Consumer Income and Expenditure Influenced by Business Cycles: A Comparison of Korea and the US

Abstract

This research is concerned with comparing fluctuation in the Korean and the US economies in order to ascertain the degree to which the former is influenced by changes in the latter. The aim of this research is to explore business cycles, to examine consumer expenditure in Korea and the US, and to discover the relationships between business fluctuation indexes and overall expenditure. Statistical data from the national statistics of Korea and the US during period from 1990 to 2015 were used. The instrument included a measure of GDP, unemployment rates, GDP deflator rate (inflation rates), and household income and expenditure. For the average annual household expenditures, food, apparel and transportation expenditure data were compared across the two countries. Data were collected separately from different (though comparable) sources and were analyzed using relatively straight forward statistical techniques. It was found that Korean and the US consumers’ income and expenditure were greatly affected by economic fluctuations. Total expenditure and the expenditures for food and transportation were much influenced by business fluctuation in the US, whereas, the expenditures for apparel were much influenced by business fluctuation in Korea.