We developed a spatial computable general equilibrium model of South Korea to assess the spatial spillover effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on South Korea’s regional economic growth patterns. The model measures a wide range of economic losses, including human health costs at the city and county level, through an analysis of regional producers’ profit maximization on the supply side and regional households’ utility maximization on the demand side. The model’s findings showed that if the level of spatial interaction decreases by 10% as a result of social distancing policies, the national gross domestic product drops by 0.815–0.864%. This loss in economic growth can be further decomposed into 0.729% loss in agglomeration effect, 0.080–0.130% loss in health effect associated with medical treatment and premature mortality, and 0.005% loss in labor effect. The results of the models and simulations shed light on not only the epidemiological effects of social distancing interventions, but also their resultant economic consequences. This ex-ante evaluation of social distancing measures’ effects can serve as a guide for future policy decisions made at both the national and regional level, providing policymakers with the tools for tailored solutions that address both regional economic circumstances and the spatial distribution of COVID-19 cases.

The purpose of this study is to analyze the impact of opening high speed railroad (HSR) on the regional income inequalities in China and Korea. The convergence models are applied to test the effect of the HSR on regional growth in terms of GRDP per capita across 455 cities and counties along the Beijing-Shanghai HSR corridor and 112 cities and counties along the Seoul-Busan HSR corridor respectively. The results indicate that at national level, a trend of convergence emerges during the three-year period of analysis in both China and Korea. The results indicate that at national level, a trend of convergence emerges during the ii three-year period of analysis in both China and Korea. At the HSR passing area level, HSR contributes to accelerate regional economic convergence and reduce the regional income disparities in China and Korea. However, HSR has different impacts on reducing the regional income inequalities in China and Korea considering the HSR station cities; in Korea, the regional inequality is rather wider among the cities where HSR station located.

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