• KDI Journal of Economic Policy
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• v.33 no.2
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• pp.145-175
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• 2011

We analyse an overlapping generation model in which economic agents, especially their income distribution, influence environmental policy and redistributive policy through political decision making process. In an economic equilibrium which doesn't consider political process, the introduction of environmental policy is shown to increase economic growth rate. In contrast to an economic equilibrium, environmental policy can be adopted when economic inequality reduces to a certain threshold in a political economic equilibrium. The adoption of environmental policy, on the other hand, incurs the demand of strengthened redistributive policy, which in turn decreases economic growth in a short run. We discuss broad policy implications based on our political economic analyses.

• 한국사회정책
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• v.25 no.3
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• pp.3-35
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• 2018

This article critically reviews the arguments that deny the financial feasbility and effectiveness of universal basic income as an alternative to existing social security systems and makes some suggestions to design effective and efficient basic income schemes. Regarding the financial feasibility of universal basic income, I argue that replacement of the existing regressive tax expenditures with universal basic income without raising tax rates can effectively reduce tax burden or provide income support to a majority of people except the rich. Addition of basic income to the tax base and reduction of the number of beneficiaries of public assistance and the amount of cash payment for them can further help save money. Regarding the redistributive effect, I note that the targeting ability of the existing social security systems is not good and that "the paradox of redistribution" that universal-type programs tend to be more redistributive than selective programs applies to universal basic income as well. I demonstrate significant redistributive effect of a hypothetical revenue-neutral basic income scheme and reviews several empirical studies done in Korea and abroad to show that basic income can be more effective in redistribution than social insurances or public assistance programs. Lastly, I emphasize the need to construct a reliable tax-benefit microsimulation model to help researchers to study redistributive effects of basic income schemes and other taxes and social policies.

• KDI Journal of Economic Policy
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• v.12 no.2
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• pp.121-134
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• 1990

This paper examines the redistributive potential of capital taxations within the two-class overlapping generations model, where only capitalists are intergenerationally linked through heritable capital stocks. In particular, the dynamic welfare incidence of two different capital taxations is examined; first a capital income tax levied uniformly on interest earnings, and second, an estate tax levied on the intergenerational transfers of capital stock within the capitalists' families. Redistributive effects are measured by examining how the permanent and unanticipated changes in proportional capital income tax and estate tax rates affect workers' welfare when the proceeds in each period are distributed, in a lump-sum fashion, among young workers. It is shown that, except for in the short run, both the capital taxes are ineffective and may actually lower the workers' steady state welfare through the shifting of tax burden toward workers from capitalists. Differential incidence analysis shows that redistributive potential is diminished further when the lump-sum transfers are financed by the estate tax rather than by the capital income tax. Although the model examined in this paper is based on simple and strong assumptions, this study suggests that redistributive policy using the capital taxations may only have distortionary effects in the long run, without improving workers' welfare, by incurring dead-weight loss unless additional fiscal measures are implemented to increase the investment incentives.

• Health Policy and Management
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• v.14 no.2
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• pp.17-33
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• 2004

The present study attempts to examine the progressivity of health care financial sources based on the income approach, for which it decomposes redistributive effects into vertical, horizontal, and re-ranking components. The study data include Korean Household Expenditure Survey (2000) conducted every 5 year by Korea National Statistical Office. The data were sampled from the national population by the multistage probabilistic sampling method, and amounts to 23,270 households. For the better application of the income approach, the study employs household total expenditure in Korea instead of total income, because the former data source is more reliable and less fluctuated over time. Progressivity of health care financing was measured by Kakwani index. Aronson's decomposition equation was used in case of the analysis where differential treatment of health care expenditure needs to be considered. Despite the progressivity of Korea's governmental contributions, total expenditure of health care showed regressive pattern, which may largely be attributable to the higher regressivity in out-of-pocket money. With the result of negative Kakwani index, differential treatment increased income redistribution biased for better-off. It is worth to note that social insurance displays not only negative Kakwani index, but also horizontal inequality, suggesting that the first step of health care financing reform should be the revision of social insurance premium rates toward effective and equable way.

• 한국사회복지학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2002.10a
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• pp.227-263
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• 2002

The Scandinavian cluster of welfare societies has for many years been considered a realisation of Richard Titmuss' institutional redistributive model of social policy. Recent reforms have, however challenged this assumption. The paper sets out to evaluate whether recent major changes in welfare provision are merely modifying the model or whether the Scandianian states are converging towards some kind of European social model. It is concluded that besides very many first order changes, such as reducing benefits, an number of second and third order changes have occurred; i.e. the institutional setting and the objective of the welfare states have changed during the 1990s. The Scandinavian welfare states are still distinct, but less so than a decade or two ago. The new elements are features usually associated with welfare models at play within the European Union. It is, hence, concluded that welfare in Scandinavia is undergoing a process of Europeanisation.

• KDI Journal of Economic Policy
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• v.12 no.4
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• pp.97-111
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• 1990

This paper examines the effect of redistributive inheritance tax on income distribution and social welfare. The model used here is the Overlapping-Generations Model consisting of individuals with different bequest motives where the lifetime income distribution in each cohort is determined endogeneously by the dynamic bequest process. It is shown that the introduction of redistributive inheritance tax can improve the vertical equity in the sense that the increase in tax rate reduces the coefficient of variations of intra-cohort income distribution in steady-state. However, it is also shown that, the effect on social welfare, when measured by Benthamite SWF, is uncertain in general. The numerical simulations show that, in spite of its equity-enhancing effect, the tax increase can actually lower the steady-state social welfare within the plausible range of parametric values, through the long-run output effect as well as the deadweight welfare loss incurred by tax distortion. Hence, the problem of equity-efficiency trade-off can arise in this case. However, if both the market interest rate and the elasticity of marginal utility in individual's preference function are sufficiently high, it is shown to be possible that the steady-state social welfare is enhanced by the introduction of inheritance tax.

• 한국사회정책
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• v.25 no.4
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• pp.301-321
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• 2018

The purpose of this paper is to analyze whether any combination of the quantitative and qualitative aspects of the public pension system is a causal factor for the elderly poverty reduction rate. For this, fuzzy-set qualitative comparison analysis was conducted with the poverty reduction rate as the outcome condition variable, the public pension expenditure ratio, the redistributive index, the first floor public pension weight, the second floor public pension weight and the second floor forced private pension weight did. As a result of the analysis, the combination of high public pension expenditure ratio, low two - tier public pension share and high two - tier compulsory private pension share has become a cause of high poverty reduction rate of the elderly. And more various forms of association were found as the cause of low poverty reduction rate of the elderly. This paper suggests policy proposals based on the above findings.

• The Journal of the Korea Contents Association
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• v.19 no.4
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• pp.403-412
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• 2019

There has been a lively debate between self-employed and wage workers on the speed of minimum wage hikes. Minimum wage is a redistributive policy that evokes confrontation and conflict whereby individuals' views on the policy coincide with their material self-interest. With this in mind, the researcher analyzed whether an individual's labor market status was explanatory to his/her view on the speed of minimum wage hike. Moreover, in light of the likelihood that the varying degree to which self-employed can afford minimum wage hike affects their differential preferences for the policy, the researcher attempted to identify whether there was a moderation effect of income class on the relationship. In the actual analysis, the researcher investigated employment policy survey dataset using a multinomial logit model. The results suggest that, among self-employed, 'gradual increase' and 'rapid increase' of minimum wages are less preferred $vis-{\grave{a}}-vis$ 'minimal increase,' which is the reference. As to the moderation effect, when a self-employed has a middle-income class status, his/her negative preference for the policy is likely to be attenuated. One implication of this study is that subsidizing self-employed small business owners, who are most dissatisfied with the current speed at which minimum wages rise, would be an effective prescription on reducing social conflicts.

• Korean Journal of Social Welfare Studies
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• v.49 no.2
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• pp.211-232
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• 2018

The purpose of this study is to verify whether the types of welfare attitudes are classified according to the welfare regimes. Specifically, this study tried to confirm whether the satisfaction and needs of the role of government for inequality reduction are divided into welfare regimes. For the purpose, this study conducted a comparative analysis of 24 European countries using the 6th European Social Survey (2012) and the Eurostat data. The main results of the analysis are summarized as follows. First, there is a difference in the satisfaction and needs of the role of government for the inequality reduction among the welfare regimes. Generally, the satisfaction is high in the Nordic countries, while the needs is high in the southern and eastern European countries. Second, there is a correlation that the country where the per capita welfare expenditure level is high and the redistribution effect is strong have high level of the satisfaction. Third, the types of welfare attitudes are classified according to the welfare regimes. In particular, the Nordic countries are converging into a cluster with low needs and high satisfaction. These countries have high level of social spending and strong redistributive effects. This study suggested policy implications based on the above results.

• 한국사회정책
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• v.25 no.4
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• pp.3-38
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• 2018

This study aims to analyse the redistributive impact of the welfare state growth in Korea after 2000s and establish whether there are people excluded from the benefits of the growth. The growth of the Korean welfare state has been achieved by universalizing welfare benefits under the social insurance-centered institutions which are the legacies of the productivist/developmental welfare regime. When it comes to redistribution impacts, the welfare state growth improved inequality among old age populations to a certain degree due to the introduction of the Basic Pension. On the other hand, welfare benefits for the working poor population has hardly been improved in spite of the growing welfare state. It can be said, therefore, that low-income working-age populations have been excluded from the growth of Korean welfare state. These groups are mostly in middle-old age, unemployed or precariously employed and half of them were female householders. The exclusion of these groups from the Korean welfare state shows that the growth of the Korean welfare state was unbalanced. To include the excluded into the Korean welfare state, it is necessary to increase non-insurance social provisions, extend the range of application of the social insurances, integrate income protection, employment service, and vocational training for the working poor, and combine universal and targeted welfare benefits.