• International Area Studies Review
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• v.12 no.3
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• pp.341-365
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• 2008

This paper investigates the properties and relative importance of Apparel Textile industry of Busan in terms of both the number of employees and the value-added, and then analyzes the relative technical efficiencies from the perspectives of space closeness such as consumption market, suppliers, living standards and clustering environments using the DEA model. The main outcomes are as follows. The Apparel Textile industry is still a key industry in Busan with relatively high intensity and high LQ (greater than one) in spite of the recent decrease between 2000 and 2005 both in the number of employees and the value-added. Those firms with consumption market showed higher efficiency in all kinds of efficiencies than the firms without the market, and further relatively higher efficiency than the firms with suppliers. In addition, the firms located in the higher living standards also showed higher values of efficiency compared with the firms in lower living standards. The policy implication from the results is that the strategic and selective investment should be made according to the relative efficiency and thus the traditional industry should be transformed to the high value added one with additional investment to utilize the scale efficiency.

• Journal of Korea Port Economic Association
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• v.38 no.4
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• pp.87-106
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• 2022

Uncertainties in the energy market are increasing due to technology developments (shale revolution), trade wars, COVID-19, and the Russia-Ukraine war. Especially, since 2020, the risk of international trade in the energy market has increased significantly due to changes in the supply chain of transportation and due to prolonged demand reduction because of COVID-19 and the Russian-Ukraine war. Considering these points, this study analyzed connectedness between energy price, tanker index, and uncertainty to understand the connectedness between international trade in the energy market. Main results are summarized as follows. First, as a result of analyzing stable period and unstable period of the energy price model using the MS-VAR model, it was confirmed that both the crude oil market model and the natural gas market model had a higher probability of maintaining stable period than unstable period, increasing volatility by specific events. Second, looking at the results of the analysis of the connectedness between stable period and unstable period of the energy market, it was confirmed that in the case of total connectedness, connectedness between variables was increased in the unstable period compared to the stable period. In the case of the energy market stable period, considering the degree of connectedness, it was confirmed that the effect of the tanker freight index, which represents the demand-side factor, was significant. Third, unstable period of the natural gas market model increases rapidly compared to the crude oil market model, indicating that the volatility spillover effect of the natural gas market is greater when uncertainties affecting energy prices increase compared to the crude oil market.

• Journal of Technology Innovation
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• v.31 no.1
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• pp.105-148
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• 2023

This paper provides a new method of measuring the degree of technological progress which contributes to real economic growth based on Schumpeter's Trilogy. Using Microdata of Statistics Korea, the results of measuring and comparing the actual growth contribution of technological progress during the period 2003-2018 by the total factor productivity growth rate(growth accounting method), the R&D investment contribution rate, and the Schumpeterian innovation growth rate, respectively are as follows. First, the measurement of the real growth contribution of technological progress by the growth rate of total factor productivity and the growth rate of Schumpeterian innovation shows contradictory results. Second, when the growth rate of production is in a decreasing trend, the difference between the growth rate of production and the growth rate of total factor productivity increases compared to when it is in an increasing trend. Conversely, when there is an increasing trend, the difference between the growth rate of production and the growth rate of total factor productivity becomes smaller compared to when it is in a decreasing trend.. Third, the technological opportunity that affects the innovation growth rate, i.e., the contribution of R&D incentives to innovative growth is only 3.3%. The reason why this result is different from the existing perception of the contribution of technological progress to growth is that different entities are being measured while measuring the same term of technological progress. Therefore, the growth rate of total factor productivity should be used to measure macroeconomic efficiency, R&D investment should be used to measure the effectiveness of new technology supply, and the Schumpeterian innovation rate should be used to measure the economic impact of technological progress. The policy implications of the research results of this thesis are as follows: ① Transition from a policy of one-sided technology supply to a policy of convergence of technology supply and new technology demand support, ② Mission-oriented R&D policy and R&D policy that links national R&D with private R&D, ③ Reclassification of capital goods reflecting the degree of new knowledge.

• Journal of the Korean association of regional geographers
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• v.10 no.2
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• pp.267-285
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• 2004

Globalization has been the buzzword during the past couple of decades, embroiling humankind into the inescapable maelstrom of homogenization. Some critics identify the globalization process undergoing in the realms of politics, economy, culture and ecology with Americanization which entails Neoconservatives' scheme to stretch out the hegemony of the United States. The top-down transcontinental movement, however, deems to confront localization or a reasoned resistance from the local driven by the spiritual attachment to places and, in that sense, regional identity. What is needed to cope with this complex circumstance of glocalization is to be acquainted with beth the global sense of the local and the localized sense of the global at once. For this, it seems indispensible to do justice to area studies. As far as American studies are concerned, this research field has so far been tainted by an overdose of politics, economics, business administration, law and sociology. Regional analysis which constitutes the reason d'etre of the discipline of geography has remained marginal to the political economic mainstream. It is the mounting concerns about America and enhanced research caliber that raises the regional geographical studies of America on the right track. Particularly, a number of articles have been published since the mid-1990s owing to the combined efforts of practitioners, institutions and periodicals. It is expected that systematic training of new generation of American specialists, advance in research infrastructure, and generous funding will stimulate geographical investigation of America in the coming future.

• KDI Journal of Economic Policy
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• v.26 no.2
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• pp.209-247
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• 2004

Although various publicly reserved funds have recently come to the fore of academic and policy-making attention in Korea, researchers rarely take up the issue of the reserve fund retained from annual profits by the central bank (i.e., the Bank of Korea). Starting with the general public choice premise that bureaucrats seek to maximize their discretionary budget, this paper first provides a theoretical reasoning why central bank's bureaucrats would prefer retaining annual profits to turning them to the Treasury. The major tenet to be emphasized is that retained profits as a reserve fund can give the central bankers discretionary power in their disposition. In particular, we focus on the close relationship between the reserve fund and the discount windows. The latter, as a monetary instrument, has traditionally been demonstrated to cause secrecy, arbitrariness, and other bureaucratic amenities in the previous literature. Subsequently, this paper, based on 61 countries data, empirically verifies that the central bank's reserve fund is at least partially used to additionally increase the discount windows. Since an excessive use of discount windows results in inflationary bias, we conclude the paper with some policy suggestions to have such bureaucratic power of discretion in check. This paper, if in its experimental nature yet, is expected to shed a critical implication for establishing the meaningful independence of the central bank to a host of countries.

• Environmental and Resource Economics Review
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• v.28 no.2
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• pp.201-229
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• 2019

This paper estimates the effects of generation mix changes in the $7^{th}$ and $8^{th}$ Basic Plan for Long-term Power Supply and Demand from two aspects: economic efficiency through electricity prices and environmental performance through $CO_2$ and air pollutants(NOx, SOx, PM) emissions. Particularly, we examined additional generation mix conversion paths that take into account the trade-off between economic efficiency and environmental performance through scenario analysis. According to our results, the conversion from the $7^{th}$ plan to the $8^{th}$ plan should increase the electricity prices in the mid- and long-term, while reducing GHG and air pollutants emissions at the same time. The alternative generation mix that combines $7^{th}$ and $8^{th}$ plans shows that there exists a path to mitigate the trade-off between economic and environmental in the long-term. It will be next to impossible to derive a optimal generation mix that simultaneously considers the core values, such as supply stability, environmental performance, economic efficiency, energy safety and energy security, when establishing the power supply and demand plan. However, by exploring the effects of various generation mix paths and suggesting near-optimal paths, people can best choose their direction after weighhing all the paths when deciding on a forward-looking generation mix in the long term.

• The Journal of the Convergence on Culture Technology
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• v.9 no.2
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• pp.533-543
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• 2023

This study explores the influence of the COVID-19 pandemic on the Korean art market and contrasts the classic hedonic method of art price prediction with the Artificial Neural Network technique. The empirical analysis of this paper utilizes 14,639 observations of Korean art auction data from 2015 to 2021. There are three types of variables in this study: artist-related, artwork-related, and sales-related. Previous studies have suggested that these three types of variables influence art prices. The empirical findings in this research are in twofold. First, in terms of RMSE and R², the Artificial Neural Network outperforms the hedonic model. Both techniques discover that sales and artwork variables have a greater impact than artist-related attributes. Second, when the primary factors of art price are controlled, Korean art prices are found to fall dramatically in 2020, shortly following the onset of COVID-19, but to rebound in 2021. The main lesson in this study is that the Artificial Neural Network enhances art price prediction and reduces information asymmetry in the Korean art market even in the face of unanticipated turmoil such as the COVID-19 outbreak.

• Economic Analysis
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• v.25 no.2
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• pp.132-176
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• 2019

We use a time-varying parameter vector auto regression (TVP-VAR) model to understand the impact of U.S. monetary policy normalization on Korean financial markets and capital accounts. The U.S. monetary policy is represented by the federal funds rate, term premium and credit spread. During the U.S. monetary contraction period of 2004 to 2006, changes in the federal funds rate presented negative pressure on Korean financial markets. The changes in federal funds rate also led to a simultaneous contraction in inward and outward capital flows. However, the effects of a federal funds rate shock has been reduced since 2015. On the other hand, the effects of U.S. term premiums is getting stronger after the period of quantitative easing (QE). The influence of the U.S. credit spread also significantly increased after the global financial crisis. Simulation results show that a rise in the U.S. credit spread, which can be triggered by a contractionary monetary policy, can pose a larger adverse impact on the Korean economy than a rise in the federal funds rate itself. As for capital flows, a U.S. monetary policy contraction causes an outflow of foreign investment, but the repatriation of overseas investment by Korean residents can offset this outflow.

• Korea Trade Review
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• v.45 no.4
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• pp.137-152
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• 2020

The increase in national income, the expansion of transportation network, the increase in leisure time, and the influx of foreign tourists in the era of internationalization, the influx of the outside population of Jeju region increased rapidly until 2020. However, the corona 19 (Covid-19) incident that began in January 2020 has hit the entire industry, and the tourism industry in Jeju has also been greatly damaged. However, in the second half of 2020, with some calming of the Corona 19 situation and difficult to leave overseas, the number of visitors to Jeju Island is increasing again as Koreans choose Jeju Island as their domestic tourism. This study analyzed the capacity of Jeju's external population based on the Contingent Valuation Method, and based on this, attempted to suggest policy recommendations for Jeju. The size of accommodations such as the density of visitors, toilets, and rest areas were excluded from consideration, and the level of securing the parking lot already exceeded the capacity, and the rate of securing the parking lot was 93.4%. In the case of accommodation, the total number of available rooms is 88,691, even if one guest per room is assumed, which is 32,372,215 per year, which is sufficient in terms of visitor capacity. To analyze the aspects of psychological capacity, this study analyzed whether the residents are feeling psychological discomfort through three methods of road congestion, garbage disposal, and sewage treatment through Contingent Valuation Method. However, the inconvenience caused by the increase of visitors and the effect of continuous population influx is working in combination, and it has the limitation that the effects of these independent factors cannot be specifically separated. As a result of the study, discomfort has already been recognized in terms of psychological capacity among the factors of capacity, and it was estimated that a cost of about 45 billion won per year was incurred as a result of deriving psychological costs through Contingent Valuation Method. In the future, a policy review is needed to resolve or maintain the perception of this discomfort through continuous management. Accordingly, it is necessary to recognize that the increase of visitors leads to the psychological discomfort of the residents, and to seek a policy alternative that can simultaneously increase the number of visitors and the comfort of the residence.

• Journal of Korea Port Economic Association
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• v.37 no.3
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• pp.117-128
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• 2021

In order for the users (shipping firms and shippers) and suppliers (stevedoring firms) in the container terminal industry to win-win, it is necessary to have some appropriate diverse market conditions for the industry. This study analyses the basic conditions and demand and supply characteristics of the industry and investigates the market performance of Busan container ports. First, this article analyses the basic characteristics of demand and supply. As the demand characteristics, there are five ones such as 1) exogeneity of demand, 2) function as export/import transportation and hub for transshipment, 3) increase of users' bargaining power, 4) high substituting elasticity, 5) reduction of volume growth. As the supply characteristics, there are seven ones such as 1) inelasticity of supply, 2) homogeneity of stevedoring services, 3) over-supply, 4) adoption of cutting-edge stevedoring technology, 5) scale economy and impossibility of storage, 6) labor market rigidity, 7) enhancing port's role in SCM. In addition, this study conducts the so-called structure-conduct-performance analysis. For the structure analysis, 1) lacks of scale economy in stevedoring companies, 2) high entry barrier, 3) strengthening of shipping firms' bargaining power, 4) transitory permission scheme for tariff are analyzed. For the conduct analysis, 1) price discrimination between export/import and transshipment, 2) mid-term length of terminal use contract, 3) continuous investment in equipment, 4) low level of cooperation among terminal operating firms are derived. For the performance analysis, 1) inequality in profitability, 2) reduction of export/import cost, 3) delay in adopting cutting-edge technology, 4) idle equipment are analyzed. Following this logical flow, the hypothesis that the market structure influences the market conduct is tested based on the actual dataset. As a future agenda in the conclusion, this article recommends the so-called port industrial policy.