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This article revisits a classical theme in economics, that is, the relationship between trade protection and economic performance, with an improved treatment of the endogeneity of tariffs and with consideration of alternative performance criteria. This paper also considers the effects of asymmetric protection, such as higher tariffs on consumer goods and lower tariffs on producer goods. Using sectoral data on Korean manufacturing during the period from 1967 to 1993, this study finds that the effect of trade protection by tariff tends to show up not in terms of total factor productivity but in terms of revealed comparative advantage and export shares of sectors. Such an effect tends to be greater in consumer goods, which are the main targets of promotion by higher tariffs. This study verifies the potentially positive role of tariffs under certain conditions, especially under discipline from world markets.

This study compares the long-run impact of financialization and financial development on inequality through the panel cointegration approach using OECD country data. Results show that financialization, especially high-dividend tendency in non-financial corporations, is one of the causes of rising inequality measured as the share of the top 10 percent richest. Other measures of financialization, such as the increasing size of the financial sector and financial globalization, are not robustly linked to inequality. In addition, the argument that financial development reduces inequality by relaxing the credit constraints of the poor is not supported, and no evidence shows that financial development aggravates inequality. Further, the impact of skills-biased technological change is not a robust variable in explaining inequality. A policy implication is that a simple focus on financial development is not enough to reduce inequality. Government policies are necessary, including differentiated taxation on dividends and reinvestments, which induce non-financial firms to focus on productive reinvestments from profits and discourage high dividends for shareholders.

This paper raises a fundamental question with regard to the trajectory of capitalism in Korea, whether Korea is still "fast-following" developed countries and on-track to converge with their economic systems, or continues to forge a unique development path different from that of the mature capitalist economies. In an explorative effort to answer this question, this paper compares the key outcome variables of the Korean economy with those of other economies by taking the variety of capitalism (VoC) perspective. Existing evidence may point to the possibility of Korean capitalism converging with a U.S.-and U.K.-style liberal market economy (the so-called "Anglo-Saxon" economy) in terms of slow-down of growth, rising unemployment, and higher income inequality, despite the differences in several underlying institutions, such as the national innovation systems and corporate governance and ownership. The driving forces for convergence seem to be the ongoing trend of financialization and the rise of shareholder capitalism, which is perceived to be the cause of low investment and high inequality. This paper is one of the first calls to consider a switch from the existing "catch-up and post catch-up" framework to the new "catch-up and convergence" framework when assessing the past, present, and future capitalism in South Korea.

It is known that the intake of aluminum-containing antacids is related to increases in serum concentration and the urinary output of aluminum, and that silicon intake as orthosilicic acid may facilitate renal excretion of aluminum. However, how either the amount of antacid ingested or the therapy period affects these and the subsequent interrelationship of aluminum and silicon has not been fully investigated. In addition, factors that affect the solubility of aluminum hydroxide need further clarification. A study of 122 patients with dyspepsia who were receiving aluminum hydroxide therapy and 144 healthy controls confirmed that, in the patients, serum and urine aluminum (0.39 0.21 and 2.02 2.0 lmol/L, mean 1 SD, respectively) were slightly but significantly increased (P < 0.05) compared with the controls (0.21 0.13 and 1.55 0.89). However, there was no evidence of any association between these changes and the amount ingested or the therapy period. Urine silicon although increased in the patients (716 488 lmol/L) compared with the controls (472 333 lmol/L) was not aected by the amount or time of therapy but was just signi®cantly correlated with the urine (r = +0.19, P = 0.03) and serum aluminum (r = +0.13, P = 0.05) in the combined groups. Thus, the renal excretion of silicon and aluminum may in some part be interdependent. Studies into factors that aect the solubility of aluminum from aluminum hydroxide indicated that at a pH > 3.5 the solubility of aluminum reduced signi®cantly. However, addition of 5 or 20 mmol/L phosphate had no signi®cant eect. With a synthetic food, solubility of aluminum was markedly increased even at the elevated pH 5.5. Thus, the pH, as well as the chemical complexity of the mixture, is an important factor in aecting solubilization of aluminum. The potential of increased exposure to aluminum could be dependent on co-ingestion with food components and may explain the increased risk to renal failure patients on aluminum-containing phosphate binders. J. Trace Elem. Exp. Med. 15:9À19,