우리나라의 지역 간 소득격차 추이 및 요인 분석

A Trend and Factor Analysis of Regional Income Inequality in Korea

Estimated regional inequality level using three kinds of indices - GINI coefficient, the coefficient of variation(CV) and Teil index. These three indices showed a very similar pattern. The values of the three coefficients were decreased from 1970 to 1995, and then were increased from 1996 to 2005. It means that the regional economic inequality had been reduced in the period of 1970～1995 but has expanded since mid-1990s. To measure the dynamics of regional inequality in the period of 1970～2005, we tested for an unconditional and conditional β-convergences in per capita GRDP using panel data across 11 regions in Korea for 1970～2005 and across 15 regions in Korea for 1994～2005. We also estimated the convergence coefficient β including each region's production ratio of knowledge-based industries to all industries for the period of 1994～2005. This conditional convergence test is based on the hypothesis that the regions were locked-in to certain industries during the process of industrialization in Korea. And the region's growth patterns would be dependent on the characteristics of each region's specialized industries, particularly the degree of knowledge intensity. The estimation results illustrate that one of the reasons why regional inequality has increased in Korea since mid-1990s might be the difference in the degree of knowledge intensity of each region's specialized industries.