• Management & Information Systems Review
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• v.32 no.4
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• pp.127-153
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• 2013

The trend of China's industry has been changed from manufacturing industry based on cheap labor market to service industries gradually as a whole. The investment of Korean corporations toward Chines service industry is gradually being increased. The importance of Chinese service industry related taxations such as business tax and value-added tax are growing. This study, therefore, examines the changes of investment environment and does the business tax and VAT of growing importance in China. From the point of view that the taxation on services is mainly related to the business tax or VAT, this study, also, examines the changes of present condition of investment and corresponding trends of the Korean corporations, in accordance with the domestic investment environment changes tied to the business tax and the VAT in China. With regard to the business tax and the VAT, this study looks into their features and tax requisition and also makes comparison between them and VAT of Korea. This study examines the problems and situations from the cases of separation, integration and trial integration of the business tax and VAT, and also does the development direction of the above two taxation and the corresponding strategy of Korea and her companies The purpose of this study is to provide information about the changing trends of investment environment and the business tax and VAT and to present corresponding plan for the corporations advancing into China.

• Journal of Environmental Policy
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• v.7 no.3
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• pp.41-61
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• 2008

Although the size of the organic food market in Korea has increased significantly, its further development is hampered by the information asymmetry between the producers and consumers of organic food. It isn't just about revitalizing the market; it's also about Korean farmers surviving an era of trade liberalization. In order to produce more value-added products, the information asymmetry issue has to be resolved regarding the organic food market and other agricultural credence goods such as Han-woo(Korean beef). Therefore, measuring information asymmetry has become a central issue. One way to measure asymmetry is to use Game Theory. However, in practice, estimating payoffs at the industry level is hard to accomplish, and even when it is possible, the reliability of the estimated payoffs is not guaranteed. As an alternative, the concept of Information Entropy(disorder level of information), developed by Shannon(1948), was used in this study. It is proposed that this measure should be used when assessing the level of information asymmetry in the Korean organic food market. Using recent data, it was found that information entropy in the Korean organic food market has been decreasing constantly since 2003. Therefore, it was proposed that measures should be adopted by the government to improve the certification system of organic food.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.13 no.10
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• pp.4432-4439
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• 2012

Previous studies on art pricing mostly focused on auction data because of the limitation of non-auction market data. This study investigated on both auction and non-auction markets to see the difference in art pricing mechanisms of both markets. Especially, while prior hedonic models included only quantatative variables to predict art prices, we added a qualitative measure, artistic value of a artwork, along with the original hedonic model to develop a more comprehensive model, and tested if his change may make more precise predictions. As a result, when we did not divide our data into auction and non-auction groups, we did not find any significant difference between the original hedonic model and the new model including artistic value. However, when we separated non-auction group from auction group, we found that predicted prices in the new model showed significantly closer values to the actual prices. This study contributes to our knowledge on art pricing by showing that artistic value may have important but differential impacts on different art dealing channels.

• Journal of Fashion Business
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• v.14 no.5
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• pp.78-92
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• 2010

The culture phenomenon, which the desire of self expression is noticeable and the diversity of gender identity is widely accepted, simply makes a difference in the lifestyle of one human being rather than the dichotomous classification of male and female. Now, the delicate and aesthetic sensitivity classified as the feminine characteristics is no longer the exclusive property of female and this refers to substituting it as a social gender from the concept of biological sex. This phenomenon has influenced on the male culture and is creating various codes according to the cultural gender extended from the gender as a social role. Also, the transition into the western lifestyle has extended the aesthetic emotion to accommodate new codes from the diversification and globalization of lifestyle. The mansumer power, which does not care too much about the money for the emotionally attached items, has enabled various fashion styles. After analyzing the diversified clothing behavior conducted by these people in connection with the social phenomenon, First, this shows the phenomenon of emotional value pursuit that finds pleasure over the clothing as the item of augmented reality is added to the concept of play, in which the real space referred to as garment and virtual space of playing the rock, paper and scissors game meet together within the augmented reality. Second, the convergence concept has enabled the coordination of new style by obscuring the area of design concept and this refers to the changes in design from the development of new items and transformation into double-style details. Third, the divergence that intensively provides specific use/convenience and specialized value shows a change in the fashion market from the phenomenon that admits various gene rations of culture and specifically, takes differently about the recognition of middle-aged males. Fourth, the variety seeking tendency receives attention as the value of future design together with the phenomenon of discriminative value pursuit. In the male fashion, it is linked to the collaboration with the design area and this tells that the fashion with the narcissistic cross-dressing and motto of neutral gender without being sided to male/female is rising.

• Korean Journal of Construction Engineering and Management
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• v.9 no.1
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• pp.107-117
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• 2008

In this study, surveys and interviews are used to evaluate technological competitiveness of each product with respect to that of foreign leading firms, for seven leading domestic construction products which have been determined to have competitive edge in offshore markets, Such evaluation provides a more in depth study than previously conducted research, and is meaningful in that corporate level, rather than industry level, perspective is projected. Major findings of such evaluations are the following. First, as expected, it has been evaluated that domestic technological competitiveness in desalination plant and power plant has reached the point where it can compete with foreign leading firms. Moreover, a noteworthy result of the evaluation is that development program sector, including urban development of satellite cities, has reached considerable level of competitiveness in offshore market. In the case of the development market, domestic firms have accumulated sufficient experience in domestic market and engineering technology is not a decisive factor as in plant sector, and these factors lead to such an evaluation. Second, in the cases of gas, oil refinery and petro-chemical plants, domestic products' technological competitiveness that can contest in offshore market is still centered around production and construction. On the other hand, there are still weaknesses in license technology and basic design capabilities, which constitute the "value added" area. Third, skyscrapers, a promising product in offshore construction market and a product group which domestic firms have much performance record and projects in progress both in domestic and offshore markets, are considered. While direct comparison between skyscrapers and plant sector is not feasible, with the exception of production and construction, overall domestic capability in this sector has been assessed to be the lowest amongst those products that were surveyed. Fourth, it has been indicated that competitiveness is relatively higher in common technology than in key technology. In project management capability, it has been assessed that there are weaknesses in procedure document area. Also, a characteristic is the point that low overall assessments have been given across all product groups for corporate and management areas, not technological areas. Especially, financing, contracting/claim, risk management and investment on research and development received low evaluations. Fifth, it has been assessed that overall corporate and governmental supports are weak. This result is especially evident for corporate management and support areas across all product groups surveyed.

• Cartoon and Animation Studies
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• s.33
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• pp.203-221
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• 2013

While visual industry of the 21st century is becoming higher value-added industry, animation which is a representative genre of visual industry is also developed to the industry focused by government. Korea and China also pursue the development of animation as government executed animation industry promotion policy after the 2000s. However, its results are still under the expectation. Korea hopes advance of Chinese market because of the limitation of market and China is also one of the markets we want to grow together due to the vitalization of Korean visual market. Therefore, if examining characteristics of Korean and Chinese animation industry which is still influenced by government policy and analyzing characteristics of government policies of two countries so as to seek measures to exchange each other with mutual confidence, Korea showed manufacture supporting policies focusing on creation and design, but China focuses on support policies grasping markets of animation and establishing the space for production. Now, it has been about 10 years and Korean market of animation is unstable and it's difficult to release new manpower because of the insufficient space of creation. But, China secured animation market and established creation space in every region of the whole country, but there are not desirable outcomes because of the limitation of materials and characters and insufficient factors of designing and creation. If trying collaboration or joint production and sharing the market by utilizing characteristics of Korean and Chinese animation, both of two countries will obtain better outcomes.

• Journal of Distribution Science
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• v.12 no.12
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• pp.55-63
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• 2014

Purpose - In urban regeneration projects, considerations for rejuvenating traditional public markets are becoming increasingly important. That is because the traditional market is not just a commercial space but also a living center for local people's existence. Cultural contents like these are invaluable assets in the contemporary economy. However, traditional markets are gradually declining because of changes in distribution systems and consumer lifestyles. New distribution systems such as modern distribution markets, home shopping, and online shopping malls made traditional markets less competitive. Further, traditional markets have not been able to adapt to the changing consumption styles of younger generations. Some say that it is a natural phenomenon that cannot be stopped. However, traditional markets are not just another distribution system but also a valuable resource that encapsulates the local people's tradition and history. Thus, a revitalization strategy for traditional public markets has become an urgent task in contemporary urban regeneration projects. This study aimed to find ways to activate traditional public markets by making it a community landmark based on visual merchandising perspectives. Research design and methodology - This study focused on analyzing Granville Island (Vancouver, Canada) as a role-model project for rejuvenating the traditional market. It investigated Granville Island both with walk-through evaluation and literature reviews. Results - We found that it has been developed not only to improve visual aspects, but also to promote cultural contents with high value added. For example, the developers maintained the visual elements that tell the original history of the site as an industrial factory. The renewal project had a balance between improving the outer look and creating attractive contents. The following are the merits of Granville Island that Korean traditional markets should note. First, they kept the whole area clean and hygienic. Second, merchants are well educated, business-savvy, and consumer-oriented. Third, the area's total environmental designs were done by professionals of a high caliber. Fourth, the city government and the merchants'association were collaborating well in their efforts to accommodate the changing needs of consumers. Conclusions - This study made the following suggestions as a conclusion. First, it will be a very powerful tool to rejuvenate the traditional market if we can discover unique cultural resources and develop them as cultural products, experiences, and events. Consumers of the 21st century have a strong tendency to consume not only material products, but also the experiences and memories attached to them. Second, in order to maintain the unique characteristics of traditional markets, fostering the viability of the merchants' association and local residents' society would be essential. Third, it is necessary to make the traditional market into a cultural place not only for the shopping patronage of local residents, but also for attracting tourists to increase sales. Finally, professional management and design approaches are needed in order to make the traditional market a pleasant space from a visual merchandising standpoint.

• KDI Journal of Economic Policy
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• v.13 no.4
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• pp.91-116
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• 1991

Market liberalization progressing simultaneously with high and rapidly rising domestic wages has created an adverse business environment for domestic firms. Korean firms are losing their international competitiveness in comparison to firms from LDC(Less Developed Countries) in low-tech industries. In high-tech industries, domestic firms without government protection (which is impossible due to the liberalization policy and the current international status of the Korean economy) are in a disadvantaged position relative to firms from advanced countries. This paper examines the division of roles between the private sector and the government in order to achieve a successful structural adjustment, which has become the impending industrial policy issue caused by high domestic wages, on the one hand, and the opening of domestic markets, on the other. The micro foundation of the economy-wide structural adjustment is actually the restructuring of business portfolios at the firm level. The firm-level business restructuring means that firms in low-value-added businesses or with declining market niches establish new major businesses in higher value-added segments or growing market niches. The adjustment of the business structure at the firm level can only be accomplished by accumulating firm-specific managerial assets necessary to establish a new business structure. This can be done through learning-by-doing in the whole system of management, including research and development, manufacturing, and marketing. Therefore, the voluntary cooperation among the people in the company is essential for making the cost of the learning process lower than that at the competing companies. Hence, firms that attempt to restructure their major businesses need to induce corporate-wide participation through innovations in organization and management, encourage innovative corporate culture, and maintain cooperative labor unions. Policy discussions on structural adjustments usually regard firms as a black box behind a few macro variables. But in reality, firm activities are not flows of materials but relationships among human resources. The growth potential of companies are embodied in the human resources of the firm; the balance of interest among stockholders, managers, and workers of the company' brings the accumulation of the company's core competencies. Therefore, policymakers and economists shoud change their old concept of the firm as a technological black box which produces a marketable commodities. Firms should be regarded as coalitions of interest groups such as stockholders, managers, and workers. Consequently the discussion on the structural adjustment both at the macroeconomic level and the firm level should be based on this new paradigm of understanding firms. The government's role in reducing the cost of structural adjustment and supporting should the creation of new industries emphasize the following: First, government must promote the competition in domestic markets by revising laws related to antitrust policy, bankruptcy, and the promotion of small and medium-sized companies. General consensus on the limitations of government intervention and the merit of deregulation should be sought among policymakers and people in the business world. In the age of internationalization, nation-specific competitive advantages cannot be exclusively in favor of domestic firms. The international competitiveness of a domestic firm derives from the firm-specific core competencies which can be accumulated by internal investment and organization of the firm. Second, government must build up a solid infrastructure of production factors including capital, technology, manpower, and information. Structural adjustment often entails bankruptcies and partial waste of resources. However, it is desirable for the government not to try to sustain marginal businesses, but to support the diversification or restructuring of businesses by assisting in factor creation. Institutional support for venture businesses needs to be improved, especially in the financing system since many investment projects in venture businesses are highly risky, even though they are very promising. The proportion of low-value added production processes and declining industries should be reduced by promoting foreign direct investment and factory automation. Moreover, one cannot over-emphasize the importance of future-oriented labor policies to be based on the new paradigm of understanding firm activities. The old laws and instititutions related to labor unions need to be reformed. Third, government must improve the regimes related to money, banking, and the tax system to change business practices dependent on government protection or undesirable in view of the evolution of the Korean economy as a whole. To prevent rational business decisions from contradicting to the interest of the economy as a whole, government should influence the business environment, not the business itself.

• Asia pacific journal of information systems
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• v.20 no.2
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• pp.157-180
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• 2010

Rapid development of information technology has generated a new industry and market. In particular, network technology such as the Internet and other computer networks made transaction activities switched from traditional offline commerce to e-commerce. Among them, digital content is bit-based object which is created and distributed through electronic environment. In particular, many entertainment contents such as the music, the movies, and the computer game softwares are main products. Although digital content commerce has high potential demand, it lacks the consideration about the factor related to maintaining existing customer such as customer loyalty and switching costs. There has been a number of research on customer loyalty and other factors affecting it in the traditional electronic commerce environment, but there is a lack of research which examines the characteristics of digital content. The study about the effect of switching costs on customer loyalty in digital content commerce is necessary because the customers of digital content commerce market are from those of other e-commerce market or traditional offline commerce market. In addition, customer loyalty and switching costs are important factors because they may build up greater customer retention. For that reason, this study focused on examining the relationships among switching costs, antecedents for switching costs, and customer loyalty in online digital music service industry. The study has three major purposes: (1) to find antecedents of switching costs on digital content commerce and examine effect of antecedents for switching costs; (2) to identify effect of switching costs on customer loyalty in digital content commerce and examine moderating effects of alternative attractiveness; (3) to identify the differences of antecedents for switching costs by contents transmission type(streaming service and downloading service). And, the online digital music service industry is selected in this study since there are many users and transactions incurring. To accomplish these purposes, a survey questionnaire was developed and distributed to 256 informants. Survey instrument was developed based on previous research and pre-established survey items. Total of 206 surveys are collected and used in the data analysis. Among the respondents, 56.8% is male and 43.2% is female. Also, 86 responses were streaming service user group and 120 responses were download service user group. These data was analyzed using regression analysis. Major findings of empirical analysis can be summarized as follows. First, switching costs have positive effect on customer loyalty in digital content commerce environment. Second, the influence of switching costs on customer loyalty increases under conditions of high alternative attractiveness. Third, DRM convenience and breadth of use have positive effect on switching costs. The findings imply that the digital content provider should pay more attention to switching costs in addition to customer satisfaction in order to attract customers. Also, increasing the convenience of DRM use by securing the convenience of user interface and expanding the support device and increasing the service use scope by providing diverse value-added service helps to create a switching barrier. The result of the study can become a practical use in marketing strategy for maintaining existing customer. In particular, switching barrier is very important under conditions of high competition in the online music service market. This study can be used as a basis for further studies about customer retention in digital content commerce.

• Journal of the Economic Geographical Society of Korea
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• v.18 no.2
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• pp.168-189
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• 2015

The job creation has been the most pressing issue after financial crisis in many countries around the world. Various policies for creating jobs have been implemented in order to revitalize regional economy in Korea. It has been known that the jobs have been created more in low-wage and part-time work than high-wage and full-time work. The purpose of this study is to analyze the differentiation of startups job in local labor market areas(LLMAs) in terms of job quantity as well as job quality. As the spatial unit, 121 local labor market areas which were delineated based on self-containment rate(demand and supply side of labor market) and numbers of resident workers are used. Also due to difference of the size of employment, LLMAs are classified into 3 groups: large, Medium, small LLMAs. The major results are as follows: First, the characteristics of the job creation are varied among 3 groups in terms of the quantitative and qualitative aspects. Highly waged and highly value-added jobs have been created more in large LLMAs, but full-time jobs created more in small LLMAs. Secondly, the job creation of LLMAs is somewhat weakly correlated to regional economic performance. While the quality of jobs is correlated to regional economic performance in Medium LLMAs, the quantity of jobs is significantly correlated to regional economic performance in small LLMAs. The results of this research give some implications for implementing the effective policy to create jobs related to regional economy, indicating that differentiated strategies for 3 groups of LLMAs is critically important.