• Journal of Navigation and Port Research
• /
• v.44 no.6
• /
• pp.541-549
• /
• 2020

This study conducts differential analysis on the financial positions of Korean shipping companies before and after the bankruptcy of the H carrier, looking specifically at their financial ratios, profit and loss patterns, and other factors related to their financial operation. Firstly, it was discovered that major measures of financial health, such as average assets per carrier, were not affected by the bankruptcy of the H carrier. However, despite this, most carriers experienced large changes in profits and losses, with total sales and shipping revenues averaging 424.5 billion won and 381.7 billion won respectively before the bankruptcy, but falling by half to 252.1 billion won and 234.6 billion won after the bankruptcy. Additionally, charter revenues and expenses also dropped by more than half. EBIT/sales and pre-tax revenue margins were also heavily affected after the bankruptcy, with both figures averaging 8% and 3% respectively before the bankruptcy, but falling into the negative range at -2% and -8% post-bankruptcy, resulting in significant deterioration in operational profitability. The study concludes that there is an urgent need to establish a global sales network, improve cost structures, and consistently secure stable cargo in order to increase Korean carriers' profitability. Of all financial measures, liquidity and total asset efficiency were identified as the most severely-impacted by the H carrier bankruptcy, thereby requiring the most pressing policy addressing.

• Journal of Digital Convergence
• /
• v.18 no.12
• /
• pp.243-249
• /
• 2020

This study analyzes the earnings management that can occur in the process of public offering in the process of SMEs reducing cost of capital, risks and seeking opportunities for direct financing. Since a company is subject to strict supervision during the IPO process, it is possible to prevent the phenomenon that the company value evaluated in the market is underestimated, or to perform earnings management in consideration of overestimation. This study attempted to verify the degree of earnings management through discretionary accruals and actual earnings management values that can affect the earnings ratio of the IPO of a company. For this study, total accruals were calculated and analyzed through discretionary accruals, sales, costs, and actual earnings management adjustments from production activities. As a result of the analysis, discretionary accruals, which are the countermeasures for earnings management during the listing process, have a positive(+) relationship in both the stock price return and the sales adjustment value, which can be viewed as a factor that induces high valuation. As a result of this, there may be a risk of adverse selection for the benefit amount, and information asymmetry may exist for public offering stocks. This study can provide useful guidelines for evaluating corporate value to domestic SMEs and investors that do business with Chinese companies as well as China through the current and type of earnings management of Chinese listed companies.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Gas
• /
• v.24 no.6
• /
• pp.34-46
• /
• 2020

In order to supply stable natural gas in the future, it is necessary to forecast the demand in advance and secure the quantity of supply. In this paper, we propose a method of estimating the demand function of industrial natural gas, which is the core of the increase of domestic natural gas demand in the future. The cross-sectional data of 304 domestic industries were used to estimate the demand function of the industrial natural gas, and the effect of industry specific characteristics such as capital investment, manufacturing cost. Finally, the least absolute deviation estimation method which is robust to outliers and does not assume the homogeneity of the error term and the normality, And the results were derived. In addition, the economic value of industrial city gas was estimated using the price elasticity of industrial city gas. Therefore, it can be seen that the continuous expansion and supply of city gas to the industrial sector is beneficial at the national level, and the government needs to promote expansion through the industrial city gas support policy.

• Korean Chemical Engineering Research
• /
• v.62 no.2
• /
• pp.163-172
• /
• 2024

In this study, two different scenarios for ammonia liquefaction in the green ammonia manufacturing process were proposed, and the economic-feasibility and environmental impact of each scenario were analyzed. The two liquefaction processes involved gas-liquid separation before cooling at high pressure (high pressure cooling process) or after decompression without the gas-liquid separation (low pressure cooling process). The high-pressure cooling process requires higher capital costs due to the required installation of separation units and heat exchangers, but it offers relatively lower total utility costs of 91.03 $/hr and a reduced duty of 2.81 Gcal/hr. In contrast, although the low-pressure cooling process is simpler and cost-effective, it may encounter operational instability due to rapid pressure drops in the system. Environmental impact assessment revealed that the high-pressure cooling process is more environmentally friendly than the low-pressure cooling process, with an emission factor of 0.83 tCO₂eq less than the low-pressure cooling process, calculated based on power usage. Consequently, the outcomes of this study provide relevant scenario and a database for green ammonia synthesis process adaptable to various process conditions.

• Korean small business review
• /
• v.31 no.4
• /
• pp.67-93
• /
• 2009

The purpose of this paper is to explore the relations between financial constraints and dividend smoothing of innovative small and medium sized enterprises(SMEs) listed on Korea Securities Market and Kosdaq Market of Korea Exchange. The innovative SMEs is defined as the firms with high level of R&D intensity which is measured by (R&D investment/total sales) ratio, according to Chauvin and Hirschey (1993). The R&D investment plays an important role as the innovative driver that can increase the future growth opportunity and profitability of the firms. Therefore, the R&D investment have large, positive, and consistent influences on the market value of the firm. In this point of view, we expect that the innovative SMEs can adjust dividend payment faster than the noninnovative SMEs, on the ground of their future growth opportunity and profitability. And also, we expect that the financial unconstrained firms can adjust dividend payment faster than the financial constrained firms, on the ground of their financing ability of investment funds through the market accessibility. Aivazian et al.(2006) exert that the financial unconstrained firms with the high accessibility to capital market can adjust dividend payment faster than the financial constrained firms. We collect the sample firms among the total SMEs listed on Korea Securities Market and Kosdaq Market of Korea Exchange during the periods from January 1999 to December 2007 from the KIS Value Library database. The total number of firm-year observations of the total sample firms throughout the entire period is 5,544, the number of firm-year observations of the dividend firms is 2,919, and the number of firm-year observations of the non-dividend firms is 2,625. About 53%(or 2,919) of these total 5,544 observations involve firms that make a dividend payment. The dividend firms are divided into two groups according to the R&D intensity, such as the innovative SMEs with larger than median of R&D intensity and the noninnovative SMEs with smaller than median of R&D intensity. The number of firm-year observations of the innovative SMEs is 1,506, and the number of firm-year observations of the noninnovative SMEs is 1,413. Furthermore, the innovative SMEs are divided into two groups according to level of financial constraints, such as the financial unconstrained firms and the financial constrained firms. The number of firm-year observations of the former is 894, and the number of firm-year observations of the latter is 612. Although all available firm-year observations of the dividend firms are collected, deletions are made in the case of financial industries such as banks, securities company, insurance company, and other financial services company, because their capital structure and business style are widely different from the general manufacturing firms. The stock repurchase was involved in dividend payment because Grullon and Michaely (2002) examined the substitution hypothesis between dividends and stock repurchases. However, our data structure is an unbalanced panel data since there is no requirement that the firm-year observations data are all available for each firms during the entire periods from January 1999 to December 2007 from the KIS Value Library database. We firstly estimate the classic Lintner(1956) dividend adjustment model, where the decision to smooth dividend or to adopt a residual dividend policy depends on financial constraints measured by market accessibility. Lintner model indicates that firms maintain stable and long run target payout ratio, and that firms adjust partially the gap between current payout rato and target payout ratio each year. In the Lintner model, dependent variable is the current dividend per share(DPS_t), and independent variables are the past dividend per share(DPS_t-1) and the current earnings per share(EPS_t). We hypothesized that firms adjust partially the gap between the current dividend per share(DPS_t) and the target payout ratio(Ω) each year, when the past dividend per share(DPS_t-1) deviate from the target payout ratio(Ω). We secondly estimate the expansion model that extend the Lintner model by including the determinants suggested by the major theories of dividend, namely, residual dividend theory, dividend signaling theory, agency theory, catering theory, and transactions cost theory. In the expansion model, dependent variable is the current dividend per share(DPS_t), explanatory variables are the past dividend per share(DPS_t-1) and the current earnings per share(EPS_t), and control variables are the current capital expenditure ratio(CEA_t), the current leverage ratio(LEV_t), the current operating return on assets(ROA_t), the current business risk(RISK_t), the current trading volume turnover ratio(TURN_t), and the current dividend premium(DPREM_t). In these control variables, CEA_t, LEV_t, and ROA_t are the determinants suggested by the residual dividend theory and the agency theory, ROA_t and RISK_t are the determinants suggested by the dividend signaling theory, TURN_t is the determinant suggested by the transactions cost theory, and DPREM_t is the determinant suggested by the catering theory. Furthermore, we thirdly estimate the Lintner model and the expansion model by using the panel data of the financial unconstrained firms and the financial constrained firms, that are divided into two groups according to level of financial constraints. We expect that the financial unconstrained firms can adjust dividend payment faster than the financial constrained firms, because the former can finance more easily the investment funds through the market accessibility than the latter. We analyzed descriptive statistics such as mean, standard deviation, and median to delete the outliers from the panel data, conducted one way analysis of variance to check up the industry-specfic effects, and conducted difference test of firms characteristic variables between innovative SMEs and noninnovative SMEs as well as difference test of firms characteristic variables between financial unconstrained firms and financial constrained firms. We also conducted the correlation analysis and the variance inflation factors analysis to detect any multicollinearity among the independent variables. Both of the correlation coefficients and the variance inflation factors are roughly low to the extent that may be ignored the multicollinearity among the independent variables. Furthermore, we estimate both of the Lintner model and the expansion model using the panel regression analysis. We firstly test the time-specific effects and the firm-specific effects may be involved in our panel data through the Lagrange multiplier test that was proposed by Breusch and Pagan(1980), and secondly conduct Hausman test to prove that fixed effect model is fitter with our panel data than the random effect model. The main results of this study can be summarized as follows. The determinants suggested by the major theories of dividend, namely, residual dividend theory, dividend signaling theory, agency theory, catering theory, and transactions cost theory explain significantly the dividend policy of the innovative SMEs. Lintner model indicates that firms maintain stable and long run target payout ratio, and that firms adjust partially the gap between the current payout ratio and the target payout ratio each year. In the core variables of Lintner model, the past dividend per share has more effects to dividend smoothing than the current earnings per share. These results suggest that the innovative SMEs maintain stable and long run dividend policy which sustains the past dividend per share level without corporate special reasons. The main results show that dividend adjustment speed of the innovative SMEs is faster than that of the noninnovative SMEs. This means that the innovative SMEs with high level of R&D intensity can adjust dividend payment faster than the noninnovative SMEs, on the ground of their future growth opportunity and profitability. The other main results show that dividend adjustment speed of the financial unconstrained SMEs is faster than that of the financial constrained SMEs. This means that the financial unconstrained firms with high accessibility to capital market can adjust dividend payment faster than the financial constrained firms, on the ground of their financing ability of investment funds through the market accessibility. Futhermore, the other additional results show that dividend adjustment speed of the innovative SMEs classified by the Small and Medium Business Administration is faster than that of the unclassified SMEs. They are linked with various financial policies and services such as credit guaranteed service, policy fund for SMEs, venture investment fund, insurance program, and so on. In conclusion, the past dividend per share and the current earnings per share suggested by the Lintner model explain mainly dividend adjustment speed of the innovative SMEs, and also the financial constraints explain partially. Therefore, if managers can properly understand of the relations between financial constraints and dividend smoothing of innovative SMEs, they can maintain stable and long run dividend policy of the innovative SMEs through dividend smoothing. These are encouraging results for Korea government, that is, the Small and Medium Business Administration as it has implemented many policies to commit to the innovative SMEs. This paper may have a few limitations because it may be only early study about the relations between financial constraints and dividend smoothing of the innovative SMEs. Specifically, this paper may not adequately capture all of the subtle features of the innovative SMEs and the financial unconstrained SMEs. Therefore, we think that it is necessary to expand sample firms and control variables, and use more elaborate analysis methods in the future studies.

• Journal of the Korean Geographical Society
• /
• v.30 no.1
• /
• pp.35-56
• /
• 1995

During the last two decades, Korea has achieved remarkable economic growth. In this process the nation has become urbanized and industrialized. But we have also encountered widening regional disparity, housing shortage of larger cities, transportation congestion, environmental pollution and many other problems. Rapid increasing urbanization and continuous migration toward Seoul since the late 1960s have been one of the major concerns of government. Government has sought ways to moderate the population increase in Seoul. The regulation which include new town development near Seoul and dispersion strategies of higher education and other administration and living facilities outside of Seoul havemade a great expansion of the spatial influence of Seoul city. Seoul metropolitan reaion has evolved as the most powerful center of political and economical spaces. Generally within a metropolitan region, there exists a growing mutual interdependence economically, as well as socially between a central city and its surrounding area. Seoul metropolitan region manifests itself not only as a coherent system of urbanized regions, but also as an integral part of the daily urban system. The surrounding Gyunggi province and Seoul city become closely linked both economically and functionally, constituting true functlonai urban system. This study is primarily undertaken with the purpose of delineation of the sphere of influence of Seoul city in 1990. At the time of 1985, Seoul metropolitan region was delineated according to the result of the study which was performed by Korea Research Institute for Human Settlements. Afterward, the rapid speed of metropolitanization process with dramatic increase in mobility through the provision of wider transportation system across the Capital region have evolved, resulting in the great expansion of the spatial influence of Seoul city. So this study examines the expanded area of Seoul metropolitan regin during the period of 1985-90. In order to delineate Seoul metropolitan region, the indices of urbanization and functional linkage are selected. Variables included in the measurement of the urbanization level are agricultural structure, population characteristics, manufacturing and service industries, and cultural aspects such as newspaper circulation, the ratio of car ownership and piped water supply. Variables included in the measurement of functional linkage are commuting, shopping pattern, centralized service such as medical facilities and trade of agricultural products. The standardization method and factor analysis are employed in making the delineation of Seoul metropolitan region. According to the result of this study, 2 cities, 8 Eups and 46 Myuns are included Seoul metropolitan region in 1990. If we compare this delineated area in 1990 to that of 1985, we can find the distinctive pattern of expanded axes according to the main transportation routes such as Seoul-Suweon, Seoul-Gwangju, Seoul-Incheon. In 199O, all the Gyunggi province, except a few Myuns located at the north and northwest part of Gyunggi province, are included in Seoul metropolitan region. Furthermore, this study attempts to the analysis of regional structure of Seoul metropolitan region according to the functional characteristics of each city and Gun. Variables included in this analysis are the new residential function, manufacturing function, service function, education and infermation function, public facility function and agricultural function. Factor analysis and cluster analysis are employed in making regionalization. Seoul metropolitan reaion is subdivided into four subregions which reflect different functional specialization. The first group is the specialized region of newly formed residential function. The second group is the specialized reaion of manufacturing function. The third group is the specialized region of service function. And the fourth group has little specialized in terms of manufacturing, service, and residential function. But this region has some potentiality of development when Seoul metropolitan region grow continuously. Seoul metropolitan region accounted for 43% of national population, despite 11.8% of national land size in 1990. Although Seoul metropolitan region enjoys important agglomeration economies, it also has huge social cost in the form of transportation congestion, housing shortage, rapid increase of land value, environment pollution, and etc. Efficient metropolitan plan making is a vital element in promoting Seoul's economic development and providing high quality living environment at low cost. In the light of the result of this study, the outer ring of Seoul metropolitan region, especially northeastern part, are underdeveloped compared to overdeveloped southwestern area. It is needed to develop the guidelines for the implement of the growth control and management plan, inducing more balanced development for whole Seoul metropolitan reaion.

• Korean Journal of Environmental Agriculture
• /
• v.16 no.2
• /
• pp.170-174
• /
• 1997

Constructed wetland system was studied to treat wastewater from industrial complex in rural area. Pilot plant at the Baeksuk Nongkong Danzi in Chunahn-City was used for field study. For the DO, the effluent concentration was higher than the influent concentration and it implies that natural reaeration supplies enough oxygen to the system. For the SS, the effluent concentration was consistently lower than the water quality standard even though the influent concentration varied significantly, which showed that SS was removed by the system effectively which is consist of soil and plants. For the BOD and COD, the average removal rate of them were 56% and 43%, respectively, therefore, the effluent concentration could not meet water quality standards when influent concentration was high. The removal rate of BOD and COD can be improved by supplemental treatment in addition to this system if necessary. For the T-N and T-P, the influent concentration of them were lower than the water quality standards than no further treatment was needed. Overall, the result showed that constructed wetland system is a feasible alternative for the treatment of wastewater from industrial complex in rural area. For actual application of this system, further study on design factors including loading rate, removal mechanism, and temperature effects is required to meet water quality standard consistently. Compared to existing systems, this system is quite competitive because it requires low capital cost, almost no energy and maintenance, and therefore, very cost effective.

• Journal of Sericultural and Entomological Science
• /
• no.12
• /
• pp.47-50
• /
• 1970

There are many factors affecting the development of sericultural industry in Korea. The setting of a rational pricing system for sericultural products is one of important activities of the Korean Government to improve the incentives to producers. The determination o： the prices for many years were based on the production costs including a certain level of profits. Some of cost items are in conflict both in cocoon producers and silk-reeling industries. Government officials have to evaluate these conflicting problems and estimate the consequences of their decisions. In this situation the final decision often became political decisions. This analysis is aimed at providing an alternative method of setting the prices of sericultural products. The criteria of the equilibrium employed in this analysis are based on economic principle which equilibrium condition is determined by the relationships between the marginal productivity of input factors and factor prices. In order to obtain the related information Cobb-Douglas'functions were fitted using KIST computer and data were obtained mostly from the Bank of Korea and the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestru, An important assumption is that "Opportunity Costs" of factors input in both cocoon production and silk-Peeling industries are same, The major finding s obtained are as followings. 1) The sum of coefficient of production elastisity in silk-reeling industries is greater than one. Silk-reeling industries are operating under the situation of increasing return to scale and it is, therefore, expected to develop the industries as the capital-intensive large scale. 2) The cocoon producing farmers are under the situations of the decreasing return to scale and it is expected to continue their cocoon farming as the labor-intensive small scale, assuming the present level of production technology. As the development of commercial farming, the resources input in cocoon production will be shifted to the production for higher profitable crops, 3) The price elastisity of production is higher in cocoon production than in silk-reeling industries. It is expected that the price changing effects on domestic production will be resulted from cocoon producers. 4) Based on analysis results of marginal productivities and the opportunity costs of resources, cocoon price for meeting equilibrium price condition is to be increased by 8-16 percent or standard price level of silk increased by 6-8 percent. There were the possibilities of over evaluation on opportunity cost of resources input in silk-reeling industries, or income transfered from the farmers to the industries. It is recommended that the prices for meeting equilibrium price conditions are to be determined by 72 percent for cocoon and 28 percent for silk-reeling costs, based on standard level of the exporting prices.

• The Korean Journal of Financial Management
• /
• v.21 no.2
• /
• pp.27-63
• /
• 2004

Since the 1980s, many multinational corporations have been issuing stocks on foreign stock exchanges, not only to enhance their investor base and liquidity, but also to diversify risks. The phenomenon has also been intensified by the rapid financial globalization and securitization trends. The main purpose of this study is to look into the long-run performance of MNCs' cross-listings of stocks on foreign stock exchanges. We use the event study and cross-sectional regression methods. We obtained some interesting empirical results about the long-run effect of cross-listings. First before the listing data the effect of cross-listing is to increase the underlying stock Vice in the local market. It may be caused by expectation of lower risk and cost of capital. However, after the listing data the stock price has been declining, even if it is not significant. Second, we examine the difference in the long-run cross-listing effect, which may be caused by the listing direction. When listing is made from a less developed market to a more developed market, the effect is better than that in the reverse direction. Furthermore, the effect is worse, when the listing company's home country is the U.S. Third, there is a negative relation between CARs and underlying stock liquidity in the local market, So it implies that a firm, whose underlying stocks are very liquid in the local market should carefully value cross-listing based upon the cost and benefit analysis. Last, but not the least we find that the long-un cross-listing effect is better, when a listing firm's ROE is higher.

• KDI Journal of Economic Policy
• /
• v.13 no.4
• /
• pp.91-116
• /
• 1991

Market liberalization progressing simultaneously with high and rapidly rising domestic wages has created an adverse business environment for domestic firms. Korean firms are losing their international competitiveness in comparison to firms from LDC(Less Developed Countries) in low-tech industries. In high-tech industries, domestic firms without government protection (which is impossible due to the liberalization policy and the current international status of the Korean economy) are in a disadvantaged position relative to firms from advanced countries. This paper examines the division of roles between the private sector and the government in order to achieve a successful structural adjustment, which has become the impending industrial policy issue caused by high domestic wages, on the one hand, and the opening of domestic markets, on the other. The micro foundation of the economy-wide structural adjustment is actually the restructuring of business portfolios at the firm level. The firm-level business restructuring means that firms in low-value-added businesses or with declining market niches establish new major businesses in higher value-added segments or growing market niches. The adjustment of the business structure at the firm level can only be accomplished by accumulating firm-specific managerial assets necessary to establish a new business structure. This can be done through learning-by-doing in the whole system of management, including research and development, manufacturing, and marketing. Therefore, the voluntary cooperation among the people in the company is essential for making the cost of the learning process lower than that at the competing companies. Hence, firms that attempt to restructure their major businesses need to induce corporate-wide participation through innovations in organization and management, encourage innovative corporate culture, and maintain cooperative labor unions. Policy discussions on structural adjustments usually regard firms as a black box behind a few macro variables. But in reality, firm activities are not flows of materials but relationships among human resources. The growth potential of companies are embodied in the human resources of the firm; the balance of interest among stockholders, managers, and workers of the company' brings the accumulation of the company's core competencies. Therefore, policymakers and economists shoud change their old concept of the firm as a technological black box which produces a marketable commodities. Firms should be regarded as coalitions of interest groups such as stockholders, managers, and workers. Consequently the discussion on the structural adjustment both at the macroeconomic level and the firm level should be based on this new paradigm of understanding firms. The government's role in reducing the cost of structural adjustment and supporting should the creation of new industries emphasize the following: First, government must promote the competition in domestic markets by revising laws related to antitrust policy, bankruptcy, and the promotion of small and medium-sized companies. General consensus on the limitations of government intervention and the merit of deregulation should be sought among policymakers and people in the business world. In the age of internationalization, nation-specific competitive advantages cannot be exclusively in favor of domestic firms. The international competitiveness of a domestic firm derives from the firm-specific core competencies which can be accumulated by internal investment and organization of the firm. Second, government must build up a solid infrastructure of production factors including capital, technology, manpower, and information. Structural adjustment often entails bankruptcies and partial waste of resources. However, it is desirable for the government not to try to sustain marginal businesses, but to support the diversification or restructuring of businesses by assisting in factor creation. Institutional support for venture businesses needs to be improved, especially in the financing system since many investment projects in venture businesses are highly risky, even though they are very promising. The proportion of low-value added production processes and declining industries should be reduced by promoting foreign direct investment and factory automation. Moreover, one cannot over-emphasize the importance of future-oriented labor policies to be based on the new paradigm of understanding firm activities. The old laws and instititutions related to labor unions need to be reformed. Third, government must improve the regimes related to money, banking, and the tax system to change business practices dependent on government protection or undesirable in view of the evolution of the Korean economy as a whole. To prevent rational business decisions from contradicting to the interest of the economy as a whole, government should influence the business environment, not the business itself.