earticle

영어

The unequal distribution of regional income in Korea has been apparent since early 1960s. The regional income inequality has been considered as an important factor not only fostering conflicts between regions, but also impeding social harmony. Per capital income, which is measured as 'GRDP/population', is one of the most frequently used indices to measure the degree of regional income inequality in the previous literature. However,there have been criticisms on the use of this measure because in general there is a mismatch between the residents and employees in the regions. The purpose of this study is to identify the level of economic inequalities between four major metropolitan areas outside the capital region of Korea (Seoul Metropolitan Area) using both GRDP/population and GRDP/employees indices. The Gini index of overall income inequality was decomposed in the between-region and within-region components. The empirical findings of the analysis show that the overall incomes of Busan and Daejun are higher than those of Gwangju and Daegu over the period bewteen 2005 and 2009. Moreover, The widening income gap has been identified among the metropolitan areas outside the capital region of Korea.