For many countries attempting to control the fast-rising number of coronavirus cases and deaths, the race is on to “flatten the curve,” since the spread of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has taken on pandemic proportions. In the absence of significant control interventions, the curve could be steep, with the number of COVID-19 cases growing exponentially. In fact, this level of proliferation may already be happening, since the number of patients infected in Italy closely follows an exponential trend. Thus, we propose a test. When the numbers are taken from an exponential distribution, it has been demonstrated that they automatically follow Benford’s Law (BL). As a result, if the current control interventions are successful and we flatten the curve (i.e., we slow the rate below an exponential growth rate), then the number of infections or deaths will not obey BL. For this reason, BL may be useful for assessing the effects of the current control interventions and may be able to answer the question, “How flat is flat enough?” In this study, we used an epidemic growth model in the presence of interventions to describe the potential for a flattened curve, and then investigated whether the epidemic growth model followed BL for ten selected countries with a relatively high mortality rate. Among these countries, South Korea showed a particularly high degree of control intervention. Although all of the countries have aggressively fought the epidemic, our analysis shows that all countries except for Japan satisfied BL, indicating the growth rates of COVID-19 were close to an exponential trend. Based on the simulation table in this study, BL test shows that the data from Japan is incorrect.

We examine the persistence of educational mismatches in relation to job mobility in South Korea, the USA, and Germany using ten‐year panel data. The USA, with a flexible labour market, has the highest job mobility, so mismatches for workers’ jobs in terms of educational attainment are resolved via job mobility. In contrast, in Korea, which has a dual‐structure labour market where workers have limited job mobility between core and periphery sectors, the likelihood of being mismatched increases. In Germany, the educational system, which emphasises job training, makes it possible to resolve or extinguish mismatches via job mobility only for the youth; while job mobility does not help resolve mismatches in any other age groups. These findings indicate that the different patterns in job mobility resolving mismatches over the three countries may not only stem from the efficacy of job information systems or from reducing friction in the labour market but may also be an interactive outcome of various labour market institutions affecting flexibility, such as stratification or job competency.

No abstract

In 2016, the Improper Solicitation and Graft Act entered into force in South Korea, which prohibits any improper activities that can be regarded as lobbying. The Golf industry was expected to have a direct effect from the Act since the sport of golf in Korea has been regarded as highly political. Therefore, this study focuses on the impact of the Act on the demands of golf. Our empirical analysis shows that the Act led to a decrease in the number of visitors and membership prices of private golf courses. The results indicate that those who had regarded golf as a political activity may now have little incentive to be involved in lobbying held on private golf courses.