Implications of the East Asian Financial Crisis for the New International Financial Architecture

Zang, Hyoung Soo 한국비교경제학회 2000 비교경제연구 Vol.8 No.1

One of the fundamental reasons for the recent instability of the international financial system comes from the insufficiency of international financial institutions' temporary supply of liquidity to crisis-hit countries as opposed to the sheer magnitude of volatile international private capital flows across the border. It is no doubt that International financial market would be better off if it were to have an international lender of last resort. Nonetheless, the IMF can be expected to play only a limited role as the lender of last resort. Strengthening regional monetary cooperation would help diminish financial burdens on the international financial institutions, allowing for them to effectively pursue their role as the lender of last resort. In this line of effort, the idea of the Asian Monetary Fund (AMF) has been raised in various ways, but thus far failed in getting green lights due, in part, to practicality questions. As a less impractical proposal to capitalize the implications drawn from the lessons of the Asian financial crisis, I would suggest that, as a first step, East Asian countries consider devising multilateral Regional Arranegments to Borrow (RAB). By utilizing the huge pool of foreign exchanges in the region, the RAB could work as emergency credit lines provided to participating countries that are in need of liquidity injections. The RAB do not necessarily require the hasty establishment of a new regional financial institution such as the AMF. The existence of the RAB alone would help contain unnecessaty panic-driven financial crises in the region, and we could save valuable time to devise more practical and acceptable mechanisms in the near future.

Has regional disparity been reduced in Korea?: A sectoral approach

( Hyoung Soo Zang ),( Jong Soo Lee ) 한양대학교 경제연구소 2015 JOURNAL OF ECONOMIC RESEARCH Vol.20 No.1

Since mid-1980s, notably after the Democratization Movement in 1987, Korea had moved from an unbalanced regional development policy to a more balanced one. As the first study for Korea, this paper examines the contribution of sectors to output disparity for 15 Korea``s regions for 1989-2012. The major finding is that, quite contrary to the experiences of the OECD countries presented in Bernard and Jones (1996), the services industry in Korea shows no sign of labor productivity convergence, while the manufacturing industry mostly drives labor productivity divergence, leading to the aggregate non-convergence result for 1989-2012. Thus, contrary to the popular expectation, a rapid decentralization of industries did not contribute to the reduction of output disparity across Korea``s regions. The potential impacts of economic liberalization realized after joining the OECD in 1996 and the aftermath of financial crisis in late 1997 contributed to increases in the regional disparity in Korea.

An Agenda for International Cooperation on the Korean Peninsula

( Hyoung Soo Zang ) 한국국방연구원 2002 The Korean Journal of Defense Analysis Vol.14 No.2

South Korea unfortunately does not have the resources to rehabilitate the North Korean economy on its own, thus will have to internationalize the burden through gaining international cooperation. Complacency must be avoided in this issue, yet the international community will recognize the economic benefits of an increasingly stable and secure Korean peninsula and be ready to contribute. South Korea`s North Korea policy needs more emphasis on multilateral mechanisms rather than its current policy of depending heavily on inter-Korean cooperation. It is time to consider creating a multilateral coordination mechanism to develop a framework for international cooperation on the Korean peninsula. The mechanism envisaged in this paper would aim at dealing effectively with policy dialogue on broadly conceived development strategies, investment needs and priorities of North Korea, and the transparency and verification of the economic assistance provided. Getting the aid-providing mechanism right will prevent the infusion of cash into the North that cannot be accounted for and is suspected of being misused. Such a mechanism is also needed for Japanese, US and European firms, in alliance with South Korean firms, to participate effectively in building much-needed basic infrastructure projects in North Korea and share in the benefits. North Korea must request of the international community, however, any conceivable support either bilateral or multilateral, and do what it should do in return.

Uninsurable Risks and Human Capital Accumulation

(Hyoung Soo Zang) 한양대학교 경제연구소 2001 JOURNAL OF ECONOMIC RESEARCH Vol.6 No.2

Adjustment Reforms in Sub-Saharan Africa: Consensus and Further Thought

( Hyoung Soo Zang ) 한양대학교 경제연구소 2007 경제연구 Vol.28 No.2

A Survey of International Statistics on North Korea' s Agricultural Sector

Zang, Hyoung Soo 한양대학교 경제연구소 2000 경제연구 Vol.21 No.2

본 연구는 국고보조금을 최종적으로 집행하는 주체인 지방자치단체들의 제도운영에 대한 시각에 입각한 국고보조금제도 개선방향을 체계적으로 논의한다. 이를 위해 지방자치단체들을 상대로 국고보조금제도에 대한 평가와 더불어 현재 쟁점이 되는 사항에 대해 초점을 맞춘 설문조사를 실시하여 12개 광역자치단체를 포함한 총 208개의 자치단체로부터 결과를 취합하고 이를 기초로 지방자치단체들의 시각을 파악하여 국고보조금제도 운영과 관련된 개선방안을 모색한다. 지방조정제도 중 국고보조금제도는 지방교부세제도에 이어 지방재정에 상당한 도움을 주고 있으며 특히 보건복지분야에 기여한 바가 큰 것으로 나타났다. 이러한 긍정적 평가에도 불구하고 여전히 많은 문제점을 내포하고 있다. 그 중 제도운영측면에 초점을 맞추었는데 이는 지방자치단체들의 시간이 국가의 이익보다 자신의 이익을 우선적으로 고려함으로써 편향될 가능성이 있는 부분을 제외하기 위함이다. 먼저 국고보조사업의 분류에 대하여 전체적으로는 적절하다고 하더라도 부분적으로 개선해야 할 필요가 있으며 개선이 필요한 방향은 국고보조사업과 지방양여사업간의 영역구분을 명확히 하고, 정책목표가 유사한 국고보조사업들 혹은 단일사업이지만 예산편성이 세부사업별로 나누어져 있는 경우 통합하고, 동일하거나 유사한 정책목표를 갖는 사업에 여러 부처가 관여하는 경우 주관부처를 일원화해야함을 제시하였다. 또한 국고보조금의 영세성을 극복하기 위하여 보조금의 최소규모를 상향조정하되 이 최소규모를 최종집행을 담당하는 지방자치단체에 적용하여야 함을 지적하였다. 보조금의 신청과 관련해서는 현재의 행정자치부와 주관부처로 이원화된 신청체계를 대체로 주관부처로 단일화하며 보조금의 내시 및 교부과정에 있어서도 지방자치단체의 재정 및 행정의 효율성을 추가로 고려함을 제시하였다. 마지막으로 국고보조금으로부터 발생한 이자수입을 중앙정부에 귀속시키는 것은 단계적으로 도입할 것을 제안한다. This paper makes a survey of the agricultural statistics of North Korea, to assess recent developments on the food situation following the natural disasters, which have taken place since 1995, and to provide suggestions to enhance the quality of fact finding work. As is well known, data on North Korea is very scanty. Although the North Korean authorities regularly made public a few select statistics in the 1950s and 1960s, there had not been any significant publications until recently. As part of the due diligence associated with relief operations, international organizations such as the FAO, WFP and UNDP, as well as non-governmental relief agencies, have visited and reviewed the North Korean economy since 1995, particularly focusing on its agricultural sector. Having these new sources of impartial information, outsiders can now be less uncertain about the facts. Nevertheless, there is a long way to go to reach our destination. Identifying facts is the first step in the process to bring about any serious reforms. I support the proposal of the World Bank to jointly conduct a baseline country study which covers not only the agricultural sects but also all the other economic sectors of North Korea since its economic problems are, rooted in the economic management of North Korea, in general. Responding favorably to the World Bank's suggestion would imply the ending of its closed door policy with regard to the search for facts. I believe that accepting the offer would be an indication of North Korea's willingness to change and would also start a new approach to solving its economic problems.

A Reexamination of the Cross-Sectional Kuznets Hypothesis

Zang, Hyoung Soo 한양대학교 경제연구소 2002 경제연구 Vol.23 No.2

International Cooperation for the Promotion of North Korea`s Reform and Opening

( Hyoung Soo Zang ) 국방대학교 안보문제연구소 2012 The Korean Journal of Security Affairs Vol.17 No.2

Coping with the miserable economic situation since the collapse of the former Soviet Union and to secure regime stability, North Korea opted for the “Military-First Politics” and secret development of nuclear weapons. International sanctions under the U.N. Security Council resolutions have not succeeded in altering North Korea`s behavior. Further sanctions would not work without the support of the surrounding countries on the Korean peninsula. Sanctions alone would not solve the North Korea problem and thus, besides sanctions, we need to develop policies for inducing a change from the inside by promoting reform and opening of North Korea. Encouraging a more open and market-friendly economic system would benefit the North Korean people as a whole and generate a less confrontational foreign policy. Helping North Korea to join the international financial institutions would be the first step for promoting North Korea`s reform and opening. The very first thing for the international community to do, once North Korea moves progressively towards solving the nuclear issue, is to start the process of admitting North Korea to the international financial institutions (IFIs) such as the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank, and the Asian Development Bank. The IFIs are the very place where policies for promoting reform and opening have been made and implemented. Promotion of North Korea`s economic reform and opening should be pursued adequately and, in a sense, independently of the political negotiations with North Korean authorities. Promotion of North Korea`s economic reform and opening would act as a long-term way of solving the North Korea nuclear issue.

우리나라의 친빈곤적 성장(pro-poor growth) 분석

장형수 ( Hyoung Soo Zang ),김태완 ( Tae Wan Kim ) 한국사회보장학회 2008 사회보장연구 Vol.24 No.2

여성경제활동참가가 성장과 불평등에 미치는 영향

장형수 ( Hyoung-soo Zang ),김태완 ( Tae-wan Kim ) 한국보건사회연구원 2007 保健社會硏究 Vol.27 No.2

경제성장을 설명하는 추정방정식에는 항상 종속변수의 시차변수(lagged dependent variable)가 설명 변수의 하나로 포함되는 문제가 발생한다. 따라서 기존의 패널분석기법을 사용하여 경제성장을 설명하는 모형을 추정하는 경우에는 추정 편의가 발생하게 되는 약점이 있다. 본 논문은 기존 연구와 차별되는 GMM-차분 추정방법을 사용한 동태적 패널모형을 이용하여 국가간 여성의 경제활동참가, 성장과 불평등과의 관계에 관한 실증분석모형을 추정하였다. 동태적 패널모형의 분석결과 여성의 경제활동참가가 경제성장에 직접적으로 미치는 영향은 통계적인 유의성이 없었으나, 여성의 경제활동참가가 불평등을 감소시키는 것으로 나타났다. 또한 본 연구는 불평등의 감소는 경제성장을 촉진시키는 것으로 분석되었다. 즉 여성경제 활동 참여는 불평등의 해소를 통하여 경제성장에 긍정적인 영향을 간접적으로 미치는 것으로 분석되었다. Taking as its basis Barro`s growth model, this paper carries out cross-country analysis on the effect of female labor force participation on economic growth and inequality by using the GMM-difference estimation technique of Arellano and Bond, which is based on a dynamic panel analysis. We find that when inequality index is taken into account as an explanatory variable in the economic growth regression, the effect of female labor force participation on economic growth is statistically insignificant while inequality affects growth negatively. On the other hand, the effect of female labor force participation on inequality is negative with strong statistical significance. This implies that inequality decreases as female labor force participation increases. In this sense, female labor force participation can indirectly affect growth positively through its impact on the decrease in inequality, which affects negatively economic growth.