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Exploring revenue trends in alley commercial areas in Seoul, Korea

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  • Rhee, Hongjai

Abstract

This study examines changes in sales by business category and area in Korea's small commercial districts. Unlike previous studies that focused primarily on overall sales levels before and after the COVID-19 pandemic, this paper emphasizes temporal variations in the inequality of sales distributions. Using credit-card-based data comprising 392,832 sales records aggregated by (category, area) units, the primary analysis reveals that sales distributions have recently become more dispersed across most categories, underscoring the vulnerability of less-advantaged areas in the post-pandemic period. In a secondary analysis, regression and machine learning models were applied to investigate factors influencing regional sales disparities. The findings indicate that although overall sales, which declined sharply during the pandemic, rebounded rapidly after 2021, they have shown a significant downturn in recent periods. The paper concludes with a discussion of relevant policy implications.

Suggested Citation

  • Rhee, Hongjai, 2025. "Exploring revenue trends in alley commercial areas in Seoul, Korea," KDI Journal of Economic Policy, Korea Development Institute (KDI), vol. 47(1), pages 1-17.
    • Handle: RePEc:zbw:kdijep:314769
    DOI: 10.23895/kdijep.2025.47.1.1
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Hongjai Rhee, 2024. "Assessing the Economic Impact of Covid-19 through a Counterfactual Analysis," East Asian Economic Review, Korea Institute for International Economic Policy, vol. 28(1), pages 69-94.
    2. Moritz Drechsel‐Grau & Andreas Peichl & Kai D. Schmid & Johannes F. Schmieder & Hannes Walz & Stefanie Wolter, 2022. "Inequality and income dynamics in Germany," Quantitative Economics, Econometric Society, vol. 13(4), pages 1593-1635, November.
    3. Veronica Guerrieri & Guido Lorenzoni & Ludwig Straub & Iván Werning, 2022. "Macroeconomic Implications of COVID-19: Can Negative Supply Shocks Cause Demand Shortages?," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 112(5), pages 1437-1474, May.
    4. Susan Athey & Guido W. Imbens, 2019. "Machine Learning Methods That Economists Should Know About," Annual Review of Economics, Annual Reviews, vol. 11(1), pages 685-725, August.
    5. David Baqaee & Emmanuel Farhi, 2022. "Supply and Demand in Disaggregated Keynesian Economies with an Application to the COVID-19 Crisis," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 112(5), pages 1397-1436, May.
    6. Haiqiang Chen & Wenlan Qian & Qiang Wen, 2021. "The Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Consumption: Learning from High-Frequency Transaction Data," AEA Papers and Proceedings, American Economic Association, vol. 111, pages 307-311, May.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

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    Keywords

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    JEL classification:

    • L1 - Industrial Organization - - Market Structure, Firm Strategy, and Market Performance
    • L8 - Industrial Organization - - Industry Studies: Services
    • C5 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Econometric Modeling

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