This paper performs multiple regression analysis to identify a large number of determinants of commuting time and distance for Seoul residents using the 2 per cent public-use sample data tape of the 1995 Korean Population Census. Among the numerous findings, it is noted that commuting times and distances are longer for male workers, full-time salaried workers, workers with more education, home-owners and male workers in the prime earning years (over age 35). It is found that the household responsibility of childcare is an important factor for the shorter commuting of Korean married women.

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The aging of a housing structure not only leads to depreciation but also increases the possibility of redevelopment. If redevelopment accompanies an increase in structural density in order to accommodate the increased demand for housing, it provides large capital gains to the existing owners. In this case, expectations of redevelopment in the near future and the eventual announcement of redevelopment plans can have a strong positive impact on the current price of housing. We test this hypothesis using a hedonic pricing model designed to decompose the age effects into depreciation effect and redevelopment effect. Based on 3,474 observations on apartments in Seoul in 2001, estimation results confirm our hypothesis. While the depreciation effect dominates the redevelopment effect until 15 to 19 years of age, depending on the specification, the redevelopment effect eventually dominates the depreciation effect thereafter, causing the apartment price to increase. At 27 years of age, the apartment price decreases by as much as 45∼53 percent of the initial value, due to depreciation. However, the redevelopment effect increases the price by as much as 28∼32 percent, driving the price up to 76∼87 percent of the original value. Copyright Springer Science + Business Media, Inc. 2004dwelling age, redevelopment, hedonic pricing, apartments,

This study proposes to test for the existence of an adaptation effect of rural-to-urban migration. The design is to divide migrants into two groups at the time of observation: one group which had migrated by that time, and another group consisting of individuals who had not yet migrated but are known to migrate later. It is presumed that if the former group had not migrated it would have had a birth path similar to the latter group. Adaptation is measured by the difference between this hypothetical birth path and the actual birth path of migrants observed after they migrate. The model is tested on Korean women and found to support the existence of an adaptation effect.

The growth of an industry in a city has been explained by dynamic externality theories such as those by Marshall, Arrow and Romer, Porter, Jacobs and Storper. Each of these views describes a different mechanism by which the initial conditions for a particular industry in a city facilitate knowledge spillover extensive enough to promote productivity growth. This paper develops a model that distinguishes among these and applies it to Korean manufacturing industries. The empirical analysis concludes that productivity growth in Korea is more rapid when small firms from different industries compete, supporting theories by Jacobs and Storper. However, the impacts of specialisation and diversification vary substantially across major manufacturing industry sub-categories. Land use regulations such as greenbelt rates and excessive concentration control districts generally show significant negative effects on productivity growth.