한국과 미국의 지역격차에 관한 비교 분석

On Regional Disparities between Korea and the US: By Using the Index of GRDP and the GDP by State

(Purpose) The existence of regional disparities among local governments is inevitable but needs to be reduced to promote the efficiency in distribution of resources and to create equity of policy environments. As a starting point of decreasing the disparities, this paper tries to trace the variations and the underlying mechanicim of the regional disparities in Korea and the US in terms of GRDP during 1985~2018. (Design/methodology/approach) In this paper, the author calculate the Gini coefficients for the GRDP and the per capita GRDP of local governments in the two nations to explore the characteristics of the regional disparities. To illustrate the mechanism of the variations in the regional disparities, this study utilizes the variance component analysis methodology. (Findings) Results clearly indicate that the degree of disparity of GRDP in Korea has been less than that in the US at the level of local governments. But, it turns out to be a reversal at the level of regions. The degree of disparity, in addition, has been gradually widened in Korea. In terms of the per capita GRDP, it reports that we need to concentrate on the changing trend of regional disparity not on the measured figures themselves. It turns out, meanwhile, that the effects of local factors on the distribution of the GRDP and the per capita GRDP should not be ignored at all. The effects of local factors, furthermore, are increasing as time goes by. (Research implications or Originality) We may emphasize the necessity of more balanced regional development policy at the level of central government in Korea. In addition, this study highlights the local governments’ policy initiatives for the improvement of their GRDPs. The analytical focus of future research should be centered on identifying the local factors to measure their effects on local developmental level.