• Journal of Environmental Policy
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• v.11 no.4
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• pp.131-154
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• 2012

Existing researches on tax efficiency of environmental taxes mostly focuses on taxes imposed on the consumption process of the final output, or goods that create pollution during the input process of intermediate goods. The assumption here is that there is a significant relation between the consumption of polluting goods and the pollution itself. However, in reality they are not identical. This signifies that the above assumption may distort the actual results. This study classifies environmental tax into two different forms, output tax and emission tax. Theformer is the tax that is imposed on the consumption of polluting goods, while the latter is directly levied onto the emission of pollution. It then compares the efficiency of these taxes through the computational general equilibrium simulations. After analyzing the simulation, it was proven that the direct imposition on pollution, or environmental tax as emission tax, was more effective in terms of tax efficiency. Furthermore, these results were revealed as irrelevant to the assumption of homotheticity in utility function. Thus, if market-distortionary tax already exist, then the effectiveness of revenue neutral environmental tax reform will be sensitive to the assumption of homotheticity for utility function. However, environmental taxes as emission taxes have been shown to be more effective in tax efficiency than output taxes.

• Journal of Environmental Policy
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• v.8 no.3
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• pp.139-162
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• 2009

This paper confirms previous results indicating that the expenditure elasticity of demand for polluting goods plays an important role in achieving efficiency gains from tax reforms. Moreover, this paper finds that the results of the tax reforms depend not only on the size of the expenditure elasticity for the polluting goods but also on the relative size of the expenditure elasticities between polluting goods and clean goods. It also shows that in order to enhance the overall tax efficiency by the environmental tax reform, the expenditure elasticity of demand for clean goods should be larger than that of polluting goods. The result implies the following policy suggestion: When the tax authority considers green tax reforms, the expenditure elasticities should not be neglected to achieve gains in the overall efficiency of the tax system.

• Journal of the Korean Regional Science Association
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• v.14 no.2
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• pp.1-33
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• 1998

Whereas previous researches on land policy after unification dealt with principally the problem of land confiscation under the communist reign, this research tried to propose a scheme of long-term land reform which was based on case studies on ex-socialist societies' experiences during their transformation, analysis on North Korea's institution related to land ownership and use. To reform North Korea's land ownership and use by the principle of market economy, North Korean should accumulate their commencing asset necessary for private ownership of land and housing. Therefore much focus should be put on the accumulation of the commencing asset at the early state of unification. On the extension of that line, the government of the Unified Korea should try to solve the problem of land confiscation by the communist party and land privatization in the region of North Korea. For the purpose, gradual land reform is more desirable than rapid one according to the case studies on ex-socialist societies. The government should avoid policies than can result in serious fiscal burden. Active participation of local government is highly recommendable in land tax and development. On the direction of land policy, this research proposed a four step long-term scheme of land reformation in North Korea. However, later researches should put more Korea. However, later researches should put more emphasis to the unification of land institution of North and South Korea which this research couldn't deal with sufficiently.

• 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.

• 한국사회정책
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• v.20 no.3
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• pp.77-115
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• 2013

The purpose of this study is to present empirical evidence for discussion of financing social welfare via estimating optimal tax burden in the main member countries of the OECD by using Hausman-Taylor method considering endogeneity of explanatory variables. Also, the author produced an international tax comparison index reflecting theoretical hypotheses on revenue-expenditure nexus within a model to compare real tax burden by countries and to examine feasibility of tax increase in Korea. As a result of the analysis, the higher the level of tax burden was, the higher the level of welfare expenditure was, indicating the connection between high burden and high welfare from the aspect of scale. The results also indicated that the subject countries recently entered into the state of low tax burden. Meanwhile, Korea had maintained low burden until the late 1990s but the tax burden soared up since the financial crisis related to the IMF. However, due to the impact of foreign economy and the tax reduction policy, it reentered into the low-burden state after 2009. On the other hand, the degree of social welfare expenditure's reducing tax burden has been gradually enhanced since the crisis. In this context, the current optimal tax burden ratio of Korea as of 2010 may be 25.8%~26.5% of GDP based on input of welfare expenditure variables, a percent that Korea was investigated to be a 'high tax burden-low ITC' country whose tax increase of 0.7~1.4%p may be feasible and that the success of tax system reform for tax increase might be higher probability when compare to others. However, measures of increasing social security contributions and consumption tax were analyzed to be improper from the aspect of managing finance when compared to increase in other tax items, considering the relatively higher ITC. Tax increase is not necessarily required though there may be room for tax increase; the optimal tax burden ratio can be understood as the level that may be achieved on average when compared to other nations, not as the "proper" level. Thus, discussion of tax increase should be accompanied with comprehensive understanding of models of economic developmental difference from nations and institutional & historical attributes included in specific tax mix.

• Journal of Digital Convergence
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• v.22 no.3
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• pp.1-7
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• 2024

This study provides an in-depth analysis of the impact of the deepening reform and opening-up policies announced at the 20th CPC Central Committee's Plenary Session, particularly focusing on the <Foreign Investment Law> and its effects on the tax decisions and organizational restructuring of Korean companies operating in China. Using a comprehensive literature review and policy analysis, the study compares the dual legal structure and tax differences before and after the implementation of the law, assessing how legal unification has influenced the organizational forms and tax strategies of Korean companies. The findings indicate that the <Foreign Investment Law> has played a crucial role in enhancing legal consistency and tax equity between foreign-invested enterprises and domestic enterprises, thereby enabling Korean companies to manage their operations in the Chinese market more stably and efficiently. Additionally, in the context of the ongoing U.S.-China trade conflict, the law's provision of national treatment and tax benefits has proven to be a significant factor in the survival strategy of Korean companies in China. Future research should focus on empirically examining the long-term effects of this law and its impact on actual corporate performance.

• KDI Journal of Economic Policy
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• v.12 no.2
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• pp.135-149
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• 1990

Housing owners in Korea have a variety of tax advantages such as income tax exemption for the imputed rent of owner-occupied housing, exemption from the capital gains tax and deduction of the estate tax for one-house households. These tax reliefs for housing owners not only conflict with the principle of horizontal and vertical equity, but also lead to resource misallocation by distorting the housing market, and thus bring about regressive distribution effects. Particularly in the case of Korea with its imperfect capital market, these measures exacerbate the inter-class inequality of housing ownership as well as inequalities in wealth, by causing the affluent to demand needlessly large housing, while the poor and young experience difficulties in purchasing residential properties. Therefore, the Korean tax system must be altered as follows in order to disadvantage owner-occupiers, especially those owners of luxury housing. These alterations will promote housing-ownership, tax burden equity, efficiency of resource allocation, as well as the desirable distribution of income. First, income tax deductions for the rent payments of tenants are recommended. Ideally, the way of recovering the fiscal equivalence between the owner-occupiers and tenants is to levy an income tax on the former's imputed rents, and if necessary to give them tax credits. This, however, would be very difficult from a practical viewpoint, because the general public may perceive the concept of "imputed rent" as cumbersome. Computing the imputed rent also entails administrative costs, rendering quite reasonable, the continued exemption of imputed rent from taxation with the simultaneous deduction in the income tax for tenants. This would further enhance the administrative efficiency of income tax collection by easing assessment of the landlord's income. Second, a capital gains tax should be levied on the one-house household, except with the postponement of payments in the case that the seller purchases higher priced property. Exemption of the capital gains tax for the one-house household favors those who have more expensive housing, providing an incentive to the rich to hold even larger residences, and to the constructors to build more luxurious housing to meet the demand. So it is not desirable to sustain the current one-house household exemption while merely supplementing it with fastidious measures. Rather, the rule must be abolished completely with the concurrent reform of the deduction system and lowering of the tax rate, measures which the author believes will help optimize the capital gains tax incidence. Finally, discontinuation of the housing exemption for the heir is suggested. Consequent increases in the tax burden of the middle class could be mitigated by a reduction in the rate. This applies to the following specific exemptions as well, namely, for farm lands, meadows, woods, business fields-to foster horizontal equity, while denying speculation on land that leads to a loss in allocative efficiency. Moreover, imperfections in the Korean capital market have disallowed the provision of long term credit for housing seekers. Remedying these problems is essential to the promotion of greater housing ownership by the low and middle income classes. It is also certain that a government subsidy be focused on the poorest of the poor who cannot afford even to think of owning a housing.

• Environmental and Resource Economics Review
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• v.10 no.2
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• pp.235-257
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• 2001

As in other Asian countries, the Korean government provides direct subsidies to endeavors that are potentially harmful to the environment. The water sector is one of the main recipients of these subsidies. The total amount of estimated direct fiscal subsidies equals 2.200 trillion won; however, the comprehensive cost of the subsidies is estimated to be much greater because environmental and social costs were not considered in the initial calculation. Most of the fiscal direct subsidies in the water sector are subsidized to urban water areas. The percentage of fiscal direct subsidies in the urban water sector to the total fiscal direct subsidies is 79.68%, while the percentage of fiscal direct subsidies in the industrial water sector is only 4.92%. Since the ratio of fiscal direct subsidies in the industrial water sector is quite small, the negative impact of removing fiscal direct subsidies for the industrial sector may be trivial. If the Korean government cuts dowm the VAT or income tax rate while reducing several types of subsidies, it will be able to achieve a double dividend effect both on the economy and the environment.

• Korean Journal of Social Welfare
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• v.45
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• pp.72-100
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• 2001

Despite the rapid expansion of social security coverage in the 1990s, many wage earners in Korea, especially the majority of the nonstandard workforce are excluded in the social insurance programs. In this regards, the purpose of this paper is to analyze causes of the exclusion of nonstandard workers to the social insurance scheme and to suggest the feasible policy options. Through this paper, four arguments are addressed as follows. First, the main issue for exclusion from coverage of those workers is that they have no entitlement to social insurance. This is not an issue of that they fall below hours or income thresholds for the entitlement Second, the top-down process of the extension in the Korean social insurances have divided the wage earners into two groups, the insider (the included) and the outsider (the excluded). Many nonstandard workers belong to the latter category. Third, the social insurance systems have been designed for the regular workers who were characterized by a full-time with some degree of stability. Reform designed to cope with the growth of nonstandard workers must build on the existing structure of social insurance. Finally, the governance capacity by social security administration body must be improved in order to provide a basic social protection for those workers. For that, four separated social insurance administration bodies could be unified to one administrative body, or tax and contribution of social insurance could be collected by one integrated administration body, the National Tax Service.

• Journal of Agricultural Extension & Community Development
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• v.4 no.1
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• pp.57-72
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• 1997

Korean agriculture and rural sector has undergone a wide range of reform after the Uruguay Round. Major policy measure is to put finances of huge budget from tax payers since 1994 in preparation of the Rural Development Strategy and Reform Program. Both in the total amount and individual size of the subsidy and loan for eligible farmers and farmers group are large and drastically enormous than any other programs in the past. The strategy adopted was a bottom-up approach, Particularly in selecting the project with local autonomy. However, it has been still criticized as the form of centralized control of budget and decsion. In terms of the program effectiveness too, it is doubtful to judge that Korean agriculture is in a road to getting the international competetiveness as targeted. Since the local autonomy was started in 1995, the political structure has been settling in a way to be more locally institutionalized. Rural development policy, as the key point of economic and industrial dimension of local autonomy, should be initiated and practiced in real term by the local government. This paper, in this concern, in reviewing the past rural development prolicy and programs, discussed the necessary issues relevant to legal bases of land uses in Korea. Further, the direction of increasing local automous power of local government was discussed in the senses of budgetary control and decision. The power and budget should be allocated more to the rural development plans of local government in order to fulfilize integrated rural spatial development in this new era of globalization.