• Title/Summary/Keyword: Market Development

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A Case Study of Shanghai Tang: How to Build a Chinese Luxury Brand

  • Heine, Klaus;Phan, Michel
    • Asia Marketing Journal
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    • v.15 no.1
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    • pp.1-22
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    • 2013
  • This case focuses on Shanghai Tang, the first truly Chinese luxury brand that appeals to both Westerners and, more recently, to Chinese consumers worldwide. A visionary and wealthy businessman Sir David Tang created this company from scratch in 1994 in Hong Kong. Its story, spanned over almost two decades, has been fascinating. It went from what best a Chinese brand could be in the eyes of Westerners who love the Chinese culture, to a nearly-bankrupted company in 1998, before being acquired by Richemont, the second largest luxury group in the world. Since then, its turnaround has been spectacular with a growing appeal among Chinese luxury consumers who represent the core segment of the luxury industry today. The main objective of this case study is to formally examine how Shanghai Tang overcame its downfall and re-emerged as one the very few well- known Chinese luxury brands. More specifically, this case highlights the ways with which Shanghai Tang made a transitional change from a brand for Westerners who love the Chinese culture, to a brand for both, Westerners who love the Chinese culture and Chinese who love luxury. A close examination reveals that Shanghai Tang has followed the brand identity concept that consists of two major components: functional and emotional. The functional component for developing a luxury brand concerns all product characteristics that will make a product 'luxurious' in the eyes of the consumer, such as premium quality of cachemire from Mongolia, Chinese silk, lacquer, finest leather, porcelain, and jade in the case of Shanghai Tang. The emotional component consists of non-functional symbolic meanings of a brand. The symbolic meaning marks the major difference between a premium and a luxury brand. In the case of Shanghai Tang, its symbolic meaning refers to the Chinese culture and the brand aims to represent the best of Chinese traditions and establish itself as "the ambassador of modern Chinese style". It touches the Chinese heritage and emotions. Shanghai Tang has reinvented the modern Chinese chic by drawing back to the stylish decadence of Shanghai in the 1930s, which was then called the "Paris of the East", and this is where the brand finds inspiration to create its own myth. Once the functional and emotional components assured, Shanghai Tang has gone through a four-stage development to become the first global Chinese luxury brand: introduction, deepening, expansion, and revitalization. Introduction: David Tang discovered a market gap and had a vision to launch the first Chinese luxury brand to the world. The key success drivers for the introduction and management of a Chinese luxury brand are a solid brand identity and, above all, a creative mind, an inspired person. This was David Tang then, and this is now Raphael Le Masne de Chermont, the current Executive Chairman. Shanghai Tang combines Chinese and Western elements, which it finds to be the most sustainable platform for drawing consumers. Deepening: A major objective of the next phase is to become recognized as a luxury brand and a fashion or design authority. For this purpose, Shanghai Tang has cooperated with other well-regarded luxury and lifestyle brands such as Puma and Swarovski. It also expanded its product lines from high-end custom-made garments to music CDs and restaurant. Expansion: After the opening of his first store in Hong Kong in 1994, David Tang went on to open his second store in New York City three years later. However this New York retail operation was a financial disaster. Barely nineteen months after the opening, the store was shut down and quietly relocated to a cheaper location of Madison Avenue. Despite this failure, Shanghai Tang products found numerous followers especially among Western tourists and became "souvenir-like" must-haves. However, despite its strong brand DNA, the brand did not generate enough repeated sales and over the years the company cumulated heavy debts and became unprofitable. Revitalizing: After its purchase by Richemont in 1998, Le Masne de Chermont was appointed to lead the company, reposition the brand and undertake some major strategic changes such as revising the "Shanghai Tang" designs to appeal not only to Westerners but also to Chinese consumers, and to open new stores around the world. Since then, Shanghai Tang has become synonymous to a modern Chinese luxury lifestyle brand.

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Effect of food-related lifestyle, and SNS use and recommended information utilization on dining out (혼밥 및 외식소비 관련 식생활라이프스타일과 SNS 이용 및 추천정보활용의 영향)

  • Jin A Jang
    • Journal of Nutrition and Health
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    • v.56 no.5
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    • pp.573-588
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    • 2023
  • Purpose: This study aimed to examine social networking service (SNS) use and recommended information utilization (SURU) according to the food-related lifestyles (FRLs) of consumers and analyze how the interaction between the FRL and SURU affects the practice of eating alone and visiting restaurants. Methods: Data on 4,624 adults in their 20s to 50s were collected from the 2021 Consumer Behavior Survey for Food. Statistical methods included factor analysis, K-means cluster analysis, the complex samples general linear model, the complex samples Rao-Scott χ2 test, and the general linear model. Results: The following three factors were extracted from the FRL data: Convenience pursuit, rational consumption pursuit, and gastronomy pursuit, and the subjects were classified into three groups, namely the rational consumption, convenient gastronomy, and smart gourmet groups. An examination of the difference in SURU according to the FRL showed that the smart gourmet group had the highest score. The result of analyzing the effects of the FRL and SURU on eating alone revealed that both the main effect and the interaction effect were significant (p < 0.01, p < 0.001). The higher the SURU, the higher the frequency of eating alone in the convenience pursuit, and gastronomy pursuit groups. The main and interaction effects of the FRL and SURU on the frequency of eating out were also significant (p < 0.01, p < 0.001). In all the FRL groups, the higher the SURU level, the higher the frequency of visiting restaurants. Specifically, the two groups with convenience and gastronomic tendencies showed a steeper increase. Conclusion: This study provides important basic data for research on consumer behavior related to food SNS, market segmentation of restaurant consumers, and development of marketing strategies using SNS in the future.

IPA Analysis of the Components of the Scale-up Entrepreneurial Ecosystem of Startups (스타트업의 스케일업 창업생태계 구성요소의 IPA 분석)

  • Hey-Mi, Yun;Jung-Min, Nam
    • Asia-Pacific Journal of Business Venturing and Entrepreneurship
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    • v.17 no.6
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    • pp.25-37
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    • 2022
  • The purpose of this study is to survey startup founders within 7 years of founding the importance and satisfaction of the components of the scale-up entrepreneurial ecosystem at the national level in Korea and analyze the direction of scale-up policy by component using IPA (importance-performance analysis). Since the perception of founders, who are the subjects of the entrepreneurial ecosystem, affects the quantity and quality of start-ups, research is needed to analyze and diagnose the perception of scale-up components. For the development of the national economy and entrepreneurial ecosystem, companies that emerge from startups to scale-up and unicorns must be produced, and for this, elements for the scale-up entrepreneurial ecosystem are needed. The results of this study are as follows. First, the importance ranking of the components of the scale-up entrepreneurial ecosystem recognized by founders was in the order of "Financial support by growth stage," "Support for customized scale-up for enterprises," "Improvement of regulations," "Funds dedicated to scale-up," "large-scale investment," and "nurturing technical talents." Second, the factors that should be intensively improved in the importance-satisfaction matrix in the future were 'Pan-Government Integration Promotion Plan', 'Scale-Up Specialized Organization Operation', 'Company Customized Scale-Up Support', 'Regulatory Improvement', and 'Building a Korean Scale-Up Model'. As a result, various and large financial capital for the scale-up entrepreneurial ecosystem, diversification of scale-up programs by business sector, linkage of start-ups and scale-up support, deregulation of new technologies and new industries, strengthening corporate-tailored scale-up growth capabilities, and providing overseas networking opportunities can be derived. In addition, it is expected to contribute to policy practice and academic work with research that derives the components of the domestic scale-up entrepreneurial ecosystem and diagnoses its perception.

Analysis of the Influence of Role Models on College Students' Entrepreneurial Intentions: Exploring the Multiple Mediating Effects of Growth Mindset and Entrepreneurial Self-Efficacy (대학생 창업의지에 대한 롤모델의 영향 분석: 성장마인드셋과 창업자기효능감의 다중매개효과를 중심으로)

  • Jin Soo Maing;Sun Hyuk Kim
    • Asia-Pacific Journal of Business Venturing and Entrepreneurship
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    • v.18 no.5
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    • pp.17-32
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    • 2023
  • The entrepreneurial activities of college students play a significant role in modern economic and social development, particularly as a solution to the changing economic landscape and youth unemployment issues. Introducing innovative ideas and technologies into the market through entrepreneurship can contribute to sustainable economic growth and social value. Additionally, the entrepreneurial intentions of college students are shaped by various factors, making it crucial to deeply understand and appropriately support these elements. To this end, this study systematically explores the importance and impact of role models through a multiple serial mediation analysis. Through a survey of 300 college students, the study analyzed how two psychological variables, growth mindset and entrepreneurial self-efficacy, mediate the influence of role models on entrepreneurial intentions. The presence and success stories of role models were found to enhance the growth mindset of college students, which in turn boosts their entrepreneurial self-efficacy and ultimately strengthens their entrepreneurial intentions. The analysis revealed that exposure to role models significantly influences the formation of a growth mindset among college students. This mindset fosters a positive attitude towards viewing challenges and failures in entrepreneurship as learning opportunities. Such a mindset further enhances entrepreneurial self-efficacy, thereby strengthening the intention to engage in entrepreneurial activities. This research offers insights by integrating various theories, such as mindset theory and social learning theory, to deeply understand the complex process of forming entrepreneurial intentions. Practically, this study provides important guidelines for the design and implementation of college entrepreneurship education. Utilizing role models can significantly enhance students' entrepreneurial intentions, and educational programs can strengthen students' growth mindset and entrepreneurial self-efficacy by sharing entrepreneurial experiences and knowledge through role models. In conclusion, this study provides a systematic and empirical analysis of the various factors and their complex interactions that impact the entrepreneurial intentions of college students. It confirms that psychological factors like growth mindset and entrepreneurial self-efficacy play a significant role in shaping entrepreneurial intentions, beyond mere information or technical education. This research emphasizes that these psychological factors should be comprehensively considered when developing and implementing policies and programs related to college entrepreneurship education.

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A Study on Kiosk Satisfaction Level Improvement: Focusing on Kano, Timko, and PCSI Methodology (키오스크 소비자의 만족수준 연구: Kano, Timko, PCSI 방법론을 중심으로)

  • Choi, Jaehoon;Kim, Pansoo
    • Asia-Pacific Journal of Business Venturing and Entrepreneurship
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    • v.17 no.4
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    • pp.193-204
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    • 2022
  • This study analyzed the degree of influence of measurement and improvement of customer satisfaction level targeting kiosk users. In modern times, due to the development of technology and the improvement of the online environment, the probability that simple labor tasks will disappear after 10 years is close to 90%. Even in domestic research, it is predicted that 'simple labor jobs' will disappear due to the influence of advanced technology with a probability of about 36%. there is. In particular, as the demand for non-face-to-face services increases due to the Corona 19 virus, which is recently spreading globally, the trend of introducing kiosks has accelerated, and the global market will grow to 83.5 billion won in 2021, showing an average annual growth rate of 8.9%. there is. However, due to the unmanned nature of these kiosks, some consumers still have difficulties in using them, and consumers who are not familiar with the use of these technologies have a negative attitude towards service co-producers due to rejection of non-face-to-face services and anxiety about service errors. Lack of understanding leads to role conflicts between sales clerks and consumers, or inequality is being created in terms of service provision and generations accustomed to using technology. In addition, since kiosk is a representative technology-based self-service industry, if the user feels uncomfortable or requires additional labor, the overall service value decreases and the growth of the kiosk industry itself can be suppressed. It is important. Therefore, interviews were conducted on the main points of direct use with actual users centered on display color scheme, text size, device design, device size, internal UI (interface), amount of information, recognition sensor (barcode, NFC, etc.), Display brightness, self-event, and reaction speed items were extracted. Afterwards, using the questionnaire, the Kano model quality attribute classification of each expected evaluation item was carried out, and Timko's customer satisfaction coefficient, which can be calculated with accurate numerical values The PCSI Index analysis was additionally performed to determine the improvement priorities by finally classifying the improvement impact of the kiosk expected evaluation items through research. As a result, the impact of improvement appears in the order of internal UI (interface), text size, recognition sensor (barcode, NFC, etc.), reaction speed, self-event, display brightness, amount of information, device size, device design, and display color scheme. Through this, we intend to contribute to a comprehensive comparison of kiosk-based research in each field and to set the direction for improvement in the venture industry.

The Impact of Utilizing Online Outsourcing in Startups on Member Organizational Commitment and Job Satisfaction (스타트업의 온라인 아웃소싱 활용이 구성원 조직몰입과 직무만족에 미치는 영향에 관한 연구)

  • Kim, Joonhak;Park, Jae-Whan
    • Asia-Pacific Journal of Business Venturing and Entrepreneurship
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    • v.19 no.3
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    • pp.139-153
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    • 2024
  • The importance of sustainable growth and cost reduction has increased globally, leading to the expansion of outsourcing by companies. Additionally, the spread of the platform economy has brought changes in the way we work, and the online outsourcing market, where tasks are mediated through platforms, is growing. Academically, while research on general outsourcing is actively conducted, studies on online outsourcing are relatively insufficient compared to its actual utilization. This study aims to analyze the factors and performance factors of online outsourcing utilization by startups, to identify the effects and concerns of using online outsourcing from multiple perspectives, and to suggest the roles of various stakeholders for effective utilization and industry development. For the research, a survey was conducted with 281 employees of startups who have experience in using online outsourcing, and the main findings are as follows. First, the enhancement of efficiency, profitability, and innovation through the use of online outsourcing positively affects organizational commitment and job satisfaction of startup members. Especially, the improvement of efficiency due to the use of online outsourcing has a significant effect on enhancing job satisfaction. Second, concerns about the burden of online outsourcing fees or uncertain outcomes negatively affect organizational commitment and job satisfaction. Third, there are perceptual differences in the motivations and performance regarding the utilization of online outsourcing depending on the job position. Practitioners perceive that the use of online outsourcing increases organizational commitment, whereas managers have relatively higher concerns about the uncertainty of outsourced task outcomes and information security. Through this study, the possibility that human resource shortages and employee management issues in startups can be improved through online outsourcing was confirmed. By verifying the influence of various factors of online outsourcing utilization, this study also provides meaningful implications for establishing business strategies for online outsourcing intermediary platform companies and for formulating startup support policies by government and other startup support organizations.

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AHP Analysis Research to Improve the Busan Port Ship Supplies Industry (부산항 선용품산업의 개선을 위한 AHP 분석 연구)

  • Ei Mon Khaing;Cho, Ye-hee;Ha, Myoung-shin
    • Journal of Korea Port Economic Association
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    • v.40 no.2
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    • pp.21-38
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    • 2024
  • The current situation of ports and related industries is transitioning from quantitative growth in increased cargo volume and expansion of port facilities to qualitative growth in the role of ports through the creation of high value-added. Ports are now recognized as playing an important role in economic growth and development by generating high value-added, not just by increasing the amount of cargo and expanding port facilities. This study evaluated the importance of factors affecting the improvement of the Busan Port's marine equipment industry by using the Analytic Hierarchy Process(AHP) to derive the priority of improvement measures by factor and evaluate the importance of factors affecting the marine equipment industry. The factors that should be considered when selecting improvement measures for the marine equipment industry were selected as four factors: strengthening price competitiveness, increasing government and local government interest, strengthening promotion, and establishing a global network. The main sub-factors were composed of eight detailed evaluation factors by selecting two factors for each layer. The analysis was designed by dividing the factor hierarchy for selecting improvement measures for the marine equipment industry into three levels and creating survey questions for pairwise comparison. The priority of the analysis results using AHP showed that the factor with the highest priority was strengthening price competitiveness, followed by increasing government and local government interest, establishing a global network, and strengthening promotion. According to the analysis results for the second-level sub-factors, among the factors for strengthening price competitiveness, low distribution costs and storage costs were considered most important, followed by avoiding excessive competition among marine equipment companies. Among the factors for increasing government and local government interest, improving customs procedures and tariff refund procedures were considered most important, followed by strengthening incentives from the government and Busan City. Among the factors for establishing a global network, promoting large-scale marine equipment companies was considered most important, followed by actively participating in international marine equipment-related associations. Among the factors for strengthening promotion, active use of the Internet was considered most important, followed by holding domestic and international exhibitions. Based on this study, we hope to help activate Busan Port's market by enhancing its competitiveness through revitalizing its marine equipment industry, generating water traffic, and creating new value-added.

The Factors Affecting Attitudes Toward HSDPA Service and Intention to Use: A Cross-Cultural Comparison between Asia and Europe (대영향(对影响)HSDPA복무적태도화사용의도적인소적연구(服务的态度和使用意图的因素的研究): 재아주화구주지간적(在亚洲和欧洲之间的)-개과문화비교(个跨文化比较))

  • Jung, Hae-Sung;Shin, Jong-Kuk;Park, Min-Sook;Jung, Hong-Seob;Hooley, Graham;Lee, Nick;Kwak, Hyok-Jin;Kim, Sung-Hyun
    • Journal of Global Scholars of Marketing Science
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    • v.19 no.4
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    • pp.11-23
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    • 2009
  • HSDPA (High-Speed Downlink Packet Access) is a 3.5-generation asynchronous mobile communications service based on the third generation of W-CDMA. In Korea, it is mainly provided in through videophone service. Because of the diffusion of more powerful and diversified services, along with steep advances in mobile communications technology, consumers demand a wide range of choices. However, because of the variety of technologies, which tend to overflow the market regardless of consumer preferences, consumers feel increasingly confused. Therefore, we should not adopt strategies that focus only on developing new technology on the assumption that new technologies are next-generation projects. Instead, we should understand the process by which consumers accept new forms of technology and devise schemes to lower market entry barriers through strategies that enable developers to understand and provide what consumers really want. In the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM), perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use are suggested as the most important factors affecting the attitudes of people adopting new technologies (Davis, 1989; Taylor and Todd, 1995; Venkatesh, 2000; Lee et al., 2004). Perceived usefulness is the degree to which a person believes that a particular technology will enhance his or her job performance. Perceived ease of use is the degree of subjective belief that using a particular technology will require little physical and mental effort (Davis, 1989; Morris and Dillon, 1997; Venkatesh, 2000). Perceived pleasure and perceived usefulness have been shown to clearly affect attitudes toward accepting technology (Davis et al., 1992). For example, pleasure in online shopping has been shown to positively impact consumers' attitudes toward online sellers (Eighmey and McCord, 1998; Mathwick, 2002; Jarvenpaa and Todd, 1997). The perceived risk of customers is a subjective risk, which is distinguished from an objective probabilistic risk. Perceived risk includes a psychological risk that consumers perceive when they choose brands, stores, and methods of purchase to obtain a particular item. The ability of an enterprise to revolutionize products depends on the effective acquisition of knowledge about new products (Bierly and Chakrabarti, 1996; Rothwell and Dodgson, 1991). Knowledge acquisition is the ability of a company to perceive the value of novelty and technology of the outside (Cohen and Levinthal, 1990), to evaluate the outside technology that has newly appeared (Arora and Gambaradella, 1994), and to predict the future evolution of technology accurately (Cohen and Levinthal, 1990). Consumer innovativeness is the degree to which an individual adopts innovation earlier than others in the social system (Lee, Ahn, and Ha, 2001; Gatignon and Robertson, 1985). That is, it shows how fast and how easily consumers adopt new ideas. Innovativeness is regarded as important because it has a significant effect on whether consumers adopt new products and on how fast they accept new products (Midgley and Dowling, 1978; Foxall, 1988; Hirschman, 1980). We conducted cross-national comparative research using the TAM model, which empirically verified the relationship between the factors that affect attitudes - perceived usefulness, ease of use, perceived pleasure, perceived risk, innovativeness, and perceived level of knowledge management - and attitudes toward HSDPA service. We also verified the relationship between attitudes and usage intention for the purpose of developing more effective methods of management for HSDPA service providers. For this research, 346 questionnaires were distributed among 350 students in the Republic of Korea. Because 26 of the returned questionnaires were inconsistent or had missing data, 320 questionnaires were used in the hypothesis tests. In UK, 192 of the total 200 questionnaires were retrieved, and two incomplete ones were discarded, bringing the total to 190 questionnaires used for statistical analysis. The results of the overall model analysis are as follows: Republic of Korea x2=333.27(p=0.0), NFI=0.88, NNFI=0.88, CFI=0.91, IFI=0.91, RMR=0.054, GFI=0.90, AGFI=0.84, UK x2=176.57(p=0.0), NFI=0.88, NNFI=0.90, CFI=0.93, IFI=0.93, RMR=0.062, GFI=0.90, AGFI=0.84. From the results of the hypothesis tests of Korean consumers about the relationship between factors that affect intention to use HSDPA services and attitudes, we can conclude that perceived usefulness, ease of use, pleasure, a high level of knowledge management, and innovativeness promote positive attitudes toward HSDPA mobile phones. However, ease of use and perceived pleasure did not have a direct effect on intention to use HSDPA service. This may have resulted from the fact that the use of video phones is not necessary for everyday life yet. Moreover, it has been shown that attitudes toward HSDPA video phones are directly correlated with usage intention, which means that perceived usefulness, ease of use, pleasure, a high level of knowledge management, and innovativeness. These relationships form the basis of the intention to buy, contributing to a situation in which consumers decide to choose carefully. A summary of the results of the hypothesis tests of European consumers revealed that perceived usefulness, pleasure, risk, and the level of knowledge management are factors that affect the formation of attitudes, while ease of use and innovativeness do not have an effect on attitudes. In particular, with regard to the effect value, perceived usefulness has the largest effect on attitudes, followed by pleasure and knowledge management. On the contrary, perceived risk has a smaller effect on attitudes. In the Asian model, ease of use and perceived pleasure were found not to have a direct effect on intention to use. However, because attitudes generally affect the intention to use, perceived usefulness, pleasure, risk, and knowledge management may be considered key factors in attitude development from which usage intention arises. In conclusion, perceived usefulness, pleasure, and the level of knowledge management have an effect on attitude formation in both Asian and European consumers, and such attitudes shape these consumers' intention to use. Furthermore, the hypotheses that ease of use and perceived pleasure affect usage intention are rejected. However, ease of use, perceived risk, and innovativeness showed different results. Perceived risk had no effect on attitude formation among Asians, while ease of use and innovativeness had no effect on attitudes among Europeans.

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A Survey of the Status of Nutrition in Rural Korea (농촌(農村) 영양실태(營養實態)에 관(關)한 조사(調査))

  • Lee, Geum-Yeong;Suh, Myung-Sook
    • Journal of Nutrition and Health
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    • v.6 no.1
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    • pp.71-76
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    • 1973
  • 1. This survey is somewhat different from that conducted by Yonsei University, although being in many respects, very similar. We found the average per capita caloric intake to be 7 or 8% of what it should be. Of that caloric intake, 84.5% in the model village here and 82.2% in the compared village Bupyong, by and large depends on cereal grains. Since such grains tend to distend the stomach, the farmers, it seems,should substitute fat for a part of their diet so as to dimish digestive pain and still receive the necessary calories. 2. Protein is the most important nutrient for the development of physical strength and improvement of health, but the average daily intake is only 68.3% of the necessary amount. It is desirable that the ratio of vegetable protein to that of animal be one to three for maintaining one's health. Most of the villager's protein, however, comes from plants: the intake of animal protein, at a level of only 13.6 g, is far below such a one to three ratio. 3. In the model village, 497.6 mg, of inorganic calcium is the daily intake level. In the compared village it is 505.5 mg, making a difference of only 8mg. This, however, is 35% less than the recommended intake. More than 50% of this calcium comes from cereals and other plants. Moreover, plant calcium which has much oxakuc acud us not as nutritional as animal calcium, so their calcium diet is less than it would appear. We must, therefore, make efforts to receive as good nutritional calcium as possible. 4. Among the vitamin group, the daily average intake of vitamin A and vitamin $B_{2}$ are respectively 40% and 32% less than the desired intake, while vitamin $B_{1}$ happens to be taken in sufficient quantities and more niacin is taken than which is even necessary. The intake of vitamin C is much more than the necessary quantity. However, this figure was calculated from uncooked food; if the loss from cooking were to be considered, the real intake might well be a little less. Also, as this survey was carried out in May, some of these results were influenced by the fact that lettuce and spinach are seasonally popular. In conclusion, except for a few nutrients which are in abundance, the normal food intake in a day is, on the whole, less than the average recommended. Furthermore despite the fact that both of these places are model villages in the development of nutrition, it seems that they have not gotten out of such conventional eating habiys as the almost dependancy on cereal grains. Cow's milk, sheep's milk, eggs and so on produced by each farmhouse are not used for their own families but are taken to the market for the purpose of making money. Accordingly, I think from now we must seek to improve, guide and enlighten the farmers as to how to correct their eating habits and implement changes in their lives so that our firm purpose may be achieved.

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Rapid Rural-Urban Migration and the Rural Economy in Korea (한국(韓國)의 급격(急激)한 이촌향도형(離村向都型) 인구이동(人口移動)과 농촌경제(農村經濟))

  • Lee, Bun-song
    • KDI Journal of Economic Policy
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    • v.12 no.3
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    • pp.27-45
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    • 1990
  • Two opposing views prevail regarding the economic impact of rural out-migration on the rural areas of origin. The optimistic neoclassical view argues that rapid rural out-migration is not detrimental to the income and welfare of the rural areas of origin, whereas Lipton (1980) argues the opposite. We developed our own alternative model for rural to urban migration, appropriate for rapidly developing economies such as Korea's. This model, which adopts international trade theories of nontraded goods and Dutch Disease to rural to urban migration issues, argues that rural to urban migration is caused mainly by two factors: first, the unprofitability of farming, and second, the decrease in demand for rural nontraded goods and the increase in demand for urban nontraded goods. The unprofitability of farming is caused by the increase in rural wages, which is induced by increasing urban wages in booming urban manufacturing sectors, and by the fact that the cost increases in farming cannot be shifted to consumers, because farm prices are fixed worldwide and because the income demand elasticity for farm products is very low. The demand for nontraded goods decreases in rural and increases in urban areas because population density and income in urban areas increase sharply, while those in rural areas decrease sharply, due to rapid rural to urban migration. Given that the market structure for nontraded goods-namely, service sectors including educational and health facilities-is mostly in monopolistically competitive, and that the demand for nontraded goods comes only from local sources, the urban service sector enjoys economies of scale, and can thus offer services at cheaper prices and in greater variety, whereas the rural service sector cannot enjoy the advantages offered by scale economies. Our view concerning the economic impact of rural to urban migration on rural areas of origin agrees with Lipton's pessimistic view that rural out-migration is detrimental to the income and welfare of rural areas. However, our reasons for the reduction of rural income are different from those in Lipton's model. Lipton argued that rural income and welfare deteriorate mainly because of a shortage of human capital, younger workers and talent resulting from selective rural out-migration. Instead, we believe that rural income declines, first, because a rapid rural-urban migration creates a further shortage of farm labor supplies and increases rural wages, and thus reduces further the profitability of farming and, second, because a rapid rural-urban migration causes a further decline of the rural service sectors. Empirical tests of our major hypotheses using Korean census data from 1966, 1970, 1975, 1980 and 1985 support our own model much more than the neoclassical or Lipton's models. A kun (county) with a large out-migration had a smaller proportion of younger working aged people in the population, and a smaller proportion of highly educated workers. But the productivity of farm workers, measured in terms of fall crops (rice) purchased by the government per farmer or per hectare of irrigated land, did not decline despite the loss of these youths and of human capital. The kun having had a large out-migration had a larger proportion of the population in the farm sector and a smaller proportion in the service sector. The kun having had a large out-migration also had a lower income measured in terms of the proportion of households receiving welfare payments or the amount of provincial taxes paid per household. The lower incomes of these kuns might explain why the kuns that experienced a large out-migration had difficulty in mechanizing farming. Our policy suggestions based on the tests of the currently prevailing hypotheses are as follows: 1) The main cause of farming difficulties is not a lack of human capital, but the in­crease in production costs due to rural wage increases combined with depressed farm output prices. Therefore, a more effective way of helping farm economies is by increasing farm output prices. However, we are not sure whether an increase in farm output prices is desirable in terms of efficiency. 2) It might be worthwhile to attempt to increase the size of farmland holdings per farm household so that the mechanization of farming can be achieved more easily. 3) A kun with large out-migration suffers a deterioration in income and welfare. Therefore, the government should provide a form of subsidization similar to the adjustment assistance provided for international trade. This assistance should not be related to the level of farm output. Otherwise, there is a possibility that we might encourage farm production which would not be profitable in the absence of subsidies. 4) Government intervention in agricultural research and its dissemination, and large-scale social overhead projects in rural areas, carried out by the Korean government, might be desirable from both efficiency and equity points of view. Government interventions in research are justified because of the problems associated with the appropriation of knowledge, and government actions on large-scale projects are justified because they required collective action.

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