Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0

Author-Name: Gabor P. Kiss
Author-Workplace-Name: Magyar Nemzeti Bank
Author-Email: kissg@mnb.hu

Author-Name: Katalin Szoke
Author-Workplace-Name: Magyar Nemzeti Bank
Author-Email: szokek@mnb.hu


Title: A Shrimp between Fighting Whales: Lessons from the Economic Convergence of South Korea

Abstract: Having started as a poor, war-worn agricultural country in the mid-20th century,
South Korea is now the world's 12th largest economy. The lesson from the country's
economic convergence is that export-led growth, strong corporate competitiveness
and significant research and development expenditure are essential to avoiding the
middle-income trap. Relying on its strong education system, South Korea managed
to become a key player in many high-tech industries. However, the challenge for the
future is that income inequalities exceed the average of developed countries, and
the persistently low fertility rate results in an ageing society. In addition, household
indebtedness exceeds 100 per cent of GDP and around half of the housing loans are
variable rate loans, which jeopardises the stability of the financial system.

Classification-JEL: 
Keywords: 
Pages: 188-197
Volume: 21
Issue: 2
Year: 2022
File-URL: https://en-hitelintezetiszemle.mnb.hu/letoltes/fer-21-2-fa1-kiss-szoke.pdf
File-Format: Application/pdf
Handle: RePEc:mnb:finrev:v:21:y:2022:i:2:p:188-197