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The Impact of National and Local Development Policies on Regional Disparities in South Korea: 1985–2005

This article analyses the impact of national and local development policies on regional disparities in South Korea by measures such as maximum to minimum ratios (MMR), coefficients of variation (CV), relative mean deviations (R), the Gini index (G), and the Theil index (T). The main finding is that regional disparities in the South Korean economy gradually increased by most measures over the period 1998 to 2005. The disparities were positively correlated with policies on the spatial distribution of transportation facilities and educational services, while being negatively correlated with the national employment rate and the rate of urbanisation. This suggests that, while local governments need to identify the importance of local disparity determinants in transportation and human capital development, the national government needs to increase the levels investment in these areas. The national government also needs to increase investment levels in projects which contribute to a higher employment rate and higher urbanisation rate, as these are important factors in the reduction of regional economic inequalities.