• Journal of the Korean association of regional geographers
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• v.12 no.1
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• pp.154-171
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• 2006

By comparing to Chinese American banks, this research shows the uniqueness of Korean American banks. This article argues that instead of the cultural attributes and/or informal financial institutions, formal financial institutions, such as the ethnic banks studied here, are responsible for the business success of Asians abroad. However, ethnic banks have different development trajectories depending on their respective ethnic communities. Korean American banks are notably different from Chinese American banks in terms of growth, profitability, and banking strategies. Although both ethnic banks exercise relationship banking strategies in their loan portfolios, their deposit compositions are very different and cause significant differences in financial performance. The focus on business loans and high rates of non-interest deposits allow for higher growth rates in Korean American banks. Therefore, relationship banking does not adequately explain the differences of ethnic banks. This research attempts to understand the underlying factors in choosing banking strategies by mainly focusing on the unique examples found in Korean and Chinese immigrant societies. For Chinese Americans, the heterogeneity of their population composition and foreign influence dominate their bank structures. On the other hand, Korean American homogeneity and business orientation are distinctly different. The influence of Korean capital is not significant when compared to overseas Chinese capital.

• The Journal of Asian Finance, Economics and Business
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• v.6 no.1
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• pp.315-319
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• 2019

The paper aims to investigate empirical causes of poverty of the Khmer ethnic people and suggest policy implication to help the Khmer ethnic people escape poverty in Tra Vinh province and the Mekong Delta. The study has been conducted with direct interviews with 300 Khmer households living in seven districts and cities in Tra Vinh province and with the use of multivariate regression. The research results show that a number of causes that affect poverty of poor households include lack of capital for production, lack of means of production, poor health and lack of labor, large families, lack of job opportunities or unemployment, and lack of willingness to escape poverty and education. Thus, there should be poverty reduction policy for the poor househlods in the coming time. Based on the current situation and regression results, the authors propose a number of recommendations: 1) Focus on preferential loan policies for poor people 2) Provide occupational training programs for improving incomes for the Khmer ethnic households 3) Build up special infrastructure in the Khmer ethnic areas 4) Focus on promoting cultural and belief institutions in areas of the Khmer ethnic people and 5) Improve and build up healthcare clinics services and facilities.

• The Journal of Asian Finance, Economics and Business
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• v.9 no.6
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• pp.115-126
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• 2022

The study's goal is to determine the amount of climate change's impact on ethnic minority (EM) households' livelihoods, as well as their adaptability to climate change and long-term viability. The research was conducted in Vietnam's Northwestern Sub-region, where ethnic minorities account for more than half of the overall population. The study uses a combination of qualitative and quantitative methods based on a survey of 480 households in 04 provinces severely affected by climate change in the Northwest sub-region of Vietnam. The results show that: climate change (extreme weather events) occurs with increasing frequency, mainly affecting the life expectancy, health, and capital of households; Vulnerable groups (women, ethnic minorities) have a poor adaptive capacity and mainly suffer the consequences of shocks, are afraid to change their livelihoods; Microfinance plays an important role in enhancing the sustainability of livelihoods through increasing capital and financial assets and reducing the vulnerability of ethnic minority households. Finally, research has some solutions for microfinance - special credit specifically for ethnic minority households in the Northwest Sub-region: support for microfinance advice, home credit with transition orientations to adapt to climate change response and relieves its impact on the social lives.

• Journal of the Economic Geographical Society of Korea
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• v.13 no.4
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• pp.641-662
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• 2010

Through the comparative studies on Korean and Chinese ethnobanks in the U.S., this research finds the difference in the social capital between Korean and Chinese American economy and reinterprets the social capital in overseas Chinese. In many ethnic studies, the ethnobanks in the U.S. are thought as the main drive of the economic prosperity in the ethnic communities. For the success of these ethnobanks, the relationship banking of these ethnobanks are contrasted with the arms-length banking of the mainstream U.S. banks. However there are the differences both in performance and business strategies even among different ethnobanks. Contrary to the Korean ethnic banks having much portion of business loans, Chinese ethnic banks have stressed real-estate loans in their loan portfolio. This research regards the differences of business strategies and performance of these ethnobanks as the result of the different social, cultural contexts in each ethnic community. From these finings, we can improve the understanding of the concept of social capital in overseas Chinese economy.