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Income Distribution, Regionalism and Sociopolitical Instability in Korea

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Growth, Distribution and Political Change

Part of the book series: Studies in the Economies of East and Southeast Asia ((SEESEA))

Abstract

It is well known that the Republic of Korea has enjoyed rapid economic growth since the 1960s with relatively equal income distribution. It is also known that Korea’s income distribution has improved steadily since the late 1970s. However, according to various nationwide surveys conducted through the early 1990s, the majority of Korean people did not feel that income had been equitably distributed, nor did they perceive that income distribution had steadily improved. In an effort to explain this discrepancy it has often been pointed out that Koreans have a low tolerance for perceived unequal distribution of income and a high sense of relative deprivation.1

I am very grateful to all participants of the International Workshop on Income Distribution and Social-Political Stability. (Tonyo, 26-28 January 1996) for a wide range of perceptive suggestions and especially to professors Kwan S. Kim, Ryôshin Minami, Hiroki Nogami and Toru Yanagihara for their valuable comments. All remaining errors are, of course, my own.

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Authors
  1. Kookshin Ahn
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Economics, Tokyo Keizai, Japan

    Ryōshin Minami (Professor of Economics) (Professor of Economics)

  2. Kellogg Institute for International Studies, University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, Indiana, USA

    Kwan S. Kim (Professor of Economics) (Professor of Economics)

  3. University of New England, Armidale, New South Wales, Australia

    Malcolm Falkus (Professor of Economic History) (Professor of Economic History)

Copyright information

© 1999 Palgrave Macmillan, a division of Macmillan Publishers Limited

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Ahn, K. (1999). Income Distribution, Regionalism and Sociopolitical Instability in Korea. In: Minami, R., Kim, K.S., Falkus, M. (eds) Growth, Distribution and Political Change. Studies in the Economies of East and Southeast Asia. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-349-14356-6_4

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