• KDI Journal of Economic Policy
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• v.13 no.1
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• pp.151-166
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• 1991

In this paper, a simple game-theoretic entry deterrence model is developed that integrates both limit pricing and predatory pricing. While there have been extensive studies which have dealt with predation and limit pricing separately, no study so far has analyzed these closely related practices in a unified framework. Treating each practice as if it were an independent phenomenon is, of course, an analytical necessity to abstract from complex realities. However, welfare analysis based on such a model may give misleading policy implications. By analyzing limit and predatory pricing within a single framework, this paper attempts to shed some light on the effects of interactions between these two frequently cited tactics of entry deterrence. Another distinctive feature of the paper is that limit and predatory pricing emerge, in equilibrium, as rational, profit maximizing strategies in the model. Until recently, the only conclusion from formal analyses of predatory pricing was that predation is unlikely to take place if every economic agent is assumed to be rational. This conclusion rests upon the argument that predation is costly; that is, it inflicts more losses upon the predator than upon the rival producer, and, therefore, is unlikely to succeed in driving out the rival, who understands that the price cutting, if it ever takes place, must be temporary. Recently several attempts have been made to overcome this modelling difficulty by Kreps and Wilson, Milgram and Roberts, Benoit, Fudenberg and Tirole, and Roberts. With the exception of Roberts, however, these studies, though successful in preserving the rationality of players, still share one serious weakness in that they resort to ad hoc, external constraints in order to generate profit maximizing predation. The present paper uses a highly stylized model of Cournot duopoly and derives the equilibrium predatory strategy without invoking external constraints except the assumption of asymmetrically distributed information. The underlying intuition behind the model can be summarized as follows. Imagine a firm that is considering entry into a monopolist's market but is uncertain about the incumbent firm's cost structure. If the monopolist has low cost, the rival would rather not enter because it would be difficult to compete with an efficient, low-cost firm. If the monopolist has high costs, however, the rival will definitely enter the market because it can make positive profits. In this situation, if the incumbent firm unwittingly produces its monopoly output, the entrant can infer the nature of the monopolist's cost by observing the monopolist's price. Knowing this, the high cost monopolist increases its output level up to what would have been produced by a low cost firm in an effort to conceal its cost condition. This constitutes limit pricing. The same logic applies when there is a rival competitor in the market. Producing a high cost duopoly output is self-revealing and thus to be avoided. Therefore, the firm chooses to produce the low cost duopoly output, consequently inflicting losses to the entrant or rival producer, thus acting in a predatory manner. The policy implications of the analysis are rather mixed. Contrary to the widely accepted hypothesis that predation is, at best, a negative sum game, and thus, a strategy that is unlikely to be played from the outset, this paper concludes that predation can be real occurence by showing that it can arise as an effective profit maximizing strategy. This conclusion alone may imply that the government can play a role in increasing the consumer welfare, say, by banning predation or limit pricing. However, the problem is that it is rather difficult to ascribe any welfare losses to these kinds of entry deterring practices. This difficulty arises from the fact that if the same practices have been adopted by a low cost firm, they could not be called entry-deterring. Moreover, the high cost incumbent in the model is doing exactly what the low cost firm would have done to keep the market to itself. All in all, this paper suggests that a government injunction of limit and predatory pricing should be applied with great care, evaluating each case on its own basis. Hasty generalization may work to the detriment, rather than the enhancement of consumer welfare.

• Asia Marketing Journal
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• v.14 no.2
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• pp.127-156
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• 2012

A lot of interest in the baby-boomer generation, those who were born after World War II, has emerged since their retirement has been accelerated. The retirement of baby-boomers has caused many health, public welfare, social policy and family relationship problems. However, their increased purchasing power has made them more attractive consumers than any other generation, and they have become a fascinating niche market in the depressed economy. This research selected middle-class women of the baby-boomer generation who have had powerful effects on society and have emerged as an attractive niche market, and attempted to understand their lives intensively. Based on research activities, the purpose of this research is to identify baby-boomer generation middle-aged women's life values. Qualitative research methodology was used to achieve research objectives, and this research aimed to suggest marketing implications to connected industries based on the research results. The research objectives are as follows. 1. understanding the lives of baby-boomer middle-class women who have powerful effects on socio-economic phenomena 2. identifying the life values of baby-boomer middle-class women 3. generating marketing implications based on an understanding of baby-boomer middle-class women's lives and life values This research conducted FGIs(focus group interviews), one of the qualitative research methodologies, to figure out baby-boomer middle-class women's life values intensively and selected 10 women living in Seoul for data collection. The qualitative data of collected FGIs were analyzed with spiral data analysis methodology proposed by Creswell(2007). The most effective factors to influence these middle-class women's lives powerfully were 'time' and 'independence'. Their consciousness of the importance of using time affects their life pattern generally, and their independence also impacts greatly on the way they exploit time and on their diverse relationships. They maximized their self-realization and showed long-term partnership with their surrounding circumstances because of those effective factors. Baby-boomer middle-class women's self-realization was divided into two areas. One was their outside activities and another was perfect management of their physical appearance and home interior. Like the results of this research, their need for social entrance will be reinforced more strongly since their internal and external activities aim for the achievement of self-realization. In addition, this research suggests that baby-boomer middle-class women's activities are connected with their management of their physical appearance and home interior decorations, and that such management is caused not only by a simple interest in fashion and beauty but also a profound desire for self-realization. On account of their consciousness, which is different from other generations, Korean baby-boomer middle-class women are able to maintain positive partnerships with their surrounding circumstances; however, they also show ambivalent emotions to retain effective partnerships. To overcome those stressful situations, they make greater efforts to keep up their health and youth, and also engage in diverse activities to maintain their mental health. Finally, they generate positive attitudes toward their economic situation and extra time to develop self-realization and pursue happy, youthful and healthy lives. Based on those results, this study suggests the following implications. First, industries targeting the baby-boomer generation should develop innovative products and services which help the baby-boomer generation maximize their efficiency of time since time is one of the most important factors powerfully impacting the baby-boomer generation. They will engage in various activities to fill up their extra time and consume helpful products and services. Second, such industries should supply the baby-boomer generation with opportunities which propose new ways of self-realization since this generation shows a great desire for self-realization because of their self-efficacy. With customized strategies of satisfying their needs, the baby-boomer generation would discover opportunities to utilize their abilities, relationships and aesthetic senses, and industries would develop a niche market. Third, market segmentations which target the baby-boomer generation's desire to maintain their physical appearance and home interior should be executed since such activities are the main strategies to develop this generation's self-realization. The baby-boomer generation's desire to study those areas would be expanded, and those education systems should produce innovative products and services targeting the baby-boomer generation. This implication also offers to government officials new policies related with the baby-boomer generation. This exploratory study utilized qualitative research methodology to understand baby-boomer middle-class women's lives, and proposed propositions and limitations for further researches. As for the limitations, first, it is hard to generalize the research results so that they may apply to all areas and economic classes of the baby-boomer generation since this research selected only 10 women living in Seoul for the data collection process. To overcome this limitation, extended data collections of subjects from diverse regions and economic classes should be designed. Second, quantitative research should be conducted to supplement the findings with validities. Third, this research focused on only general ideas of the baby-boomer generation's lives since the range of this study was focused on their overall lives. Therefore, intensive research related to specific areas of their lives should be conducted.

• Journal of Intelligence and Information Systems
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• v.24 no.3
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• pp.67-88
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• 2018

Until recently, as we recognize the significance of sustainable growth and competitiveness of small-and-medium sized enterprises (SMEs), governmental support for tangible resources such as R&D, manpower, funds, etc. has been mainly provided. However, it is also true that the inefficiency of support systems such as underestimated or redundant support has been raised because there exist conflicting policies in terms of appropriateness, effectiveness and efficiency of business support. From the perspective of the government or a company, we believe that due to limited resources of SMEs technology development and capacity enhancement through collaboration with external sources is the basis for creating competitive advantage for companies, and also emphasize value creation activities for it. This is why value chain network analysis is necessary in order to analyze inter-company deal relationships from a series of value chains and visualize results through establishing knowledge ecosystems at the corporate level. There exist Technology Opportunity Discovery (TOD) system that provides information on relevant products or technology status of companies with patents through retrievals over patent, product, or company name, CRETOP and KISLINE which both allow to view company (financial) information and credit information, but there exists no online system that provides a list of similar (competitive) companies based on the analysis of value chain network or information on potential clients or demanders that can have business deals in future. Therefore, we focus on the "Value Chain Network System (VCNS)", a support partner for planning the corporate business strategy developed and managed by KISTI, and investigate the types of embedded network-based analysis modules, databases (D/Bs) to support them, and how to utilize the system efficiently. Further we explore the function of network visualization in intelligent value chain analysis system which becomes the core information to understand industrial structure ystem and to develop a company's new product development. In order for a company to have the competitive superiority over other companies, it is necessary to identify who are the competitors with patents or products currently being produced, and searching for similar companies or competitors by each type of industry is the key to securing competitiveness in the commercialization of the target company. In addition, transaction information, which becomes business activity between companies, plays an important role in providing information regarding potential customers when both parties enter similar fields together. Identifying a competitor at the enterprise or industry level by using a network map based on such inter-company sales information can be implemented as a core module of value chain analysis. The Value Chain Network System (VCNS) combines the concepts of value chain and industrial structure analysis with corporate information simply collected to date, so that it can grasp not only the market competition situation of individual companies but also the value chain relationship of a specific industry. Especially, it can be useful as an information analysis tool at the corporate level such as identification of industry structure, identification of competitor trends, analysis of competitors, locating suppliers (sellers) and demanders (buyers), industry trends by item, finding promising items, finding new entrants, finding core companies and items by value chain, and recognizing the patents with corresponding companies, etc. In addition, based on the objectivity and reliability of the analysis results from transaction deals information and financial data, it is expected that value chain network system will be utilized for various purposes such as information support for business evaluation, R&D decision support and mid-term or short-term demand forecasting, in particular to more than 15,000 member companies in Korea, employees in R&D service sectors government-funded research institutes and public organizations. In order to strengthen business competitiveness of companies, technology, patent and market information have been provided so far mainly by government agencies and private research-and-development service companies. This service has been presented in frames of patent analysis (mainly for rating, quantitative analysis) or market analysis (for market prediction and demand forecasting based on market reports). However, there was a limitation to solving the lack of information, which is one of the difficulties that firms in Korea often face in the stage of commercialization. In particular, it is much more difficult to obtain information about competitors and potential candidates. In this study, the real-time value chain analysis and visualization service module based on the proposed network map and the data in hands is compared with the expected market share, estimated sales volume, contact information (which implies potential suppliers for raw material / parts, and potential demanders for complete products / modules). In future research, we intend to carry out the in-depth research for further investigating the indices of competitive factors through participation of research subjects and newly developing competitive indices for competitors or substitute items, and to additively promoting with data mining techniques and algorithms for improving the performance of VCNS.

• Journal of the Korea Concrete Institute
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• v.21 no.3
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• pp.367-375
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• 2009

Recently, more focus is shift to imbalances in aggregate market supply and demand and an exhaustion of natural resources. In this situation, Electric arc furnace oxidizing slag (EAF slag) has high application possibility as aggregate for concrete due to similar property with general aggregate. However, it is inherent the problem which causes pop-out by free-CaO contained in slag In this study, we've got the plan to assure the chemical stability of EAF slag, and then experimentally tested the mechanical performance and durability for the fine aggregate used EAF slag. On this test result, we suggest the application plan. At the result of this study, it shows that EAF slag would reduce the surface defect such as pop-out due to natural aging for the fixed hour and adjustment the grain size of EAF slag. And mechanical performance and durability according to the replacement rate of concrete service, were revealed more than equal or equal compare to general aggregate. Hereafter, quality control must precede not to impede the beauty of concrete surface as assure the safety for aging and processing. And, to establish the environmental resource recycling system for by-products of steel, it should be made development of various application and guideline of quality control for the EAF slag aggregate. Moreover, it must be constantly studied all kind of engineering performance and durability for related to this study.

• Cartoon and Animation Studies
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• s.15
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• pp.221-235
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• 2009

Most of the sounds used in animated films are artificially made. A large number of the sounds used are either actual sound recordings or diversely processed artificial sounds made with professional sound equipments such as synthesizers. One animation episode contains numerous amounts of sounds, resulting in significant sound production costs. These sounds have full potential to be reused in different films or animations, but in reality we fail to do so. This thesis discusses ways these sound sources can be acknowledged as added new values to the present market situation as a usable 'digital content'. The iTunes Music Store is an American Apple company product that is acknowledged as the most successful digital content distribution model at the time being. Its system's sound library has potential for application in the Korean sound industry. In result, this system allows the sound creator to connect directly to the online store and become the initiative content supplier. At the same time, the user can receive a needed content easily at a low price. The most important part in the construction of this system is the search engine, which allows users to search for data in short periods of time. The search engine will have to be made in a new manner that takes into consideration the characteristics of the Korean language. This thesis presents a device incorporating the Wiki System to allow users to search and build their own data bases to share with other users. Using this system as a base, the Korean animation sound library will provide development and growth in the sound source industry as a new digital sound content.

• Food Science and Preservation
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• v.17 no.3
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• pp.405-409
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• 2010

Surface cleaning is both essential and troublesome when a consumer seeks to eliminate soil attached to the surface of fresh ginseng because all ginseng purchased in the market is covered with soil, reflecting the post-harvest situation. To facilitate ginseng use at home, a fresh-cut type of ginseng is required. As a first step toward production of such ginseng, several washing and dipping treatments were investigated with respect to surface cleaning and reduction of microbial populations on fresh ginseng. In terms of microbial distribution on the surface of fresh ginseng, higher levels of viable bacteria (6.63 log CFU/each) and fungi (5.12 log CFU/each) were present on the rhizome head than on other regions of the root. Of the washing treatments tested, hand-brushing was effective for surface cleaning and to reduce microorganism levels on fresh ginseng, but use of a high-pressure water spray followed by hand-brushing was optimally effective. To further reduce the levelsof microorganisms on the surface of fresh ginseng after washing, additional dipping treatments in 70% (v/v) ethanol and electrolyzed acidic water (at pH 2.3) were somewhat effective but showed no significant differences compared with other dipping treatments tested, including a 3 ppm ozone solution, a 200 ppm sodium hypochlorite solution, or hot water at $50^{\circ}C$.

• Weed & Turfgrass Science
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• v.2 no.1
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• pp.95-99
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• 2013

To investigate the actual condition of production and management of sod, a questionnaire was ask to 57 farmers in major cultivated areas of turf sod in Korea in 2010 and 2011. The results of the turfgrass management situation analysis showed a mixed farming where the ratio of the principal work and the side work progress similarly, and for the landholding type depending on the management scale, the rental ratio was high for a scale over 0.5 ha. Sod production farmers has high-profile in new varieties of turfgrass, integrated management of the fertilization and soil or disease and insect pest however the future of the turfgrass industry does not seem optimistic due to the problems such as market stability or scarcity of worker. Obtaining of information on culture methods depended neighbor's experience (81.8%). Concerning the varieties preference analysis, the 32.1% of farmer answered that the reproductive rate was a key factor for the new variety. Sod production farmers want to receive financial support (28.1%), improvement of distribution structure of sod (26.6%), and spread of good variety turfgrass (23.4%).

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers A
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• v.36 no.3
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• pp.265-273
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• 2012

The business environment is changing rapidly because of the global crisis. In order to survive and enhance competitiveness in the global market, global manufacturing companies are trying to overcome the crisis through the convergence of production infrastructure and IT technology. The importance of systems to support the integration of manufacturing processes, collaboration in product development, and information integration of providers and producers is therefore increasing. In this paper, research is conducted on the design and implementation of a collaboration system to support a power-boat manufacturing company in this situation of increased demand for collaboration and information integration. The system was designed through product-structure and production-process analysis, support product data management, and enterprise contents management. The company involved in the power-boat development project is expected to show an improvement in productivity through the integrated management of information and collaboration provided by this system.

• International Commerce and Information Review
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• v.16 no.4
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• pp.281-305
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• 2014

The purpose of this study is to empirically analyze the status and the trends in the international competitiveness of Korean export products against MINTs. For the study, the data were collected from the trade statistics for the period 2009-2012 produced by KITA and UN comtrade, and trade specialization index and market comparative advantage index were selected as index analysis methods. The findings from this study are as follows: First, Korea maintains a continuous increase of trade volume and trade balance in trade with MINTs, and exports finished goods, auto parts, etc. to MINTs, whlie mainly imports primary products such as energy fuels from MINTs. Second, Korea remains competitive in both product groups and individual products over MINTs. Third, even though Korean exports obtain a high competitiveness against MINTs, its competitiveness shows the differences by country. Several implications of this study are as follows: First, we need to take full advantage of energy resource-rich MINTs in securing stable energy fuels. Second, we should prepare response plans for the economic conditions which can have a negative impact on trade with MINTs, Third, we need to build strategies for maintaining the competitiveness of Korean exports over MINTs. Fourth, The differentiated export strategies should be established by country by considering differences in Korean exports' competitiveness which exist among the four countries of MINTs. Fifth, we need to prepare for such a situation which MINTs attempt to expand its influence by forming a collective economic cooperation.

• International Commerce and Information Review
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• v.18 no.4
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• pp.263-281
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• 2016

The Importance of SEP (Standard Essential Patents) Procurement Operation is on the side of Governmental and Public both to accelerate the national trade negotiation competitiveness. To operate cooperative system of SEP creation and management, Government should monitor the effect and performance periodically to public sectors. and To achieve the support objectives, it should establish the virtuous circle infrastructure between R&D and economic performance on SEP. This can make the SEP enhancement to pursue the international competitiveness on Intellectual Property Rights. Especially the specific support approach to each phase of the SEP declaration matrix is essential to consolidate the possibility of SEP creation and acquisition. In this study, the concepts of SEP to accelerate the national trade negotiation competitiveness and the prior research were verified through the investigation of market trend and current state of affair analysis. Through the analysis of international and domestic situation of SEP procurement and management, We have found the results as follows. First of all, the leading conglomerates and the Government should focus on the secondary and tertiary industries to create and acquire SEPs to accomplish the effectiveness of selection and concentration. In second, the SMEs and Univ. Labs should focus on the quaternary sector of the economy to retain the competitiveness of speed and challenge on SEP related. From this study, the appropriateness of the tailored-support management model should be institutionalized, and the results implied an research in order to examine the suitability among the current SEP to enhance the competitiveness of national trade research issues.