This study shows Korean housing policies have been changed or maintained by institutions which are behavior rules and formal or informal procedures based on the view of historical institutionalism. And also, This study determines what that housing ins...
This study shows Korean housing policies have been changed or maintained by institutions which are behavior rules and formal or informal procedures based on the view of historical institutionalism. And also, This study determines what that housing institutional character is, how long the character is maintained, and how the changes of housing policies are restricted by the institution. Eventually, the purpose of this study is to explore the rules of korean housing policy changes and confirm the path dependency of housing policy changes. There are important factors, such as government ideology, and the structures of the industries and of the housing administration, and the relationships of actors, in which institutional characters are formed and maintained.
In carrying out this study, Korean housing policies were divided by objectives such as, the controlling of real business cycle, the controlling of housing business cycle, and the improving of residences for people in the low-income bracket. The method of controlling the real business is subdivided into housing policy that attempts to activate the real estate business and housing policy that is designed to cool off the real business. And, the method of controlling the housing business is subdivided into housing policy that attempts to activate the housing business and housing policy that is designed to cool off the housing business.
In the past, there was no definite distinction between housing policy for the real business and housing policy for housing business. However, in this research these two concepts of the real business and the housing business for housing policy are differentiated. This classification helps us to draw out the institutional characters which Korean housing policy is impacted by the real business.
In order to analyze this issue historically, Korean housing policies are divided into four periods with distinct borders, these borders are the instances of the main three economic crises of the last half century. The first is the period before the second oil crisis of 1980. This period is called "the period of start of economic development and germination of housing policies”. The second period is the on from the second oil crisis to the IMF money crisis. This period is called "the period of continuing economic development and forming of housing policies". The third period is the period form the IMF money crisis to the subprime crisis. This period is called "the period of overcoming the economic crisis and the magnification of housing policies". Finally, there is the period from the subprime crisis to the present, which is called "the period of jumping from economic development and fixation of housing policies."
The results of this research are as follows. First, Korean housing policy has changed in terms not only of the housing business but also in terms of the real business. Concretely, the three major economic crises were accompanied by a drop in the real business. and in the housing business; as a result, the government announced housing policy in order to activate the housing business and real business. It is observed the regularities of housing policies to increase supply and investment of houses in order to revitalize real economy as well as house demand expanding to revitalize the depressed state of the house market. From these regularities, one of main characteristics of korean housing institution is a tool of adjusting the real business or the development of economy.
The characteristic of housing institution as a method of adjusting the economy appeared in earnest from the second period. Especially in spite of the three times onset of economic crisis, there were no changes and only a continuing in housing institution in spite of critical juncture.
Second, the formation and continuation of institutional characteristics are known to be effected by the following factors. The first factor is the industry structure, in which the Korean construction industry is seen to have a higher value than that of any other industry. For this reason, increasing the house supply and providing investment help to overcome any economic crisis are considered to be priorities. The second factor is the system of the housing administration is the Ministry of Land Transport and Maritime Affairs. However, it is possible for the Ministry of Strategy and Finance to intervene in many aspects of housing policy. For example, the Economic Planning Board had the right to adjust and to determine the overall planning and policies. It had the right to determine budget allocation for revenue and annual expenditure, and to set financial policies, and tax policy as it is related to housing. When financial crises came, these ministries exercised the power to control the housing policy for revitalizing economic with sacrificing other values, including the stabilization of people's housing. Also, the Economic Planning Board had the strong power and right to attempt to rapidly develop the Korean economy during the 1960s and 1970s. This historical heritage continues to the present.
The third factor is the nature of the relationship between these actors. The rapid development of Korea brought about urbanization. As a result, in Seoul and the metropolitan area, the housing market was caught in a condition of absolute shortage. In these circumstances, because the government has no competence in affecting the supply of houses or direct supply such as a public rental house, the Korean government gave more benefits to construction companies and entrusted house supply to those construction companies. Due to this position of the government, the housing supply system was set up for builders rather than for consumers. The fourth factor is ideology, which the Korean government considered to be a top priority for economic development in the 1960s and 1970s. The last factor is the resources for the housing budget. The Korean government did not have a very large budget for the housing administration. Because of budget constraints, the Ministry of Land Transport and Maritime Affairs was not able to promote an affirmative house supply.
Third, therefore, housing policy as subclass of economic policy worked when economic crises occurred. Also, it was considered natural to regard housing policy as a tool of economic development. Korean housing policy has the characteristics which the means to stimulate recovery after financial crises rather than to promote a stable housing market. In addition, these institutional characteristics have constrained change of housing policy. The critical junctures have appeared to be the three economic crises however, what we found was that these economic crises ultimately did not result in changes in the system.
On the other hand, housing policy used as a tool of economic development has the side effects. For example, a rapid increase of house price or obesity of construction industry. Eventually, rising housing prices will generate a bubble of housing assets and hinder the residence stability of people. Also, the massive size of the construction industry has constrained changes of the structure of the industry, even if the economic or industrial environment changes. These side effects have caused a kind of path dependency for house policy even when another economic crisis arrives, the same sorts of policy will be prescribed. In other words, if an institution is formed to meet certain functional requirements once, the institution will persist in spite of there being new functional requirements according to changes of the social environment.
Institutions have properties that do not change frequently, but that can be changed. For example, incremental institutional change factors are cumulative and lead to ultimate changes or to critical punctures, which in turn lead to long-term stability after sudden changes. However, Korean housing policy has not changed its institutional character as a tool of economic development and a policy of control of the real economy has been formed. Nevertheless, in this study, we do not deny the possibility of housing policy change through institutional change we look for a housing policy that is not a tool of economic development, but one that advocates an improvement of housing stability.