• Korea journal of population studies
• /
• v.31 no.1
• /
• pp.127-146
• /
• 2008

Over the past four decades reproductive behavior has changed slowly in much of the African countries. The average total fertility rate has fallen from six or more to near five today. Between 1960 and 2000 the largest fertility decline occurred in such Northern African countries as Algeria, Libya, and Morocco. The mortality rate has decreased in most African countries. The purpose of this study is to review the pattern of demographic transition in African countries. At first, this study focuses on the fertility transition. In Africa, the total fertility rate has decreased from 6.59 to 4.85 between 1960 and 2000. The mortality rate has also decreased in most of African countries. It is also interesting to find that there is a clear difference among African countries. In terms of infant mortality rate, Libya shows the lowest rate(17), while Mali and Somalia remain still high rate(142 and 133, respectively). This study tests a path model in which infant mortality rate acts as an intermediate variable between three socioeconomic variables and the fertility rate. The findings of this paper substantiate some of our hypotheses on the interrelationships among socioeconomic variables, infant mortality rate, and fertility rate. The result also shows the indirect effects of socioeconomic variables on fertility rate via infant mortality.

• Korea journal of population studies
• /
• v.26 no.2
• /
• pp.111-145
• /
• 2003

This paper attempts to explore recent socio-demographic changes of the ethnic Korean population in Yanbian autonomous prefecture. Due to rapid decrease in the level of fertility and population ageing, Korean minority society in China has been in a process of profound transition after the introduction of the market economy and establishment of diplomatic relations between South Korea and China. The changes in demographic behaviors and in the structure of population appear to be much faster among Koreans than Hans. Results from the 2000 population census reveal that the Korean population in Yanbian, where ethnic Koreans are most densely populated in China, has been in a decreasing trends in absolute numbers and in its proportion to the total population. The growing tendency of regional mobility for work and for marriage, rapid expansion of residential areas, serious crisis of ethnic schools of Korean community, and weakening social integration and ethnic identification of Koreans in Yanbian are discussed in this study. It is expected that socio-demographic transition of Korean society in Yanbian will be even more drastic over the coming decades. The rapid changes in demographic behaviors and in the structure of population has major consequences and implications for every sphere of human life, and will present enormous challenges for the status of Korean minority society in China. Along with various statistical data on Yanbian, micro-level data as well as published reports from the 1990 Chinese population census for Yanbian and the 2000 Chinese population census are analyzed in this study. In addition to sex ratios and age ratios, various indices are calculated to analyze the characteristics and accuracy of the data from the 1990 and 2000 population censuses of China.

• KDI Journal of Economic Policy
• /
• v.45 no.4
• /
• pp.23-56
• /
• 2023

To investigate the causes of Korea's growth slowdown over the past thirty years, we estimate the contributions of major developmental factors, including i) demographic factors (changes in population growth and workforce age due to the demographic transition), ii) quality-of-life-related choice factors (changes in working hours, education, and the female employment rate), iii) structural change, and iv) the effects of productivity catch-up. Our estimates show that these four groups of factors account for approximately 90 percent of the growth slowdown, with demographic factors contributing approximately 30 percent and the other three groups of factors each contributing about 20 percent. We also show that the same factors explain most of Korea's high growth in the 1980s. These results suggest that Korea's growth slowdown is basically a consequence of its successful economic development and that the high growth and subsequent slowdown can be regarded as a single process. In addition, given that the factors examined here exhibit similar patterns of change in the course of economic development of most countries, we think that our estimation results of the relationship between economic development and changes in economic growth trends could have more general implications that go beyond Korea's experience.

• East Asian Economic Review
• /
• v.21 no.3
• /
• pp.201-230
• /
• 2017

This paper studies the long-run behavior of relative price dispersion among cities in Korea with a special emphasis on heterogeneous transitional patterns of price level dynamics. Formal statistical tests indicate considerable evidence for rejecting the null of relative price level convergence among the majority of cities over the sample period of 1985-2015. The analysis of gravity model suggests that the effect of transportation costs on intercity price level differentials is limited, while other socioeconomic factors, such as income, input factor prices, demographic structure, and housing price growth, play key roles in accounting for persistent regional price level disparities. Individual price levels are found to be better explained by a multiple-component model, and the deviations from PPP may be attributed to distinct stochastic common trends that are characterized by income and demographic structure.

• KDI Journal of Economic Policy
• /
• v.41 no.2
• /
• pp.1-39
• /
• 2019

This paper utilizes a life-cycle overlapping-generations model to quantify the welfare effects of plans to postpone the depletion of the National Pension Fund. In order for the model to incorporate the rapidly changing demographic structure of Korea fully, we build and calibrate a model in transition directly. The model is considered suitable for analyzing the effects of demographic changes on the Korean economy and the effects of plans to change the National Pension System. According to a simulation of the model, to postpone the depletion of the National Pension Fund for 30 years, the premium rate must be increased to 18.3% from the current rate of 9%. By postponing the depletion of the fund reserve, young and future generations gain significantly at the expense of the older generations. The simulation results should be, however, interpreted as meaning that the current system is unjustifiably partial to the older generations. Moreover, given the current premium rate, it is desirable to strengthen the income-redistribution function of the National Pension System.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
• /
• v.15 no.12
• /
• pp.7093-7100
• /
• 2014

This study analyzed the factors related to labor market transition of job injured workers. The Workers' Compensation Insurance Panel data ver.1, which that was surveyed by the Korean Workers' Compensation & Welfare Service in 2013, was used. Four key findings were made: first, the economically inactive populations are 7.2% and unemployed is 22.3% of occupational accident workers who finished the treatment period; second, 31.5% of laborers who returned to a new workplace went into another type of occupation; third, the results showed that socio-demographic factors, such as gender, age and education years, injury-related factors, such as the treatment period and work limitation, and workplace factors, such as company size and employment status, were associated with the return to work; and fourth, a relatively higher proportion of people who has received occupational training could not return to work and the disability grade was not associated with the return to work. These results suggest that policy makers need to understand the characteristics of labor market transition of job injured workers and develop efficient intervention programs based on the transitional labor market.

• Korea journal of population studies
• /
• v.21 no.1
• /
• pp.5-41
• /
• 1998

Over the past 30 years, Korea experienced demographic transition which typically substitutes quality(education) for quantity(number) of population. This paper decomposed labor supply into quantity and quality aspects and estimated the respective employment elasticities of economic growth in the past. Then, based on the assumptions about the future population (by age, sex and education) and labor force participation rates, the future labor supply(both quantity and quality) is projected and growth potential of the Korean economy is evaluated. The result shows that labor supply in Korea is relying gradually more on the qualitative rather than the quantitative aspect but since the increase in the former will not fully compensate the decrease in the latter, the potential growth rate of the Korean economy will be substantially reduced in the futrue.

• Land and Housing Review
• /
• v.11 no.4
• /
• pp.1-13
• /
• 2020

This research explores the generational similarities and discrepancies of socio-demographic and housing statuses between young adult children leaving the parental home and their parents. Utilizing the 20th Korean Labour and Income Panel Study (KLIPS), this study identified a total of 609 households who have left their parent home from 1999 to 2017. Two-thirds of the adult children were married couples while the rest was singles. Children's educational level was higher, and their household size was smaller than their parents. Both generations were mainly headed by employed and married men. The vast majority of the adult children lived in the same area with their parents and lived as tenants in much smaller housing than their parents. On the contrary, most parents were homeowners of a large single-family home. The generational differences were clearly observed in housing tenure, housing structure, and housing size. Although leaving parents' home is part of a transition to adulthoods (depending on the stability of the labor market and the affordability in the housing market), that process was largely triggered by the employment status that can lead to economic independence rather than their marital status. Both housing and job opportunities are important factors to determine independent life.

• Journal of the Korean Physical Society
• /
• v.73 no.11
• /
• pp.1774-1786
• /
• 2018

Phenotypic variation among clones (individuals with identical genes, i.e. isogenic individuals) has been recognized both theoretically and experimentally. We investigate the effects of phenotypic variation on evolutionary dynamics of a population. In a population, the individuals are assumed to be haploid with two genotypes : one genotype shows phenotypic variation and the other does not. We use an individual-based Moran model in which the individuals reproduce according to their fitness values and die at random. The evolutionary dynamics of an individual-based model is formulated in terms of a master equation and is approximated as the Fokker-Planck equation (FPE) and the coupled non-linear stochastic differential equations (SDEs) with multiplicative noise. We first analyze the deterministic part of the SDEs to obtain the fixed points and determine the stability of each fixed point. We find that there is a discrete phase transition in the population distribution when the probability of reproducing the fitter individual is equal to the critical value determined by the stability of the fixed points. Next, we take demographic stochasticity into account and analyze the FPE by eliminating the fast variable to reduce the coupled two-variable FPE to the single-variable FPE. We derive a quasi-stationary distribution of the reduced FPE and predict the fixation probabilities and the mean fixation times to absorbing states. We also carry out numerical simulations in the form of the Gillespie algorithm and find that the results of simulations are consistent with the analytic predictions.

• Korea journal of population studies
• /
• v.9 no.2
• /
• pp.53-66
• /
• 1986

This study was carried out to determine the mortality level and it's related demographic factors in Korea since 1942. In order to clarify the changes in structure of mortality and the causes of death, the indices such as Crude Death Rate(CDR) or Life Expectancy at Birth were used. The author examined the mortality levels and major causes of death and performed the relevant demographic analysis. The followings are the summary of this study: 1. The CDR declined rapidly till 1960's. Such improvement slowed down from 1960's to mid 1970's and stabilized afterwards. It was due to the change of age composition, namely, the increase of aging population. 2. The Life Expectancy at Birth increased rapidly till mid 1960's. But elongation of the Life Expectancy slowed down after then. Especially in female, it slowed down more. 3. Changing patterns of major causes of death summarize that, till 1960's infectious diseases were major causes of death, but recently non-infectious diseases like chronic degenerative diseases became more prevalent. 4. The elongation of Life Expectancy at Birth till mid 1960's was mainly resulted by $_4{q}_1$. But the major contributing factor of the improvement in Life Expectancy at Birth in female is he reduction of $_$\infty${q}_{50}$ recently. In male, the improvement in Life Expectancy at Birth is due to the reduction of $_1{q}_0$. recently. 5. The age-sex-specific mortality rates revealed that $_n{q}_x$ declined in common throughout the period, even though there exists some variability of their ranges as age changes. Consequently, this study seems to suggest that the demographic transition in Korea occurred between late 1960's and early 1970's. In other words, the rapid change before late 1960's was eased in early 1970's. The slow change in this period caused a stabilizing pattern. Therefore, the population change is expected to be stabilized continuously.