at the individual level have significant effects on household debt levels. The unemployed are more likely than the employed to have high household debt levels while unhealthy people tend than healthy people to have high household debt levels.

• 한국노년학
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• v.29 no.4
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• pp.1559-1575
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• 2009

As the basic old-age pension system was enforced in 2008, the base for old-age income security was founded. However, due to the basic old-age pension played a minor role as assistant allowance, it did not reach to sufficient level to cover full income security system. It is estimated that the dependency on private transfer income among the elderly who are difficult to be economically independent is still high. Therefore the poverty rate of the elderly households, who are not economically active or who are not protected by old-age income security system, is more likely to be higher than that of non-elderly households. Based on the assumption that public transfer income system should become a central means of old-age life guarantee, this study examined the poverty mitigation effects among the elderly households by comparing the private transfer income and the public transfer income. For this purpose, we selected single-elderly-households who have been considered the most vulnerable to poverty. We used 2006- 2008 Household Income and Expenditure Survey dataset that contained single-elderly who were older than 65 years old. To understand the conditions of poverty among single-elderly-households and the degree of poverty-reducing effect originated from income transfer system, we compared the poverty rates of total households and the whole elderly households. Next, we analysed the poverty of the single-elderly-households by social demographic factors such as gender, age, and economic activity. Our major findings are as follows: First, the poverty rate of the whole elderly households were not reduced, even though the basic old-age pension and long-term care management system were enforced in 2008. Second, half of the elderly households including single-elderly-households belonged to the absolute poverty line. Relatively higher level of poverty among the single-elderly-households was found especially those who were female, unemployed, low-educated, older, and rural single-elderly-households. Third, the effect of the public transfer income on mitigating the single-elderly-households poverty showed a little progress. However, even greater poverty reducing effect was found by the private transfer income system. Fourth, in a group of the public transfer systems, the public assistance such as supporting living costs contributed more to reduce poverty of the elderly population than the public pension system did.

• KDI Journal of Economic Policy
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• v.32 no.4
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• pp.1-34
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• 2010

We conduct a comprehensive risk analysis of household debt in Korea for the first time using the whole sample credit bureau (CB) data of 2.2 million individual debtors. After analysing debt service capacity profiles of debtor groups classified by the borrower characteristics such as income, age, occupation, credit scoring, and the type of creditor business companies, we investigate the impact of interest rate and income changes on debt service-to-income ratios (DTIs) and default rates of respective debtor groups. Empirical results indicate that debt service burdens are relatively high for low income wage earners, high income self-employed, low income capital and card loan holders, and high income mutual savings loan holders. We also find that debtors from multiple financial companies are particularly weak in their debt service capacity. The scenario analysis indicates that financial companies, with the current level of capital buffers, may be able to absorb negative consequences arising from the increase in DTIs and loan default rates if the interest rate and income changes remain modest. However, the negative consequences may fall disproportionately on non-bank financial companies such as capital, credit card, and mutual savings banks, whose debtors' DTIs are already high. We also find that the refinancing risk of household debt is relatively high in Korea as more than half of household mortgage debts are bullet loans. As the DTIs of mortgage loan holders are already high, under the current DTI regulation, mortgage loans may not be readily refinanced especially when the interest rate rises. Disruptions in mortgage loan refinancing may put downward pressure on housing prices, which may in turn magnify refinancing risk under the current loan-to-value (LTV) regulation. Overall our analysis suggests that, for more effective monitoring of household debt risk, it is necessary to combine existing surveillance schemes based on macro aggregate indicators with more comprehensive and detailed risk analyses based on micro individual data.

• Environmental and Resource Economics Review
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• v.26 no.2
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• pp.257-286
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• 2017

This paper estimates the effects of imaginary repeated increases in excise duties on fuel oil consumption and on their income redistribution according to changes in consumer price index, if the inflation indexation system was introduced right after the second Energy Tax Reform ended in July, 2007 in Korea. In fact, nominal excise rates have not been adjusted since 2007. As a result, the real excise rates on fuel oils have been diminished inversely proportional to the consumer price index. Own- and cross-price elasticities of fuel oils such as gasoline and diesel oil are estimated under the general equilibrium framework based on the linear expenditure system. Counterfactual analyses through microsimulation in a static model are adopted to estimate the effects of introducing inflation indexation into the fuel tax in 2007 when the second Energy Tax reform ended on the fuel consumption and income redistribution in 2014. Microsimulations suggest that its introduction could have reduced the consumption of gasoline and diesel oil by 8.8% and 5.4%, respectively, ending up with increased excise revenue by 11.9%. The revenue increase in spite of decreased consumption is mainly because their demands are price inelastic. It could also have increased positive income redistributive effect by 0.01%p (from 0.12% to 0.13%), which is measured in terms of percentage decrease in Gini coefficient. In other words, the fuel excise on the two fuel oils decreased by 0.13% the Gini coefficient of before and after fuel tax income in 2014. This implies that the inflation indexation could have enlarged the income redistributive effect up to 0.13% in 2014, if it is introduced in 2007.

• Environmental and Resource Economics Review
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• v.17 no.4
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• pp.845-873
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• 2008

This study estimates the VSL(value of a statistical life) as well as the WTP(willingness to pay) for mortality risk reduction using sample selection model with data on liver cancer examination which is associated with little possibility of multi-purpose(i.e. joint production) in averting behavior. The marginal benefits of mortality risk reduction are estimated by applying for household production function model with medical expense and the time required for medical examination of liver cancer. Individuals are more likely to take liver cancer test if they are male, older, higher educated, those with spouse, smoker, more income of household, and more anxious about their health. The costs of liver cancer examination are statistically significantly affected with expected signs by size of mortality risk reduction, sex, period of eduction, those with spouse, and household income. The marginal effect of mortality risk reduction owing to taking liver cancer examination is estimated at 321,097 won. The costs of liver cancer examination are increased by 905 won with more one year of education period and by 1,743 won with more one million won in household income. On liver cancer examination, male spends more 12,310 won than female and those with spouse pay more 7,969 won than those without spouse. Therefore the VSL from mortality risk reduction due to liver cancer examination is 321.10 million won at mean size of mortality risk reduction and mean cost of liver cancer examination. The results of sensitivity tests on costs and effects of liver cancer test shows that the VSLs are estimated in a range from 160.55 million won to 642.19 million won.

• Economic Analysis
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• v.27 no.1
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• pp.37-66
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• 2021

This paper examines the potential impacts of COVID-19 on poverty in ASEAN countries. The first estimate, adopted from Summer et al. (2020) and Nonvide (2020), configures three scenarios of contractions in per capita household income or consumption; the impact of each scenario on poverty is calculated using poverty lines at different thresholds. In the second estimate, poverty impacts in 2020 and 2021 were projected using regression models controlling for unobserved country effects, unbalanced data, and endogeneity. COVID-19 has been shown to have negative impacts on poverty reduction in the ASEAN Member States. To reduce poverty, concerted efforts are needed to implement policies for reducing income inequality and promoting economic growth. Such efforts will not only speed up the countries' return to pre-pandemic poverty levels but also contribute to further accelerating poverty reduction.

• The Journal of the Korea Contents Association
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• v.19 no.5
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• pp.331-341
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• 2019

The purpose of this analysis is to examine the effects of health expenditure on income inequality on household income after the financial crisis by using the household income survey form 1996 to 2016. The main results are as follows. First, after the financial crisis, the gross income inequality of households has been changing steadily, though there has been a slight change in each year. Second, high-income earners spend more on health care expenditure by income level. Therefore, unequal levels are maintained. Third, the Gini coefficient of income excluding health care expenditure was calculated. The results of the analysis are larger than the Gini coefficient of total income. Income inequality is intensified by the expenditure of health care expenditure of households. The inequality of household income due to health care expenditure has been increasing steadily since the financial crisis. Efforts such as strengthening the protection of health insurance have been continuously carried out for the purpose of reducing the burden of the national medical expenses. However, it does not contribute to resolving income inequality. In the future, it will be necessary to provide a more selective medical support system to reduce the medical expenditure of the low income class.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Food Science and Nutrition
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• v.34 no.9
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• pp.1407-1413
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• 2005

Korean households' expenditures on the eating -out have been steadily increasing except for the foreign exchange crisis period. This paper aimed to examine the eating-out expenditures of salary and wage earners's households by educational attainment of household head. We modeled the demand function of eating-out in terms of income and price, examining the responsiveness of eating-out demand to changes in income and price using econometric methods such as regression, rolling regression and impulse response. This paper showed that coefficients of income and price tended to decrease as the income rises in the long-run. Specifically, the higher the educational attainment of household head is, the smaller the coefficients of income and price we. The impulse response analysis also indicated that while price shocks decreased the demand for eating-out, income shocks tended to increase tile demand for eating-out in all the educational attainments. Furthermore income shocks were much greater and last longer than price shocks at all educational attainments of household heads.

• Environmental and Resource Economics Review
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• v.6 no.2
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• pp.259-274
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• 1997

본 논문은 쓰레기종량제 하에서 가격유인책 및 다른 사회 경제적 변수가 가정의 쓰레기발생과 재활용품배출에 미치는 효과를 분석하고 있다. 개별 가정설문자료를 이용하여 가정의 쓰레기발생과 재활용품배출에 대한 구조적 방정식을 3단계 최소자승법으로 추정하였다. 추정결과 가계소득과 가족 수는 쓰레기발생량에 정의 관계로 영향을 미치며, 재활용품배출량은 가정주부의 시간가치와는 역의 관계를 가지고 교육수준과는 정의 관계를 보이고 있다. 쓰레기봉투가격의 인상은 쓰레기발생량에는 영향을 주지 않고 재활용품배출량의 증가를 통해 쓰레기수거서비스에 대한 수요를 감소시키는 것으로 나타난다. 가정에서 분리수거를 통해 재활용할 수 있는 잠재적 재활용가능량은 정부의 재활용품목의 지정 및 재활용기술에 의해 제한되기 때문에 쓰레기가격의 대폭적 인상을 통해 쓰레기수거서비스의 감소를 유도하는 것은 한계가 있는 것으로 보인다.

• KDI Journal of Economic Policy
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• v.29 no.2
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• pp.177-196
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• 2007

This paper analyzes welfare effects of revenue neutral tax reform using a small open economy dynamic general equilibrium model. We apply this model to the Korean data and examine welfare effects of various tax reforms; removal of capital income tax and/or labor income tax financed by consumption tax. We investigate both long run equilibrium and transitional dynamics. The results suggest that there are sizable welfare gains (1-3% of lifetime consumption) when factor income taxes are replaced by consumption tax. Overall gains are generated by long run gains despite short run welfare losses. However, there is welfare loss when capital income tax is replaced by labor income tax.