THE DISTRIBUTION AND POLARIZATION OF INCOME IN KOREA, 1965-2005: A HISTORICAL ANALYSIS

Sung Yeung Kwack () and Young Sun Lee ()
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Sung Yeung Kwack: Howard University
Young Sun Lee: Yonsei University

Journal of Economic Development, 2007, vol. 32, issue 2, 1-39

Abstract: Four measures of inequality in the distribution of income, income sources, consumption, and saving for salary-and-wage-earner households in cities of Korea are reported. Polarization measures are also computed. Income distribution shows improvement during the early part of the 1990s, but modest deterioration during the period 1998-2005. The income inequality variations are found to result mostly from variations in wage inequality. We find that income gaps between the top 10 percent and the bottom 10 percent groups have been widening. Income inequality and polarization did increase in the early 2000s. However, no definitive evidence is found on the presence of a rising trend of polarization. Comparing the Gini and real mean income per household for the United States, Taiwan, and Korea from 1984 to 2003 indicates that Korea¡¯s Gini varied relatively favorably.

Keywords: Korea; Distribution of Income; Polarization (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: D31 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2007
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

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