Conservative Fiscal Activism, Popular Democracy, and Exacerbated Inequality: The Dismal Side of South Korea’s COVID-19 Pandemic Response
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Notwithstanding the series of relief measures during the pandemic, unlike other major advanced economies, Korea recorded a substantial expansion of income disparity. This study utilizes South Korea’s COVID-19 response as a window into how and why the government has failed to address the problem of growing inequality despite the country’s robust fiscal capacity. This study finds that the government’s financial assistance has not effectively targeted the vulnerable population affected by the economic contraction but, instead, has been provided in a quasi-universal manner amid electoral competitions. It indicates how Korea has attempted to cope with other economic challenges over the past few decades, which is the consequence of the bureaucracy’s conservative fiscal activism since the developmental era and the populist pattern of welfare provisions since democratization. With the findings, this study underscores the significance of the ways, not the sheer size of public transfers, in which resources are democratically distributed in addressing inequality.
Abstract
Notwithstanding the series of relief measures during the pandemic, unlike other major advanced economies, Korea recorded a substantial expansion of income disparity. This study utilizes South Korea’s COVID-19 response as a window into how and why the government has failed to address the problem of growing inequality despite the country’s robust fiscal capacity. This study finds that the government’s financial assistance has not effectively targeted the vulnerable population affected by the economic contraction but, instead, has been provided in a quasi-universal manner amid electoral competitions. It indicates how Korea has attempted to cope with other economic challenges over the past few decades, which is the consequence of the bureaucracy’s conservative fiscal activism since the developmental era and the populist pattern of welfare provisions since democratization. With the findings, this study underscores the significance of the ways, not the sheer size of public transfers, in which resources are democratically distributed in addressing inequality.
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