• Korean Journal of Childcare and Education
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• v.16 no.5
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• pp.219-237
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• 2020

Objective: The research aimed to help understand the lives of those living in today's Korean society by analyzing the positionality of experienced childcare teachers, and to obtain relevant policy implications. Methods: The participants were 111 childcare teachers with more than seven years of job experience. The metaphors expressing themselves were collected and implemented the metaphor analysis in terms of positionality. Results: First, the participants who recognized themselves as experts were positioned as teachers who cared for and taught children, as co-learners with children, and as leaders of junior teachers. Second, the participants who recognized themselves as minorities were positioned as non-subjects, and as oppressed persons who had to obey in the lower levels of the organizational system of childcare centers. Third, the participants who recognized themselves as marginal persons were positioned as problem solvers, and as border-crossers who conflict and adjust in complex relationships. Conclusion/Implications: Based on the results, the following policy suggestions were made. First, policies must be expressed in public language that respect childcare teachers as a key worker in society; second, the job policies must be shifted toward employment security of childcare teachers. Third, substantial support for labor costs for childcare teachers should be expanded.

• Journal of Arbitration Studies
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• v.23 no.2
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• pp.55-79
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• 2013

As arbitration becomes an increasingly popular mode of resolving disputes, neighboring industries begin to take notice. This interest is reflected in the increasing utilization of third party funding in international arbitration claims. In this regard, the third party funding industry appears particularly interested in investor-state arbitration claims because they typically involve considerable claim amounts and substantial legal fees. To examine this trend more closely, this paper, firstly, examines the investor-state arbitration more precisely in Chapter II. In Chapter III, this study continues to examine some legal issues which can arise as a result of a conflict of interest between the parties to the funding agreement including, inter alia, 1) a dispute in which the funder terminates the agreement during the arbitration proceedings, 2) a dispute in relation to a funder's intervention in arbitration proceedings, and 3) a dispute on the responsibility for adverse costs orders, if any. This paper further identifies major legal issues which can arise in relation to 1) disclosure of existence of the funding agreement, 2) attorney-client privilege. Lastly, in Chapter IV, this paper provides some lessons from an in-depth case study on third party funding agreements and solutions to avoid and to solve prospective disputes in the future.

• Journal of Contemporary Eastern Asia
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• v.20 no.2
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• pp.210-236
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• 2021

China's Belt and Road Initiative infrastructure connectivity and other projects are presented in much of the discourse as a grand strategy to trap developing nations in debt, to exert asymmetric power and construct a new world economic order. The asymmetric relationship between China and Myanmar might therefore be expected to generate a range of political risks for stakeholders. Myanmar itself presents a "perfect storm" of problems, with dysfunctional governance, civil conflict, under-development and growing economic dependence on China. The Kyaukphyu port project and associated Special Economic Zone in Myanmar's troubled Rakhine state is investigated as a case study of risks on the Belt and Road. While worst case fears China might seize military control of the port appear unlikely, at least in current conditions, empirical observation indicates the complexity on the ground generates an array of other risks - as well as opportunities, should conditions allow. Further, despite challenges and constrained capacity, Myanmar governments have demonstrated agency, including by re-negotiating control and costs of the Kyaukphyu project. The case underlines that conditions are more complicated than simply China's asymmetric power. A sceptical approach is taken to normative discourses in order to build inductive understanding of how stakeholders and local experts perceive dynamics underway. A political risk approach is deployed to develop a framework to identify, analyse and assess risks for actors in relation to the Kyaukphyu project. The research findings are presented on an interim basis, given current constraints on field interviews due to the current crisis.

• The Journal of Asian Finance, Economics and Business
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• v.9 no.3
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• pp.135-147
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• 2022

This study was conducted to determine whether there is a significant relationship between board structure and board committee qualities and corporate cash holdings in Pakistan. For this objective, 168 listed enterprises on the PSX for the period 2016 to 2020 were chosen as a sample from a population of 436 non-financial firms. Multiple regression analysis was used in the study to discover a relationship between board structure and board committee features and cash holdings. The study's findings revealed that board size, executive directors, and board independence have no significant impact on the firm's cash holding because they play no important part in the firm's cash holding. Auditors, audit committee size, audit committee meetings, and the compensation committee, on the other hand, have no major impact on the firm's cash holdings because they are not relevant indicators to compare with cash holdings. While board meeting frequency and leadership structure both have a negative influence on cash holding, board meeting frequency increases firm costs, whereas leadership structure causes agency problems. Results were supported by the pecking order theory, cash flow theory, and agency theory.

• International conference on construction engineering and project management
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• 2022.06a
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• pp.67-73
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• 2022

Construction bid documents contain various errors or discrepancies giving rise to uncertainties. The errors/discrepancies/ambiguities in the bid document, if not identified and clarified before the bid, may cause dispute and conflict between the contracting parties. Given the fact that bid document is a major resource in estimating construction costs, inaccurate information in bid document can result in over/under estimating. Thus, any questions from bidders related to the errors in the bid document should be clarified by employers before bid submission. This study aims to examine the pre-bid queries, i.e., pre-bid request for information (RFI), from state DoTs of the United States to investigate error types most frequently encountered in bid documents. For the study, around 200 pre-bids RFI were collected from state DoTs and were classified into several error types (e.g., coordination error, errors in drawings). The analysis of the data showed that errors in bill of quantities is the most frequent error in the bid documents followed by errors in drawing. The study findings addressed uncertainty types in construction bid documents that should be checked during a bid process, and, in a broader sense, it will contribute to advancing the construction management body of knowledge by clarifying and classifying bid risk factors at an early stage of construction projects.

• Journal of Dairy Science and Biotechnology
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• v.42 no.1
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• pp.1-8
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• 2024

The global dairy industry has faced substantial challenges because of the prolonged coronavirus of 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic since 2020 and the initiation of conflict between the Ukraine and Russia. In 2022, the overall milk production reached 936 million tons, reflecting a modest 1.1% increase in total global production. This indicates below-average growth for the second consecutive year because the supply to major export regions became more challenging owing to a significant increase in costs. In China, India, and Pakistan, total milk production increased markedly by 3.1% (average) because of buffalo milk production. In the near future, global milk production is expected to exhibit an average annual growth rate of 1.5%, exceeding that of other major agricultural products. Notably, the trade flow of dairy products is highly reactive to changes in the trade policy environment. Revisions to existing trade agreements or the introduction of new agreements can significantly impact the demand for dairy products and alter the trade patterns of the industry. Collectively, adaptability and strategic policy responses are critical in shaping the future development of this industry, and industry stakeholders worldwide should remain vigilant and prepare for these challenges.

• Korean Journal of Construction Engineering and Management
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• v.18 no.3
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• pp.12-21
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• 2017

From 1960, the government decided to build apartment houses on a large scale in order to resolve the rising housing problems. However, the maintenance issues that have arisen from the deterioration of housing has not received adequate attention. The policy focuses only on the supply of housing. By passing new laws, the durable period during which buildings allowed reconstruction was increased, and long term maintenance plans were treated as important issues. The government was then obligated to establish certain long term maintenance plans and costs by legislating a Housing Act and requiring it be adjusted every three years. However, when planning long-term repair costs, doing so without considering the time value of money would become a problem. In addition, if differences between the planned repair costs and actual costs occur, it becomes necessary to adjust the long-term repair costs but, as of yet, the criteria to adjust such things does not exist. For these reasons, if there is lack of money to execute large-scale repair work, a building is unlikely to respond to deterioration of housing; on the other hand, an unnecessary reserve or pool of money can lead to conflict among residents. Therefore, this paper will propose estimation and adjustment models considering the time value of money for long term maintenance costs of apartment houses.

• KDI Journal of Economic Policy
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• v.31 no.1
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• pp.239-276
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• 2009

The paper investigates the possible relationship between earnings prediction by security analysts and special ownership ties that link security companies those analysts belong to and firms under analysis. "Security analysts" are known best for their role as information producers in stock markets where imperfect information is prevalent and transaction costs are high. In such a market, changes in the fundamental value of a company are not spontaneously reflected in the stock price, and the security analysts actively produce and distribute the relevant information crucial for the price mechanism to operate efficiently. Therefore, securing the fairness and accuracy of information they provide is very important for efficiencyof resource allocation as well as protection of investors who are excluded from the special relationship. Evidence of systematic distortion of information by the special tie naturally calls for regulatory intervention, if found. However, one cannot presuppose the existence of distorted information based on the common ownership between the appraiser and the appraisee. Reputation effect is especially cherished by security firms and among analysts as indispensable intangible asset in the industry, and the incentive to maintain good reputation by providing accurate earnings prediction may overweigh the incentive to offer favorable rating or stock recommendation for the firms that are affiliated by common ownership. This study shares the theme of existing literature concerning the effect of conflict of interests on the accuracy of analyst's predictions. This study, however, focuses on the potential conflict of interest situation that may originate from the Korea-specific ownership structure of large conglomerates. Utilizing an extensive database of analysts' reports provided by WiseFn(R) in Korea, we perform empirical analysis of potential relationship between earnings prediction and common ownership. We first analyzed the prediction bias index which tells how optimistic or friendly the analyst's prediction is compared to the realized earnings. It is shown that there exists no statistically significant relationship between the prediction bias and common ownership. This is a rather surprising result since it is observed that the frequency of positive prediction bias is higher with such ownership tie. Next, we analyzed the prediction accuracy index which shows how accurate the analyst's prediction is compared to the realized earnings regardless of its sign. It is also concluded that there is no significant association between the accuracy ofearnings prediction and special relationship. We interpret the results implying that market discipline based on reputation effect is working in Korean stock market in the sense that security companies do not seem to be influenced by an incentive to offer distorted information on affiliated firms. While many of the existing studies confirm the relationship between the ability of the analystand the accuracy of the analyst's prediction, these factors cannot be controlled in the above analysis due to the lack of relevant data. As an indirect way to examine the possibility that such relationship might have distorted the result, we perform an additional but identical analysis based on a sub-sample consisting only of reports by best analysts. The result also confirms the earlier conclusion that the common ownership structure does not affect the accuracy and bias of earnings prediction by the analyst.

• Korean Journal of Construction Engineering and Management
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• v.22 no.1
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• pp.36-46
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• 2021

With an increasing trend toward high-rise modular construction, the simultaneous use of tower cranes at a modular construction site has recently been observed. Tower crane layout planning (TCLP) has a significant effect on cost, duration, safety and productivity of a project. In a modular construction project, particularly, poor decision about the layout of tower cranes is likely to have negative effects like additional employment of cranes and redesign, which will lead to additional costs and possible delays. It is, therefore, crucial to conduct thorough inspection of field conditions, lifting materials, tower crane capacity to make decisions on the layout of tower cranes. However, several challenges exist in planning for a multi-crane construction site in terms of safety and collaboration, which makes planning with experience and intuition complicated. This paper suggests a multi-objective optimization model for selection of the number of tower cranes, their models and locations, which minimizes cost and conflict. The proposed model contributes to the body of knowledge by showing the feasibility of using multi-objective optimization for TCLP decision-making process with consideration of trade-offs between cost and conflict.

• The Journal of the Korea Contents Association
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• v.16 no.8
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• pp.661-670
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• 2016

In 2000, post-construction evaluation was introduced for the purposes to evaluate demand, cost, and construction period of public construction projects and to reduce errors of public order agencies. However, pricing guide of post-construction evaluation has not been established, which becomes a cause of quality degradation of post-construction service and conflict occurrence. This study suggests the pricing guide in the form of percentage of construction cost method and cost plus fee method based on data of post-construction evaluation. This study investigates the construction costs and service costs for post-construction evaluation and conducts the comparative analysis of 'percentage of construction cost method' and 'cost plus fee method.' The analysis result shows 'cost plus fee method' is more accuracy than 'percentage of construction cost method.' In particular, cost plus fee method includes various correction coefficients, such as distance, area, and integration, in order to reflect the project characteristics of each infrastructure, and suggests linear construction (roads, railways), nonlinear construction I (housing and industry complex), and nonlinear construction II (airports, seaports, dams, water and sewage).