도시가스 소매부문의 경영성과와 공공성 분석

Abstract

This paper examines entrepreneurial activities of the Korean city gas industry and discusses their implications on the publicness based on the financial statement data covering 2002～2007. Sales and profits of the industry have been increasing at high rates. Depending more on the profit’s share than the efficiency of capital utilization, also the profit rate has been steadily increasing. Such large profits have been used as a basis for financial speculations and paid to stockholders as dividends. Despite large differences in business conditions, there are not significant differences among the profit rates of gas companies. In contrast, consumer prices of gas show considerable gaps across regions, since they are determined with the consideration of not only production costs but firms’ profits as well. These results imply that entrepreneurial activities of the Korean city gas industry restrict the opportunities for gas use of low incomers and rural residents by more than higher incomers and urban dwellers.