Economic Development, Housing Standards, And Quality of Life in S. Korea

Abstract

The question how socio-political changes due to economic growth have influenced on Korean people's quality of life has not been studied. This paper is an attempt to bridge the gap by addressing that housing is an important dimension in shaping Korean quality of life. We examine first how economic development has changed people's housing condition in Korea at macro level with aggregated national data for the period of rapid industrialization. Second, subjective evaluation on individual quality of life with regard to housing satisfaction is analyzed. A survey data based on a national sample of 1,000 South Koreans, performed during April 15-30. 1996, is used for this purpose. The regression result supports our argument that satisfaction on housing is one of important dimensions in determining quality of people's life in Korea.