• Asia-Pacific Journal of Business
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• v.15 no.1
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• pp.335-352
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• 2024

Purpose - Low fertility rate is a serious problem, and this study analyzes factors affecting total fertility rate using panel data from 16 metropolitan cities and provinces in Korea from 2000 to 2022. Design/methodology/approach - Estimating the SAR model considering the weak cross-sectional dependence that exists in variables related to the regional total fertility rate, and using the DKSE estimation method considering the strong cross-sectional dependence. Findings - Estimation results considering weak and strong cross-sectional dependence were similar, confirming the robustness of the results. Female labor force participation rate has a positive effect on total fertility rate, and employment rate has no effect. However, the interaction term is a negative (-) sign. Crude marriage rate has a positive effect on total fertility rate, and apartment price has a slightly positive effect. Environmental factor has no effect, and policy factor has a negative effect. Research implications or Originality - In order for an increase in the female labor force participation rate to lead to an increase in the total fertility rate, qualitative improvements in female employment must be made. Financial investment policies for childbirth must increase their effectiveness. The problem of low fertility rate requires not only population policy but also social, economic, cultural, environmental, and policy conditions to be considered.

• Journal of Hospice and Palliative Care
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• v.13 no.3
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• pp.143-152
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• 2010

Purpose: This study aimed to evaluate the current status of hospice palliative care facilities in Korea. Based on the result, we attempted to suggest activation plans of hospice palliative in Korea. Methods: To conduct a survey, we obtained a list of hospice palliative care facilities from related agencies and academic societies. A survey was conducted from February, 2009 to March, 2009. The survey was consisted of general characteristics of organizations, manpower, facilities & equipments, and so on. In addition, we used data from Statistics Korea to estimate the number of beds required and the bed occupancy rate. Results: Total number of facilities responded to the questionnaire were 53. Forty-two facilities were general hospitals and 6 facilities were clinics among the total 53 facilities, and 18.8% of facilities were located in Seoul, Incheon and Gyeonggido. Overall bed occupancy rate was rather low as 21.9%, and there were 4 provinces where bed occupancy rates were 0%. Deaths in hospice palliative care facilities during 2008 were 6.3% of total deaths from cancers. As for the questions about the financial status of facilities, 86% of facilities were answered financial insufficiency. Also more than half of the facilities gave financial insufficiency as the reason for shortage of human resource supplies and inability to achieve the standard for authorization by the government. Facilities answered in order to activate the hospice palliative care, governmental support is needed, mostly in financial support (71.2%), donation tax deduction (43.1%), and setting up a public utility foundation (23.5%). Conclusion: This study showed low rates of hospice palliative care use and bed occupancy in Korea. Regional variance in bed occupancy rate was significantly high. As a roadblock for these problems, most of the facilities cited financial insufficiency. Therefore, there must be some action plans to boost financial support to activate hospice palliative care in Korea. Finally, efforts to improve these circumstances including lack of understanding about hospice and palliative care, are needed as well.

• Health Policy and Management
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• v.9 no.1
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• pp.156-177
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• 1999

The current method of rate adjustment for inflation is based on the evaluation of the financial performance of hospitals. The method has the disadvantage such as too complicated, expensive process as well as low reliability. This study, therefore, develops the 'Korean Medical Insurance Economic Index(MIEI)' as a new model for the rate adjustment with the use of the macro economic indices. In addition, we calculate the 1992∼1998 rate adjustment with the MIEI, and examines the validity of the MIEI by comparing with the conventional method. Medical costs are classified into nine categories : physician salaries, nurse·pharmacist·medical technician salaries, assistants & others salaries, material cost(by imports), material cost(by domestics), depreciation & rent paid(by imports), depreciation & rent paid(by domestics), power utilities, other administrative costs. Then the category weight which is the ratio of category in the total cost is calculated. Macro economic indices are selected for each cost category in order to reflect the concept of the each cost category and inflation during the year of 1992∼1998. Finally MIEI which integrate all category according to the category weight and selected macro indices is calculated. The mean of hospital MIEI which weighting by amount paid by insurers was cacluated. The result from the application of empirical data to the MIEI model is very similar to that of the current method. Furthermore, this method is very simple and also easy to get social consensus. This MIEI model can be replaced the current method based on the analysis of the financial performance for the adjustment of medical fees.

• The Journal of Information Systems
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• v.28 no.4
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• pp.333-358
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• 2019

Purpose The study aims to develop a data-based decision model for private bankers when recommending hedge funds to their customers in financial institutions. Design/methodology/approach The independent variables are set in two groups. The independent variables of the first group are aggressive investors, active investors, and risk-neutral type investors. In the second group, variables considered by private bankers include customer propensity to invest, reliability, product subscription experience, professionalism, intimacy, and product understanding. A decision-making variable for a private banker is in recommending a first-rate general private fund composed of foreign and domestic FinTech products. These contain dependent variables that include target return rate(%), fund period (months), safeguard existence, underlying asset, and hedge fund name. Findings Based on the research results, there is a 94.4% accuracy in decision-making when the independent variables (customer rating, reliability, intimacy, product subscription experience, professionalism and product understanding) are used according to the following order of relevant dependent variables: step 1 on safeguard existence, step 2 on target return rate, step 3 on fund period, and step 4 on hedge fund name. Next, a 93.7% accuracy is expected when decision-making uses the following order of dependent variables: step 1 on safeguard existence, step 2 on target return rate, step 3 on underlying asset, and step 4 on fund period. In conclusion, a private banker conducts a decision making stage when recommending hedge funds to their customers. When examining a private banker's recommendations of hedge funds to a customer, independent variables influencing dependent variables are intimacy, product comprehension, and product subscription experience according to a categorical regression model and artificial neural network analysis model.

• The Korean Journal of Financial Management
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• v.20 no.1
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• pp.305-329
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• 2003

This work analyzes the influence of the dollar and yen currency on the rate of return of the individual firms and its symmetries based on the data from Jan. 5 1987 to Dec. 28, 2001. GARCH and autoregressive error models were used for on the daily data, due to the heteroscedascity and autoregression of the error terms, and as for the monthly data, this paper follows the autoregressive error models. Daily data fumed out to be a better explanatory variable in detecting exchange rate exposure, and EGARCH(1, 1) and GJR-GRARCH(1, 1) have higher competence in analyzing the daily data. Also, most of the exposed firms have been exposed in the negative region, and appreciation of exchange rate does not help enhancing the asset value of the domestic value. Analysis on the asymmetries let us conclude that high proportion of domestic firms face asymmetric exchange rate exposure, and that the pricing-to-market theory carries more conviction than the real option theory. Furthermore, monthly data are more precise in analysis of asymmetries.

• Health Policy and Management
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• v.5 no.1
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• pp.132-160
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• 1995

This study purported to acquire information necessary to improve the management of general hospitals. It tried to determine major indices which represent managerial performance of general hospitals and to identify the managerial characteristics of general hospitals which affect the major financial indices. Eighty-eight hospitals were chosen from 188 hospitals which were subject to standardization audit by the Korean Hospital Association. The results of a discriminant analysis are summarized as followings. First, when a single index was used to measure managerial performance of the sample hospitals, the ration of net profit to total capital was the best index and its discriminant power was 58.14%. The ratio of the number of boardmen((M. D.) and average daily medical cost were highly related to this index. Second, when two indices were used, income growth rte and the ration of net profit to total capital had the highest discriminant distinction ability. Their discriminant power was 61.9%. In this case, the ratio of the number of boardmen(M. D.) was significantly and highly related to the indices. Third, when all three indices-income growth rate, the ration of net profit to total capital and quick ratio - were used together, a discriminant function was statistically insignificant. Therefore, using all three indices was not useful in measuring managerial performance of the sample hospitals. In conclusion, using two indices-income growth rate and the ration of net profit to total capital-was better in measuring manegerial performance of general hospitals than using a single index. The independent variable which affected these indices was the ration of the number of boardmen. The discriminant function was : $D_{GI}=2.77+4.832\times(the ratio of the number of boardmen)$ *G=growth index(income growth rate) *I=profit index(the ration of net profit to total capital)

• Health Policy and Management
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• v.29 no.3
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• pp.312-322
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• 2019

Background: Since 2003, Korea has consistently shown the highest suicide rate among the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development countries, and suicide remains the major cause of death. In particular, men are 2-3 times more likely to commit suicide than women, which called the 'gender paradox of suicide.' The areas with frequent suicide have spatially clustered patterns because suicide with a social contagion spreads around the neighborhood. The purpose of this study was twofold. The first was to estimate the hotspot areas of age-standardized male suicide mortality from 2008 to 2015. The second was to analyze the relationship between the hotspot areas and the regional characteristics for study years. Methods: The data was collected through the Korean Statistical Information Service. The study areas were 227 si gun gu administrative districts in Korea. The hotspot area was used as a dependent variable. Socio-demographic variables (number of marriages per 1,000 population, number of divorces per 1,000 population, and urbanization rate), financial variables (financial independence and social security budget), and health behaviors (EuroQol-5 dimension [EQ-5D], and depression experience rate) were used as independents variables. Results: The hotspot areas were commonly located in Gangwon-do, Chungcheongnam-do, Gyeongsangbuk-do, and Chungceongbuk-do. According to the results of panel logit regression, the number of divorces per 1,000 population, social security budget, and EQ-5D were statistically significant variables. Conclusion: The results of hotspot analysis showed the need for establishing a prevention zone of suicide using hotspot areas. Also, medical resources could be considered to be preferentially placed in the prevention zone of suicide. This study could be used as basic data for health policymakers to establish a suicide-related policy.

• The Journal of Fisheries Business Administration
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• v.44 no.2
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• pp.1-17
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• 2013

We investigate the appropriateness of the fixed 12% discount rate to be used in estimating the amount of compensation for revoking a license for fishery business by the Enforcement Decree of Fisheries Act in Korea. We also suggest the appropriate discount rate fully reflecting the change of market interest rate in the Korean financial market. The capital asset pricing model, or, CAPM is the best known model of risk and return, and is widely used to estimate the expected rate of return for the risky projects. Even though the CAPM implies that the discount rate or the expected rate of return should change as the related market factors do, the discount rate used to estimate compensation for revoking a license for fishery business remains to be the same 12% rate for the last 15 years by law. During this period, however, the yield to maturity for the 5-year government bonds in Korea has dramatically changed from about 12% to less than 3%. In order to provide the fair compensation for the damages against the coastal fisheries and evaluate the intrinsic value of fishery resources in the coastal areas, we suggest that the appropriate discount rate should be determined by the yield to maturity of the government bonds with 5-year maturity, instead of the current fixed 12% interest rate.

• KDI Journal of Economic Policy
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• v.44 no.3
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• pp.1-26
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• 2022

This paper analyzes the effects of the cut in the legal maximum interest rate (from 27.4% to 24%) that occurred in February of 2018 on loan interest rates, the default rates, and the loan approval rate of borrowers in the non-banking sector. We use the difference-in-difference identification strategy to estimate the effect of the cut in the legal maximum interest rate using micro-level data from a major credit-rating company. The legal maximum rate cut significantly lowers the loan interest rate and default rate of low-credit borrowers (i.e., high-credit-risk borrowers) in the non-banking sector. However, this effect is limited to borrowers who have not been excluded from the market despite the legal maximum interest rate cut. The loan approval rate of low-credit borrowers decreased significantly after the legal maximum interest rate cut. Meanwhile, the loan approval rate of high-credit and medium-credit (i.e., low credit risk and medium credit risk) borrowers increased. This implies that financial institutions in the non-banking sector should reduce the loan supply to low-credit borrowers who are no longer profitable while increasing the loan supply to high- and medium-credit borrowers.

• KDI Journal of Economic Policy
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• v.31 no.2
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• pp.155-194
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• 2009

The Korean economy successfully overcame the macroeconomic downturns driven from the Asian financial crisis in a very short period of time. The economic shock, however, generated a variety of social problems, one of which was the increase in felonies (homicides, robbery, rape, and arson), or degradation of public safety. We argue that the Korean criminal policy has not been effective to ameliorate the rising trends in crime caused by the financial crisis. In order to substantiate this claim, we assess the effectiveness of criminal policy: policing, sentencing, and corrections. First, there has been resource shortage in policing since the 1997 financial crisis. For the past ten years, the investment of human resource and budget in the police has been virtually stagnant, as well as in prosecutors' investigation activities. The insufficient resource allocation in policing caused a huge decline in arrest rates and prosecution rates. Second, the Korean judicial system has not increased the severity of punishment. Comparing the pre- and the post-financial crisis period, the average length of prison sentence by the courts has declined. Given the degrading in the quality of crime and the decreasing amount of inputs into the policing and prosecution, the government should have increased the severity of punishment to deter crime. Third, we found that the government hired more officers and allocated larger budget into prison and probation. However, it is difficult to suggest that the increased level of resources in correctional programs have been effective in preventing released prisoners from committing future crimes. This is because the number of repeat offenders convicted of more than a third offense increased dramatically since 1997, pushing felonies upward. In sum, the government organizations failed to respond respectively or to make coordinated actions, eventually causing a dramatic increase in crimes. This research brings explicit policy implications. In order to prevent possible additional degradation of public safety, the government must put more efforts into increasing the effectiveness of policy and to investing more resources into said policies. We also emphasize the importance of the institutional mechanisms which foster policy coordination among the Police, the Prosecutor's Office, the Ministry of Justice, and other relevant government organizations.