• SUVANNABHUMI
• /
• v.8 no.1
• /
• pp.95-119
• /
• 2016

From the migrant care-workers arriving in Japan from the Philippines and Indonesia to support the depleted social support system for the large population of the elderly (Ogawa 2012) to the increasing number of retiring Japanese embarking on long-stay tourism in Malaysia (Ono 2015), the Japanese image of Southeast Asia as an exotic destination offering cheap labor in return for official development assistance seems to be fading away. Yet these changes are not necessarily reflected in the way contemporary Japanese, especially those who belong to the global, "spiritual-but not-religious" (Fuller 2001) population, think of and "consume" Southeast Asia in their daily lives. Using three case-studies, spiritual tours, Thai massage, and an NGO founded by a Japanese spiritual therapist, this paper argues that in Japan's large spiritual market, which targets people seeking alternative ways to express their religiosity, the old-fashioned colonial exoticism of Southeast Asian narratives were integrated in a totalizing discourse, in which Japan remains the exceptional outlier (Tanaka 1993), a country still claimed to be "advanced" both spiritually and economically.

• KDI Journal of Economic Policy
• /
• v.30 no.2
• /
• pp.185-223
• /
• 2008

This paper considers a heterogeneous agent dynamic general equilibrium model and analyzes effects of an increase in labor income tax rate on labor market and the aggregate variables in Korea. The fiscal policy regarding how the government uses the additional tax revenue may take the two forms: 1) general transfer and 2) earned income tax credit (EITC). The model features are as follows: 1) Workers are heterogeneous in their productivity. 2)Labor is indivisible, hence the analysis focuses on the variation in labor supply through the extensive margin in response to a change in fiscal policy. 3) The incomplete markets are introduced, so individual workers can not perfectly insure themselves against risks related to stochastic changes in income or employment status. 4) The model is of general equilibrium, hence it is equiped to analyze the feedback effect of changes in aggregate variables on individual workers' decisions. In the case of general transfer policy, the government equally distributes the additional tax revenue to all workers regardless of their employment states. Under this policy, an increase in the labor income tax rate dampens work incentives of individual workers so that the aggregate employment rate decreases by 1% compared with the benchmark economy. In the case of EITC policy, only employed workers whose labor incomes are below a certain EITC ceiling are eligible for the EITC benefits. Unlike the general transfer policy, the EITC induces low-income workers to participate the labor market to be eligible for EITC benefits. Hence, the aggregate employment rate may increase by 2.7% at the maximum. As the EITC ceiling increases, too many workers can collect the EITC but the benefits per worker becomes too little so that the increase in employment rate is negligible. By and large, this study demonstrates that EITC may effectively raise the aggregate employment rate, and that it can be a useful policy tool in response to the decrease in the labor force due to population aging as observed in Korea recently.

• Journal of the Economic Geographical Society of Korea
• /
• v.6 no.1
• /
• pp.145-170
• /
• 2003

Since 1980's, the opportunities of higher education have increased absolutely to the extent worrying of over-education. The over-education means that job-seekers having a bachelor degree flow into job market much more than necessary and the problem of unemployment and under-employment becomes more serious. These changes in the labor market can affect the university selection behaviors of high school graduates. This study aims to reveal the impacts of over-education in Chungbuk, a periphery region, Korea. As expected, many of college graduates flow down into jobs asking school years less than higher education. On the other hand, high school graduates have an tendency of choosing a college, especially a college in center region, other than universities in Chungbuk, to expect more stable and rewarding job in income and upward mobility after the graduation of higher education. As the result of this, a regional university district, which means most of students in the region enter college within region limit, is getting broken into more smaller districts, a kind of local district. It can be thought as a sign that the dominance of regional center is weakening and more cities in the region receive a direct affects from center region, not through regional center.

• Journal of Convergence for Information Technology
• /
• v.9 no.11
• /
• pp.134-140
• /
• 2019

This paper examines career self-help advice as one of the important channels that offers converged information, as well as influences popular perception, on white-collar labor market changes in the U.S. In this regard, the paper critically looks at career self-help advice by examining its discourses on the shift to white-collar employment insecurity as well as their problems. It especially focuses on a few of the leading career self-help books as an exemplary case, showing that they urge people to readily embrace the rise of precarious employment by presenting it as an inevitable as well as positive and empowering development. The paper also explores the problems with such accounts, showing how they foremost serve the needs of corporations seeking workplace changes.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Information and Commucation Sciences Conference
• /
• 2021.10a
• /
• pp.159-160
• /
• 2021

We are facing major changes such as an aging population along with the 4th industrial revolution based on ICT technologies such as artificial intelligence, the Internet of Things, autonomous driving, and factory automation. For the local governments that are indexed in high population extinction risk, it is essential to consider market expansion and re-education policies suitable for regional characteristics in order to respond to changes such as advanced industrial automation and population aging. For the reemployment of the elderly, we will analyze previous public strategies for elderly-friendly jobs, expand investment in age-friendly industries. In this study, we suggest to improvement direction of the elderly labor market in Cheonan-Si.

• Journal of the Korean Geographical Society
• /
• v.45 no.3
• /
• pp.390-413
• /
• 2010

Facing reconfiguration of world economic order in the process of globalization and changes in domestic economic and social conditions, Japan has experienced a rapid inflow of foreign immigrants and hence a restructuring of labor market and ethic and cultural mixture. This paper explores contexts of inflow and social and spatial characteristics of immigrant workers in Japan. Uneven regional development on the global level and shifting to flexible accumulation regime, depletion of previously underutilized labor resource, better-educated youth and shrinking and aging of Japanese populace on the national level can be pointed out as important elements of immigration contexts. This paper also explains the hierarchizaton of labor market and differentiation of spatial distribution of immigrant workers in Japan in terms of visa condition and nationality. In particular, focusing on the case of Hiroshima prefecture, this paper analyzes residential differentiation of immigrants according to their nationality. Finally, it finds out some problems which immigrant workers have confronted in Hiroshima region.

• Korean Journal of Construction Engineering and Management
• /
• v.14 no.4
• /
• pp.24-34
• /
• 2013

Since 2004, the government decided to gradually introduce Actual Cost Data into cost estimate for improving problems of below-cost tendering and to reflect fair market price through competition and carry contract efficiently. However, there are many concerns that Actual Cost Data has not reflected real market price, even that has contributed to reduce the government's budget. General construction firm's burden for labor cost is imputed to specialty contractors and eventually it becomes construction worker's burden. Therefore, realization of Actual Cost Data is very important factor to settle this system. To understand realization level and make short term forecast, this paper drew construction group of which labor cost constitutes more than 95% of direct cost, and compares their Actual Cost Data with relevant skilled workers's unit wage and predicts using time series analysis. The bid price which is not be reflected market price accelerates work environment changes and leads to directly affect such as late disbursement of wages, bankruptcy to workers. Therefore this paper is expected to be used to the preliminary data for solving the problem and establishing improvement of Actual Cost Data.

• International Commerce and Information Review
• /
• v.16 no.1
• /
• pp.69-88
• /
• 2014

According to the previous study, after 2000s, factors of the Chinese government's trade policy changes would be a significant burden on the company. However, many previous studies were limited to the response strategy by judicial analysis. Therefore, this study aims to analyze the factors that affect the export performance of Korean manufacturing companies in China. Also, by using that result, I would like to provide advises for entered the korean companies in Chinese market As the results, I knew that export performance are most heavily influenced by labor policy factor and the fallowing is exchange rate policy factor. Eventually, Most of our country companies entering in china were affected changes in the exchange rate policy factor, but many company were manufacturing-type businesses to economize labor costs. Therefore, corporate and governmental response strategies are needed for that's companies.

• Korean Security Journal
• /
• no.13
• /
• pp.383-402
• /
• 2007

World security market has continuously been growing since the 2000s. The growth rate seems to reach up to 7-8% annually. What is more, Korea is expected to be one of the most rapidly developing markets, Based of this view, this research investigates the principal drivers to have affected on the expansion of Korean security market over the past 20 years. In addition to that, this study also examines the influence of recent changes in the world economy and globalization, socio-demographic change, development of information technology on the future security market. The data reviewed in this study are official crime rates, socio-economic indicators, statistics from the National Police Agency and the business reports of a leading private security company. This study shows that several factors such as rising crime rates, lack of police capacities, national economic growth and rising household income have played important roles in development of Korean market. It is also expected to keep those positive affects on the future market. On the other side, in recent years, the security market seems to be increasingly affected by new social economic changes. Those are impact of last aging society, rapid increase of individual household and women's participation in labor market. These factors seem to increase personal and household needs for security service. World economy, globalization process and development of information technology are also deemed to give rise to social demands for surveillance, monitoring service and security in cyber space.

• Korea Journal of Hospital Management
• /
• v.14 no.4
• /
• pp.52-70
• /
• 2009

This study is to analyse the reimbursement prices of drugs in Japan. Japan has the world's second-largest pharmaceutical market, and the world's largest price-controlled pharmaceutical market. The reimbursement prices of new drugs in Japan are determined by confidential negotiations between the manufacturer and the Japanese Ministry of Health, Labor, and Welfare. Pharmaceuticals account for a larger share of total healthcare expenditures in Japan than in most other major pharmaceutical markets such as France, Germany, United Kingdom and United States. Prescription drugs' share of total healthcare spending has slightly increased in recent years, from 20.2% in 2000 to 21.5% in 2004, the most recent year for which data are currently available. This trend is attributable to the effect of the Japanese rapidly aging population that stimulates demand for healthcare services. There are several method of price setting for drugs as below. First, on the initial pricing of branded drugs, is the similar-efficacy pricing method and cost calculation method. Second is postmarketing price changes which are biennial price revisions under the rule of National Health Insurance. Third is the rule of the generics price. Recently, the generics market is expanded because there are increasing numbers of hospitals by DPCs(Diagnosis-procedure Combinations).