A Study on the Economic Implication of North Korean Women’s Health Capital

Abstract

After liberation, North Korea used women's labor as a means to establish a socialist state and mobilize the labor force. However, since the economic crisis in the 1990s, North Korean women have been transforming into new subjects of economic activity centering on the market in the process of maintaining their livelihood and seeking economic independence. This study aims to prove the economic value of North Korean women's health capital and provide implications for economic growth through review of existing studies and empirical analysis from the perspective of human capital theory, focusing on women who have been considered for economic growth in North Korea. As a result of analyzing the mediating effect of the female working-age population ratio on the relationship between North Korean female life expectancy and real GDP during 1970-2019, the increase in life expectancy had a significant direct effect to increase the working-age population ratio and real GDP. However, the effect of the increase in the working-age population ratio directly increased real GDP or mediated the relationship between life expectancy and real GDP was not significant. This means that the health of North Korean women is a meaningful capital that has a positive effect on economic growth, but there have been several limitations for the working-age women to have a significant economic growth effect. This suggests that active investment and support from the North Korean authorities should be made to promote women's health for future economic growth, and institutional support is needed for the economic activities of the working-age women.