The Household Financial Management Activity in Korea and the U.S. Rural Families : Application of the Deacon & Firebaugh Model

韓國과 美國의 농촌가계의 재정관리행동 : Deacon & Firebaugh 모델의 적용

The Purpose of this study is to determine how Korean and United Sates families manage resourcese. Further, socioeconomic and social psychological determinants of frequency of family resoures management will be investigated for each country. Comparision of results well be made to find similarities and differences between Korea and the U.S. Most studies of family resource management have used urban samples, so this study adds to understanding of another segment of the populations. Family resource management variables, as dependent variables, were measured by asking respondents how often they used a variety of wasys to handle finances and time. Independent variables were : (a) total household income, (b) respondents education, (c) respondents ages, (d) householder size, (e) family adaptability, (f) family cohesion, and (g) interpersonal communications. Data for the Korean sample were collected in rural areas of South Korea during summer 1989, U.S. data were collected in two counties of Illinois. The data used in this study include 473 Korean samples and 301 U.S. families. In both samples, the respondent was the financial manager, the person who usually handled the finances and paid the bills. The data were analyzed by frequencys, t-test, and multiple regression analysis methods. As a results, U.S. respondents tended to engage in family resource management more frequently than Korean respondents. This could be attributed to a longer history of consumer education and financial management education taught in the public schools and through the Cooperative Extension Service in the U.S. Social-psycological variables were significant predictors of frequency of family financial management in both samples. the differences in both samples are that, in Korea, frequency of family financial management increased as household size and educational years increased, however, in the United States, the relationships of these variables were not significant. Some similarities and differences were found in Korea and the U.S. families, and this results represents that interpersonal communications are important determinants, even in different cultures. One hadn, the difference of socio-cultural factors result as the difference of some statisical differences. Findings from this study have important implications for research and education, and can be applicated to study of family resource management in other rural areas.