• Journal of Korea Water Resources Association
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• v.43 no.1
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• pp.95-104
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• 2010

The tap water supply in Korea mainly depends on the surface water. However, the advanced water purification process becomes a necessity due to the deterioration of surface water quality and the risk of accidental spill. High cost of water treatment and public concerns make the decision makers turn to riverbank filtration as an alternative to the surface water. Riverbank filtration has been employed for water supply in many developed countries for more than 150 years. In Korea, riverbank filtration has drawn attention since 1990s as a supply source having potential to stably meet the ever-increasing water demand. Some cities located in the Nakdong River Basin are currently supplying water through riverbank filtration. This work studies the site suitability analysis for riverbank filtration using game theory. Theory of games, which is a branch of applied mathematics used in social sciences (most notably economics), biology, engineering and computer science, was applied to candidate locations for the selection of riverbank filtration site. We proposed a policy game model as a new method adopting a probabilistic approach. The model developed turned out to be an effective tool for site selection.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Illuminating and Electrical Installation Engineers
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• v.23 no.9
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• pp.31-39
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• 2009

This paper shows prioritization process for equipment investment plans considering reliability indices and economical efficiency. To decide prioritization of distribution investment projects, we made a distribution system model using system configuration, it's component and load information and designed several investment alternatives to improve reliability of present system. Lastly, we proposed a evaluation model of economical efficiency assessment on distribution investment alternative projects. To analyze influence by reliability and economical efficiency, we produced economical effects with applying time-varying failure rate of KEPCO's main equipments of distribution system and interruption cost of electric power affected by investment. Finally, in order to insure the validity of this proposed methodology, we compared investment prioritization by economical evaluation with that of real investment alternatives of KEPCO's branch office. In conclusion, this paper shows what and how to interpret the reliability effects of distribution system investments into financial indicators beneficial for power utilities's managers to make decision on the perspective of corporate value.

• Applied Biological Chemistry
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• v.50 no.3
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• pp.137-146
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• 2007

The substitution of fossil fuels with biofuels has been proposed by the European Union (EU) as part of a strategy to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions from road transport, increase security of energy supply and support the development of rural communities. Vegetable oils and their derivatives (especially methyl esters), commonly referred to as 'biodiesel', are prominent candidates as alternative diesel fuels. They have advanced from being purely experimental fuels to the initial stages of commercialization. They are technically competitive with or offer technical advantages compared to conventional diesel fuel. However, several problems remain including economics, combustions, some emissions, lube oil contamination, and low-temperature properties. Therefore, quality control of fuel-related properties of biodiesel is needed to obtain consistent engine performance by fuel users. The quality of the fuel is affected by the oil composition. Rapeseed oil has been targeted for fuel use because it produces an oil with a close-to-optimum set of fuel characteristics. In this paper we have reviewed past and current efforts, both by traditional seed-breeding methods and by genetic engineering, to modify rapeseed oil quality and yield.

• Human Ecology Research
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• v.52 no.4
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• pp.355-369
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• 2014

The in-law relationship traditionally plays a major role in Korean marriages and families because parents-in-law prefer to stay with their son under the same roof. The recent spike in the number of intercultural matches in South Korea may be provoking changes in the traditional family experience. The object of this qualitative study was to explore the contextual factors causing conflicts between mothers-in-law and their daughters-in-law in multicultural families. Six mother and daughter in-law dyads from rural areas of South Korea were recruited and interviewed. We found that the mothers-in-law and daughters-in-law had had different motives for the marriage at first. Five major themes emerged from the analysis of the dyadic interviews: the conflicts of the participants were embedded in the alternative family formation, in financial strains and the power structure, barriers in communication, cultural insensitivity and conflicts between value systems, as well as in role conflicts due to differing role expectations and hegemony. In conclusion, the authors of this study suggest that increasing cultural sensitivity and communication skills in immigrant daughter-in-law an Korean mother-in-law relationships will be crucial for a healthy in-law relationship. The need for the availability of Multicultural Family Centers' services in the community was highlighted. In order for mothers-in-law and daughters-in-law to form positive relationships, it is important to facilitate a variety of easily accessible educational programs in the community focusing on fostering the mother-in-law's understanding of the daughter-in-law's perspective.

• Journal of Families and Better Life
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• v.32 no.1
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• pp.151-166
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• 2014

This study attempted to explore how middle aged married men and women prospected a Centenarian society and what implications their prospect cast for family policy. We conducted focus group interviews with five groups in order to identify their subjective prospects on marital relations, parent-child relations, caregiving from family or institutions, and alternative living arrangement. From those interviews, we found that married men and women in their 40s, 50s, and 60s possessed ambivalent attitudes toward their marital relationship, either acknowledging an importance of marital relationship or accepting long-standing disrespectful marital relationship. They also had a dualistic perspective on parent-child relationship, accepting parental responsibility for children and even grand-children but maintaining low expectations for children. What they needed was age appropriate opportunities for work or leisure and better community services and facilities. These results showed that the middle-aged was concerned experiencing unprecedented family situations. They needed family life education and services in order to adapt to the Centenarian society. Since family policy has viewed this age group out of service target, programs and services have been underdeveloped for this group. Expecting a Centenarian society however, we need to expand the boundary of family policy and take a new perspective. We need to develop and implement marital education programs, community-based self-care services, and age-appropriated opportunities for work, leisure, and social relations.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Fisheries and Ocean Technology
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• v.46 no.1
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• pp.32-49
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• 2010

Ecosystem-based fisheries management requires a holistic assessment of the status of fisheries by integrating fishery ecosystem indicators for management objectives. In this study four objectives were identified such as the maintenance of the sustainability, biodiversity and habitat quality and socio-economic benefits. The ecosystem-based fisheries assessment (EBFA) model to assess fisheries and their resources at the ecosystem level developed for Korean fisheries (Zhang et al., 2009) has a number of indicators for three management objectives. However, it was found that there were some overlapping components among indicators and that there were difficulties in assessing some indicators in the EBFA model. This study identified problems of the approach and suggested more pragmatic and simpler indicators. It also presented alternative reference points to assess indicators and discussed issues associated with the application of the EBFA model to a marine ranching ecosystem. In this study a total of 24 indicators were used for the assessment which included 4 socio-economic indicators. New indicators and reference points were demonstrated by applying it to the Uljin marine ranch.

• Journal of Labour Economics
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• v.24 no.3
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• pp.63-81
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• 2001

We focus on the relationship between the wage and the productivity in the Korean manufacturing industry over the period from the 1971 year to the 2000 year by using the Geweke's linear feedback method and the impulse response method. And we divide the whole period into the 1971-before the financial crisis and the 1971-2000 including the after the financial crisis to study the change of the relationship between the wage and the productivity after the financial crisis. The results are the followings; The productivity has the large influence on the wage positively, so that the improvement of the productivity boosts the wage and the vice versa in the before financial crisis period. It means that both the conventional wage setting theory and the alternative wage theory(efficiency wage and union theory) exist in the manufacturing industry. However, there exist only the conventional wage setting theory in the whole period.

• Journal of Labour Economics
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• v.27 no.1
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• pp.77-105
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• 2004

Given the limitations of UI benefit and self-insurance through precautionary savings, this paper suggests a new scheme of income support for the unemployed, which offers unemployed workers not only UI benefit but also borrowings from their future pension incomes. Allowing individuals to have effective self-insurance through pension- borrowing, this scheme provides them with consumption-smoothing and reduction in risk burden while maintaining search incentives of the unemployed. Simulation study based upon household panel data in Korea suggests that a heavy reliance should be set upon self-insurance through pension-borrowings rather than upon UI benefit, even for the low-income individuals who are subsidized under UI system. This result provides us with insightful implications for a social safety net in (fast-growing) developing countries, where people cannot afford a good amount of UI benefit or of precautionary savings against unemployment although they expect their incomes to be much higher in the future. Indeed, it is consumption-smoothing effect of self-insurance through pension- borrowings, as well as its incentive-maintaining effect, that makes it a promising alternative of social safety net in developing countries.

• Journal of Labour Economics
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• v.33 no.3
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• pp.89-127
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• 2010

This paper explores the causes and solutions of the problem that the official unemployment rate does not adequately represent the reality of the employment situation in Korea. First, compared to ILO's international standards, there are several differences in the measurement of unemployment in Korea, for example, the treatment of unpaid family workers working less than 18 hours per week, the classification of persons who are waiting for a new job or temporarily laid-off, and the criteria of job search activities. The questionnaire structure of the Labor Force Survey in Korea also misleads the judgment of economic activity state. Comparing the responses of the basic survey to those of the supplementing survey, approximately 90% of the responses show discrepancies and this indicates the possibility of misclassification. Next, this paper suggests the extended unemployment indicators as alternative, based on the current survey. The extended unemployment indicators support the presence of significant amounts of hidden unemployed and underemployed. And, it is found that the analyses using those indicators are very useful for the investigation of many aspects of employment dynamics.

• Journal of Labour Economics
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• v.33 no.3
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• pp.25-46
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• 2010

The outstanding performance of some nations in Central and Northern Europe such as Denmark and the Netherlands in the labor market is much indebted to their policy to help labor flexicurity. In this study, the possibility of replicating the Dutch or Danish performance in the labor market is explored in case of adopting such policy in the 22 OECD countries. If implementing the flexicurity policy in the 22 member countries of the OECD leads to strong performance in the labor market, this policy can be globally shared as universal labor policy to provide a win-win situation among the labor, management and the authorities on the matter, paving the way for replacing the Anglo-Saxon policy characterized by high flexibility and low security, or the European alternative with a lower level of flexibility and a higher level of security. According to findings from our research, flexicurity policy can not produce any tangible accomplishments in the labor market by only itself. Therefore, we may safely reach the conclusion that flexicurity policy has a limited positive influence on the labor market of some northern or central European countries. Given the striking difference in inherent conditions between such European countries and OECD countries, it is not sensible for OECD nations to adopt labor policy in the direction of flexicurity.