This paper analyzes the input-output effects and growth factors of the Korean real estate-related industries from 1995 to 2009, a period that includes the Asian currency and global financial crises. Through this analysis, it examines whether the real ...
This paper analyzes the input-output effects and growth factors of the Korean real estate-related industries from 1995 to 2009, a period that includes the Asian currency and global financial crises. Through this analysis, it examines whether the real estate-related industries have continued to play a role in adjusting the business cycle.
To this end, I first defines the real estate-related industries broadly, by including the construction and the real estate industries, in accordance with the classification of Morishima. I then analyze the changes in industrial structure in the construction and real estate industries using the connected input-output tables at constant 2005 level prices for the 1995∼2000∼2005∼2009 periods. Using a Leontief Model, I also measure the input-output effects and inflation transmission effects of the production, value added, income and employment of the construction and real estate industries, and the Index of the power dispersion and the Index of sensitivity of dispersion of these industries using a Rasmussen Model. Using the input-output model of Miller and Blair, I analyze the growth factors of the construction and real estate industries from the demand side, by dividing them into the four elements of changes in their consumption, investment, export and technology coefficients.
Viewing the consolidated analysis findings, the proportion of the construction industry relative to industry as a whole has gradually decreased, as it achieved low growth due to the excessively sluggish investment in it in the courses of the Asian currency and global financial crises, and this trend of decline in the industry seems likely to continue into the future as well. In addition, the construction industry’s effects on employment, which draw attention from the general public, and value added, and Index of dispersion sensitivity have all declined since 1995, and this trend is expected to continue going forward. This suggests that the construction industry’s role as a policy tool for business cycle adjustment has weakened.
The share of the real estate industry in output has also decreased since it has grown only slightly due to the lag in consumption since 2000. The trends of decrease since 2000 in the industry’s effects in creating value added and in its Index of dispersion sensitivity are expected to continue going forward, and its job creation effects are projected to increase only modestly or to stagnate. This is also testament to the declining role of the real estate industry as a policy tool for business cycle adjustment.
Based on these analyses, I draw the following implications:
First, as the shares in the Korea’s output-oriented industral structure of the manufacturing and service industries will for the time being both expand, the phenomenon of post-industrialization is likely to appear on a gradual basis. In the service sector, the proportions in total output of the producer service (business services, finance and insurance, communications and broadcasting) and social service (education and health care) areas will expand further. Meanwhile, given the declines in the shares of the construction and real estate industries, they are not expected to accord with the trends of post-industrialization and the growing inclination of our economy toward the service industries.
Second, by firmly establishing a sustainable base for transactions through the setting up of a fair market order and regulatory rationalization, we need to help the real estate-related industries to take a higher position in the national economy and make the absolute volumes of their employment and value added increase. We should also work to enhance the quality of the real estate-related industries by for example nurturing and securing expert professionals, expanding R&D investment, and establishing an advanced real estate financial system. Along with these efforts, we need to change the current trends of decreasing employment and value added of these industries to trends of increase and ultimately grow them into sustainable industries.
Third, although the real estate-related industries had served as a policy tool for business cycle adjustment in the past, as the authorities boosted economic activity through public investment and the easing of real estate regulations during bust times, while curbing public investment and tightening regulations during booms, it is now difficult to expect these industries to play such a role any longer. The stimulus effects of various national projects, such as the six free economic zones construction projects and the Four Rivers Restoration Project, will not be as great as those in the past.
These analyses have found that, although the real estate-related industries played a role as a policy instrument for business cycle adjustment in the past, their role has now been reduced. The real estate-related industries should therefore develop to play the role of sustainable industries, beyond just destinations for investment, through establishment of a fair market order and rational regulations, and the nurturing of human resources.