Up Lim

Are Neighbourhoods Self-stabilising? Exploring Endogenous Dynamics

This study investigates how neighbourhoods respond when they are upset by transient, exogenous shock(s). Do they quickly revert to their original, stable state, gradually return to this stable state, permanently settle into another stable state, diverge progressively from any steady state, or evince no discernable pattern of response? A self-regulating adjustment process promoting stability appears the norm, based on econometric investigations of multiple, annually measured indicators from census tracts in five US cities. Stability quickly re-established at the original state characterises most of the indicators analysed: rates of tax delinquency, low-weight births, teenage births and home sales volumes. Violent and property crime rates also evince endogenous stability at the original state, but take considerably longer than the other indicators to return to it when the exogenous shock is sizeable. Moreover, this crime adjustment process is considerably slower in neighbourhoods with higher poverty rates.

Knowledge Externalities, Spatial Dependence, and Metropolitan Economic Growth in the United States

My purpose in this paper is to investigate the extent to which metropolitan economic growth is related to various types of knowledge externalities in high-technology industries in metropolitan areas for the period 1990–1999. The empirical results indicate the relative importance of the effects of high-technology specialisation externalities on metropolitan economic growth. In this paper I also find positive and highly significant evidence of spatial dependence in metropolitan economic growth. This finding suggests that spatial spillover effects in metropolitan economic growth transcend metropolitan boundaries. From the convergence point of view, I have not found significant evidence of absolute convergence for the period. However, after controlling for structural characteristics determining metropolitan economic growth, I have found significant evidence of convergence for the period.

Exploring the Spatial Distribution of Occupations Vulnerable to Climate Change in Korea

This article aims to identify occupations at risk of climate change, and explore their spatial distribution by investigating their spatial concentration and cluster patterns in Korea. In order to identify professions vulnerable to climate change, we used three criteria: (1) exposure to the risks of job activities; (2) sensitivity to work environments; and (3) adaptive capacities based on the socioeconomic conditions of a person’s occupation. We identified 26 vocations as vulnerable, which corresponds to 16.5% of the total number of careers. Then, we used exploratory spatial data analysis (ESDA) techniques to examine the spatial distribution of jobs at risk of climate change effects. Endangered occupations show the extremely uneven spatial distributions across regions, indicating that there is a wide range of values for the proportion of endangered occupations across regions. The regions with high proportions of professions in jeopardy show clear spatial clustering based on the large geographic belt from the southwest to the northeast. Our results suggest that policymakers should consider the specific geographies of vulnerable occupations. The current work provides helpful hints on regional policy coordination to promote a virtuous circle of sustainable regional development.

The decomposition of regional wage differentials in Korea

Abstract This research note explains the wage differentials between the capital region and the non-capital region in Korea. It analyzes what proportions of the wage differential are due to differences in productivity-related labor characteristics and due to differences in how markets value the endowments of their workers. In a decomposition analysis, we find that approximately 26.9% of the wage differential is due to differences in productivity-related labor characteristics in the capital region. With respect to the endowments of the wage-determining characteristics, a substantial portion of the overall wage advantage of workers in the capital region can be explained by the higher average level of education. It is also found that the more detailed the occupational breakdown, the more of the wage differential that can be explained. These results suggest that the use of more detailed occupation classifications alleviates aggregation bias that may be a significant factor in coarser classification schemes.

The spatial dimension of human capital segregation: An empirical investigation for Seoul, Korea

Abstract This research note examines changes in the spatial patterns of human capital segregation in Seoul, Korea from 1995 to 2005, and investigates whether spatial clusters of human capital can be isolated across neighborhoods in the metropolitan area. The major finding is that the proportion of college-educated individuals in the population aged 25 years and over increased significantly over the 1995–2005 period, and human capital segregation declined. However, the spatial distribution of human capital is by nature clustered and tends to be more clustered over the period. The neighborhoods with relatively high level of human capital tend to be localized close to other neighboring areas with high level of human capital. Most of these neighborhoods are located in the southern parts of Seoul, and these spatial clusters, which can be considered as hot spots of human capital, persist throughout the period. These results may have important implications for how the spatial dimension of human capital segregation contributes to the manner through which neighborhood effects of human capital impact metropolitan socioeconomic outcomes.

Wage Differentials between Heat-Exposure Risk and No Heat-Exposure Risk Groups

The goal of this study is to investigate the wage differential between groups of workers who are exposed to heat and those who are not. Workers in the heat-exposure risk group are defined as workers who work in conditions that cause them to spend more than 25% of their work hours at high temperatures. To analyze the wage differential, the Blinder-Oaxaca and Juhn-Murphy-Pierce methods were applied to Korea Working Condition Survey data. The results show that the no heat-exposure risk group received higher wages. In most cases, this can be interpreted as the endowment effect of human capital. As a price effect that lowers the endowment effect, the compensating differential for the heat-exposure risk group was found to be 1%. Moreover, education level, work experience, and employment status counteracted the compensating differentials for heat-exposure risks. A comparison of data sets from 2011 and 2014 shows that the increasing wage gap between the two groups was not caused by systematic social discrimination factors. This study suggests that wage differential factors can be modified for thermal environmental risks that will change working conditions as the impact of climate change increases.

Effects of Urban Spatial Structure on Travel Behavior and Transportation Energy Efficiency in Korea

This study evaluates transportation energy efficiency with respect to various forms of urban structures. Empirical models are developed by using the population and employment of the cities in Korea. Spatial structure is measured by the degree of concentration and the clustering index and uses relative and weighted indices. A two-stage least squares model is developed because spatial structure primarily affects changes in travel distance, which consequently affect traffic volume and transportation energy consumption. Empirical results vary with city size. Small cities with deconcentrated and clustered areas are transportation energy efficient and effective in promoting clustering within a specific region and enhancing accessibility for employment and service. On the other hand, promoting concentration and declustering patterns are a more effective strategy to decentralize population, mitigate agglomeration diseconomies, and ultimately reduce transportation energy consumption in large cities. Therefore, population and employment level within a spatial distribution should be understood to adopt an optimal spatial strategy for influencing travel behavior and energy consumption.

Exploring the Geography of Educational Segregation in Seoul, Korea

This chapter examines changes in the spatial patterns of human capital segregation across neighborhoods in the Seoul metropolitan area during 2000–2010 and investigates the following three questions: (1) to what extent are highly educated individuals segregated from less-educated individuals across neighborhoods, (2) to what extent do highly educated and less-educated individuals live in isolated neighborhoods with individuals of similar educational status, and (3) to what extent can spatial clusters of highly educated or less-educated individuals be isolated across neighborhoods? Four major findings were obtained. First, the number and proportion of people with at least a college education increased markedly over time. Second, according to results of the dissimilarity index and the generalized dissimilarity index, the degree of segregation is highest for the group with more than a college education vis-a-vis the group with less than a high school education. Additionally, it is lowest for the group of high school graduates vis-a-vis the group with less than high school education in the Seoul metropolitan area over time. Third, the information theory index shows that the degree of diversity and human capital segregation steadily increased over time. Fourth, highly educated individuals tend to be clustered in the southern parts of the Seoul metropolitan area. By contrast, less-educated individuals were more likely to be concentrated in the mid-northern parts of the metropolitan area. The results of the empirical analysis in our study have implications for regional policies and can inform future research on the social processes and mechanisms of polarized educational segregation.

Regional Economic Impacts Induced by u-City Construction in Wha-sung and Dong-tan City

In recent year, the u-City construction projects which integrate IT technology into urban infrastructures are being pushed forward by many local governments. These projects contain various purposes in an aspect of regional economy : to reinforce a competitiveness of region by increasing efficiency of urban managements and to revitalize regional economy by stimulating the regional high-tech industries that related to u-City construction. In this context, regional economic impact assessment of u-City construction projects is particularly important because, it give us information about effectiveness of u-City construction policy as a stimulus of regional high-tech industries and the policy feasibility of u-City construction projects that can be a base of public projects. However, it is challenging to assess the impact of u-City projects on regional economy properly due to a lack of understanding about industrial classification, and specific industrial inputs related to u-City construction. In this study, we suggest u-City industrial classifications, and specific-industrial inputs induced by u-City construction projects based on associated legislations, business report for a u-City construction, and results from previous studies. Using these classification and industrial input, we also investigate the regional economic impacts of a u-City construction project in Wha-sung and Dong-tan cities employing Input-output analysis. The empirical results suggests that u-City industries have relatively high in production inducement, and value added inducement compared to input of other industrial sectors. These results indicate that regional economic impact of a Wha-sung and Dong-tan u-City construction project are relatively high, but economic impacts of u-City construction projects vary according to the regional industrial structure, and the specific expense accounts of u-City construction projects.