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We estimate the consumer price index (CPI) bias in Korea by employing the approach of Engel's Law as suggested by Hamilton (2001). Using Korean panel data (Korean Labor and Income Panel Study) and following Hamilton's model with a non-linear specification correction, our estimation result shows that the CPI bias over the sample period (2000-05) averaged at least 0.7 percent annually, which implies that about 21 percent of the inflation rate during the sample period can be attributed to the bias. This CPI bias has caused a substantial understatement of the growth in real GDP and contributes to excessive transfers from younger taxpayers to the elderly through indexed pension payments. We discuss the implications of the CPI bias for economic management and policies in Korea. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: We conducted this study to assess the safety of performing right trisectionectomy with caudate lobectomy for hilar cholangiocarcinoma by analyzing postoperative mortality and morbidity, and to evaluate the effect of such procedure on pathological curability and long-term overall survival.Methods: A retrospective clinicopathological analysis was performed for 16 hilar cholangiocarcinoma patients who underwent right trisectionectomy with caudate lobectomy from June 1999 to April 2003. The median follow-up period was 36.9 months. The preoperative Bismuth-Corlette type was type II in four patients, type III(A) in 10 patients, and type IV in two patients.Results: The median liver volume after hepatic resection was 21.9% of the total liver volume. Postoperative complications including one chronic liver failure developed in 12 patients, but no in-hospital deaths occurred. A postoperative pathological examination showed a cancer free margin in all of the proximal resection sites, although three cases had carcinoma in situ (CIS) lesions in the distal margin that were confirmed during surgery. The 1-, 3-, and 5-year overall survival rates were 94.1%, 64.2%, and 64.2%, respectively.Conclusion: We obtained excellent survival rates without any in-hospital deaths following right trisectionectomy with caudate lobectomy. This procedure may be an effective surgical procedure that can be executed to achieve low mortality rate and high pathological curability for hilar cholangiocarcinomas, except for Bismuth type III(B). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]