한국의 경제적 개방의 불평등 효과

Income Inequality Effect of Economic in Korea

This study analyzes the income inequality effect of economic opening using the quarterly time-series data and the ARDL (Autoregressive Distributed Lag) cointegration model for the period 1999-2016. The results of the analysis show that long-term trade liberalization after 1999 relaxes income inequality, but financial liberalization has no significant effect on income inequality, and direct investment exacerbates income inequality. In addition, economic growth and technological change have shown that inequality is intensifying, and the share of manufacturing employment is easing inequality. In the short run, most of the variables showed the same effects as those of the long run. However, the increasing proportion of imports to GDP deepened inequality in the short-run, and economic growth has different effect from the long-term one such as easing inequality. This implies that liberalization of trade should take into account the effect of short-term import’s effect, and indirect effects of technology and labor market changes.