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South Korea’s Dilemma: Prosperity, Inequality, and the Road Ahead

Se-Young Bae (Autor)

Buch | Hardcover

2026
Palgrave Macmillan (Verlag)
978-981-95-5404-1 (ISBN)

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This book investigates the policy choices and institutional frameworks that powered South Korea’s remarkable transformation from postwar poverty to global economic powerhouse, while also confronting the mounting structural challenges that now threaten its sustainability. It identifies ten factors behind Korea’s rapid growth from the 1960s to the 1990s and explores pressing socioeconomic issues such as population aging, declining fertility, high suicide rates, political and economic polarization, early retirement, youth unemployment, and the expansion of private education. The book also examines the deep inequalities within Korea’s labor market, including persistent gender wage gaps, disparities between large conglomerates and small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), the divide between regular and non-regular jobs, and the heavy reliance on self-employment. Finally, it addresses critical economic policy issues such as rising household debt, the real estate bubble, minimum wage debates, inflation, an underdeveloped service sector, an undervalued stock market, inefficiencies in public enterprises and mutual financial cooperatives, Korea’s lagging tourism industry, the push for new growth engines, carbon neutrality challenges, and outdated tax systems. Offering fresh insights and concrete policy recommendations, the book highlights both the achievements and the vulnerabilities of Korea’s economic model.

● Se-Young Bae ● Professor of finance at Konyang University, Nonsan, South Korea ● Educational background: George Washington University (BA); Catholic University of America (MA and Ph.D in economics), Washington, D. C., United States. ● Recent research includes: (1) analyzing labor market activities in Korea and Japan using Unconditional Quantile Regression (UQR) and Oaxaca-Blinder decomposition methods; (2) measuring productivity and efficiency using Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) and Stochastic Frontier Analysis (SFA); and (3) testing causality and correlation in the tourism industry using Vector Autoregression (VAR), Autoregressive Distributed Lag (ARDL), and Structural Vector Autoregression (SVAR) models. ● Ongoing research includes: “Japan’s Preconditions for Economic Revival” and “Koreans Are Mad (at high prices and various socio-economic inequality).” ● Recipient of the “Best Teaching Award” three times; served as Dean of Business and Public Administration at Konyang University; and served as Chair of the Korean Economic Association (in the Daejon/Chungnam Region).

I. Korea’s Economic Success Since the 1960s.- II . Socioeconomic Problems That Koreans Face.- III. Duality and Inequality Issues in the Labor Market.- IV. Critical Economic Policy Issues: Macroeconomic Issues: Service Sector Issues: Economic Growth Issues: Environment and Taxation.- V. Concluding Remarks.

Erscheint lt. Verlag	12.6.2026
Zusatzinfo	Approx. 320 p.
Verlagsort	Singapore
Sprache	englisch
Maße	148 x 210 mm
Themenwelt	Sozialwissenschaften ► Politik / Verwaltung
Themenwelt	Wirtschaft ► Volkswirtschaftslehre
Schlagworte	Demographic challenges • Economic Inequality • Korean Politics • korean society • Technology and society
ISBN-10	981-95-5404-7 / 9819554047
ISBN-13	978-981-95-5404-1 / 9789819554041
Zustand	Neuware