The Korean Journal of Economic Studies
Spatial Distribution of Industries and Regional Growth Inequality: Gini Decomposition and LQ Analysi
Haemyoung Ji(Kangwon National University)Year 2012Vol. 60No. 1
Abstract
The relation between spatial distribution of industries and regional growthinequality is studied by Gini decomposition method and LQ analysis. Theregional growth differentials in Korea have widened from 1990 to 2009 withrespect to per capita GRDP. Manufacturing industries, such as basic materialsand fabrication, and electronics․gas․water․construction are major industriesthat contribute to deepen regional growth differentials evaluated by Gini indices.Producer and consumer services mitigate the inequality compared withmanufacturing industries by lowering the Gini indices through even distributionsacross regions. The stable LQ variances of all industries except for basicmaterials industry have been maintained since 1990. However, the differencesamong industries are substantial. Agriculture, forest, fishery and miningindustry which basically locates in the production base lower the regionalinequality by accumulating at the middle-income regions. Basic materials andfabrication manufacturing industries locate in the high-income regions, therebyraising the inequality more than the other industries. Producer servicesbasically have distributed over the major metropolitan-cities which largely rankin the lower-income regions. Consumer services generally grow in all regionsbased on the local markets and relatively lower the inequality. The basicmaterialsand fabrication manufacturing would be major industries to intensifythe regional growth differentials. The facts that the industries grow in thesame regions and the growth of fabrication manufacturing is not confined interms of spatial agglomeration are one of major concerns, because they maystrengthen the regional inequality. Services have been major industries tolower the inequality. In this sense, policy measures should focus on developingthese industries for the balanced regional growth.