• Journal of Embryo Transfer
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• v.31 no.3
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• pp.267-272
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• 2016

Wholesale beef price is the critical factor for determining Korean native cattle, Hanwoo, farm's income in short-term. Wholesale beef price has seasonality due to high demand in Korean traditional holidays such as Korean thanksgiving day and lunar new year's day. Therefore, it is important to make reproduction and marketing plans for Korean Hanwoo farmers, in order to increase their farm income. However, there is no study available on changes in the expected farm income depending on reproduction and marketing schedules. This study analyzed the expected farm income per head depending on the monthly-based marketing schedules. The analysis was conducted based on the seasonality of wholesale beef price, reproduction efficiency, operating costs, relationship between carcass grade and slaughter age. The result shows that slaughter Hanwoo at the age of 29 months-old in August and January generating the highest expected farm income per head.

• Health Policy and Management
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• v.14 no.1
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• pp.44-64
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• 2004

As of 1 July 2000 a big reform was introduced into the Korean health care system: the separation between prescribing and dispensing of drugs (SPD reform). There was, however, a big financial stake associated with pharmaceuticals, particularly before the reform, because physicians as well as pharmacists were allowed to purchase drugs at much lower costs than the insurance reimbursement. In this respect, this study focuses on the change in income and profit of both doctor's clinics and pharmacies after the reform. Data from National Health and Nutritional Survey by the ministry of health and welfare were used to estimate the income or expenditure that are financed by out-of-pocket payment of the patients, while national health insurance data etc. were used for the estimation of the income or expenditure that is financed by insurers. Average annual income per doctor's clinic increased from 299 million won to 338 million won for the three years between 1998 and 2001, whereas average annual income per pharmacy increased enormously from 60 million won to 305 million won for the same period. Average annual 'profit' increase per each doctor's clinic caused by the reform itself was estimated to range from 50 to 83 million won, while that per each pharmacy, from 23 to 87 million won. In sum, while both doctor's clinics and pharmacies are beneficiaries of the SPD reform, its positive impact is particularly prominent on the latter.

• Korean Journal of Health Education and Promotion
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• v.30 no.2
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• pp.41-53
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• 2013

Objectives: As the size of elderly population living alone grows, socioeconomic diversity has also increased. This study examined if social risk factors of poor self-rated health were distinguishable between the low income elderly and their non-low income counterparts both living alone. Methods: The '2006 Elderly Health Interview Survey' conducted by D-gu in Seoul was utilized. We divided the elderly living alone into two groups depending on their economic status: low income and non-low income. Employing logistic regression, we analyzed the associations of poor self-rated health with socio-demographic factors, health-related factors, social support, the relations with children, social activities, welfare service use, and the perception of neighborhood safety. Results: Proportion of rating one's own health being poor was different between two populations. Social support was important for the self-rated health of the non-low income elderly, while welfare service use, the perception of neighborhood safety, and the relations with children were noticeable for the low income elderly. Conclusions: To better understand the health need of elderly population living alone, their heterogeneity in socioeconomic characteristics should be taken into account.

• Women's Health Nursing
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• v.27 no.4
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• pp.348-357
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• 2021

Purpose: This study aimed to explore and understand the health promoting behaviors of low-income overweight and obese women in Korea. Methods: Data were collected from 10 low-income overweight and obese women working at a community self-sufficiency center through semi-structured in-depth interviews. Individual interviews were conducted and transcribed. Deductive content analysis was done, using the MAXQDA program. Results: The health promoting behaviors practiced by low-income overweight and obese women were affected by intrapersonal, interpersonal, and organizational/ community factors. Six categories were identified and two category clusters were derived that could best describe their health promoting experiences. As main category clusters, despite "feeling that the body and mind are not healthy" participants noted "difficulty maintaining a healthy lifestyle." Overall, the participants had poor nutritional status, lacked physical activity, experienced much stress in intrapersonal level, and faced intrapersonal-level barriers to health promoting behaviors. Moreover, participants had a lack of personal will, and lack of specific information to practice health promoting behaviors, a lack of time, and too many overall burdens to earn a living for their family while trying to maintain health promotion behaviors. Conclusion: Lifestyle interventions for nutrition management, encouragement of physical activity, and stress management are needed for overweight and obese low-income women. In addition, social support and policies are needed to improve their living environment.

• Journal of the Korean housing association
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• v.26 no.5
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• pp.79-87
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• 2015

This study explored low-income households' experiences and perception of home energy cost burdens and determinants of the perceived home energy cost burdens. Between March and July 2014, a questionnaire survey was administered in Cheongju, South Korea. Among the 434 useable responses collected, responses from 218 households with monthly income less than 2,500,000 Korean Won (KRW) were compared with those of 216 households with higher incomes. The main findings are as follows. In the past three years, more than 10 percent of low-income households had had their electricity cut off; 5.7 percent had had their city gas cut off. To pay for their home energy expenses, nearly 70 percent of the low-income households had had to limit their heating, cooling or spending for other necessities; 38.3 percent had to borrow money. Low-income households reported more problems paying for home energy than higher-income households did. Households with more negative evaluation of rainwater leak, no one staying at home all day, monthly income less than 1,500,000 KRW and householders in their 40s and 50s tended to perceive a heavier home energy cost burden. Finally, the most popular support programs were fuel assistance and discounts on energy bills.

• Journal of the Korean Society of School Health
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• v.22 no.2
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• pp.25-36
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• 2009

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to estimate income-related health inequalities among adolescent population across regions in Korea. Methods: Data of 8,456 adolescents from 1998, 2001, 2005, 2007 Korean Health and Nutrition Examination Survey were used for the analysis. True health status was proxied by self-rated health and overweight status. Per capita income was computed from household monthly average income adjusted by consumer price with base year 2005. Adolescent health inequalities were estimated by Concentration Index (CI) across income and space. Results: Ill health score was related with age (p<0.0001), gender (p=0.0155) and income (p<0.0001). Negative relationship between income and ill-health indicated that higher income group tended to enjoy better health and less overweight. These evidences suggested ill health were accumulated on the economically disadvantaged adolescents. The size of health inequalities (ill-health score) were estimated as CI=-0.057 and CI=-0.030 across income groups and regions, respectively. Comparable measures of within region health disparities were also observed. Conclusion: Since health disparity among adolescent population was small compared to adult population, lessening adolescent health inequality could be a helpful way of mitigating health disparities in later stage. Considering life stage of adolescents, school system and local communities could play important roles toward adolescent health distribution. Although health disparity between regions existed, health disparity within a region should not be neglected.

• The Journal of Asian Finance, Economics and Business
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• v.8 no.11
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• pp.21-29
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• 2021

The objective of this study is to see how a country's level of democracy impacts the relationship between financial development and income disparity. We argue that political regimes, supported by their degree of democracy, are important for various decentralization theories to predict the impact of financial development on income inequality. Our study tests this argument using Vietnam time series data for the period 2000-2020 through the ARDL model. The financial development variable is represented by five proxies, the income inequality variable is represented by the GINI coefficient and the role of democracy is represented by the Freedom House Index. Data serving for the study is taken from data sources with high reliability. The results of the study have strong evidence that (1) financial development has a positive impact on income inequality, (2) democratic government will reduce national income inequality. (3) And a higher degree of democracy tends to mitigate the positive impact of financial development on income inequality. Thus, our study contributes to the literature by providing a new look at the mixed results regarding the relationship between financial development and theoretical income inequality. Finally, the article provides policy implications for the Government of Vietnam.

• The Journal of Asian Finance, Economics and Business
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• v.7 no.3
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• pp.277-287
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• 2020

The study examines the impact of international integration on Vietnam's rural and urban income inequalities using the regression model. The data used for this study is based on the results of the Vietnam Household Living Standards survey from 2008 to 2016 of the General Statistics Office. These surveys conducted nationwide with a sample size of 46,995 households in 3,133 communes/wards which were representative at national, regional, urban, rural and provincial levels. The level of international economic integration used in the study is the proportion of import and export turnover of GDP, the proportion of FDI and GDP by province. Due to the heterogeneity and unobservableness of the single observant in the data set, we selected the models of random and fixed effects. The research results show that during the economic integration process, the Export/GDP factor is negatively related to income inequality. The remaining factors (GDP per capita, FDI/GDP, Educational level of households, Percentage of internet users, Aggregation of foreign cash inflow and GDP of the province) are all positively related to income inequality. The findings help assess the impact of international integration on rural-urban income inequality, but also provides a concrete basis to help policymakers address income inequality in the integration process.

• Journal of Family Resource Management and Policy Review
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• v.17 no.1
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• pp.159-178
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• 2013

This study aims to evaluate the retirement income readiness of Korea, a country that-considering its high property asset ratio-is seeing an unprecedented rapid progression of graying. The result of analyzing 6,589 non-retired households in Statistics Korea's Survey of Household Finances (2011) is as follows. First, the Retirement Readiness Index, considering annual income and asset utilization income before including longevity risk, was 70.6. The index increased to 89.5 when utilizing real assets excluding houses and exceeded 100 when utilizing houses. Second, when designating 100 to be the life expectancy and taking into consideration longevity risk, there results were 52.5, 63.7, and 81.1, respectively. Third, since it is less likely for one to use all current financial assets as post-retirement income, the study reviewed the changes in the Retirement Readiness Index by applying three different levels of asset utilization ratios (50%, 75%, and 100%), which refer to the conversion ratios of current assets to retirement assets. This study is significant in that it considers longevity risk and applies asset utilization ratios in various ways, outside of the assumption that all current financial assets will be used as post-retirement income, to take a more realistic approach to retirement readiness.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.42 no.5
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• pp.275-282
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• 2009

Objectives : This study aimed to verify the association between wealth or income level and health status after adjusting for other socio-economic position (SEP) indicators among Korean adults aged 45 and over. Methods : Data were obtained from the 1st wave of Korean Longitudinal Study of Ageing (households: 6,171, persons: 10,254). We used self-rated health status and activities of daily living (ADLs) as dependent variables. Explanatory variables included both net wealth measured by savings, immovables, the other valuated assets and total income including pay, transfer, property and so on. Binary logistic regression was conducted to examine the relationships. Also, in order to determine the relative health inequality across economic groups, we estimated the relative index of inequality (RII). Results : The inequality of health status was evident among various wealth and income groups. The wealthiest group (5th quintile) was much healthier than the poorest group, and this differential increased with age. Likewise, higher income was associated with better health status among the elderly. However, these effects, as measured by the odds ratio and RII, showed that wealth was more important in determining health status of elderly people. Conclusions : This study suggests that economic capability plays a significant role in determining the health status and other health-related problems among the elderly. Particularly, our results show that health status of the aged is related more closely to the individual s wealth than income.