• KDI Journal of Economic Policy
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• v.26 no.2
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• pp.249-280
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• 2004

This paper analyzes the industrial growth of Korea in the 1990s and its relationship with the nation's export performance. The result shows that total factor productivity (TFP) played a significant role in the growth of some industries, where in particular a sharp increase in TFP was observed in the electrics and electronics industry and the automobile industry in the late 1990s. While CEPII RCA indexes for the Korean industries such as IT industry and automobile industry significantly increased since 1998, only limited evidence was found that TFP or TFI influenced RCA. Investigating Korea's export performance in the Northeast Asian context, this paper shows that, in the 1990s, the growth of Korea's exports to Japan was led by industries that recorded relatively fast growth in total factor input (TFI). In contrast, that to China was almost equally contributed by industries that experienced relatively fast growth in TFP or TFI. This paper also investigates competition between Korea and China, and Korea and Japan in the world market. The competition between Korea and China was relatively stronger for the Korean industries to whose growth TFI made a more significant contribution. While no decisive evidence is found for the relationship between TFP growth in Korean industries and their competition against Japan in the world market, it is revealed that the competition between Korea and Japan became less intense for the Korean industries to whose growth TFI made a stronger contribution. In this regard, the paper supports the view of 'nut-cracking' that the Korean economy has lost its competitiveness in the sectors where it maintained comparative advantage, but failed to catch up more advanced countries such as Japan by gaining competitiveness in more capital or technology intensive sectors.

• Land and Housing Review
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• v.7 no.4
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• pp.191-205
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• 2016

North Korea(NK) has designated the special economic zones(SEZs) since the first one in Rason. But, why have the SEZs in NK still not been developed successfully? This study comparatively evaluated the SEZs in China, Vietnam and NK, with respect to 'context/purpose', 'development/management system', and 'location/infrastructure.' NK's strategies for the SEZs were different from those of China and Vietnam in terms of historical context and development purpose. China and Vietnam chose the market opening policy aiming to reform their national economy, while NK tried the opening policy without the economic reform. This difference made NK's decentralization and location strategies marginal. In spite of the positive land system and tax benefit of NK, the strategies couldn't make a successful result. The implications of this comparative study are as follows. Firstly, NK needs to establish a strategy for the SEZs in accord with the comprehensive and long-term plan for economic development and 'trustworthy and substantial market-systems' being compatible with outside world. For that, NK has to secure the regime stability in political and diplomatic dimensions. Secondly, NK has to carry out policies of decentralization and location of the SEZs more positively. Thirdly, in order to solve the problem related to lack of infrastructure capital, NK needs to utilize a BOT scheme.

• Journal of the Korean Regional Science Association
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• v.15 no.2
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• pp.131-153
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• 1999

Since 1980's there have been two trends that obviously developed in the would -- economics globalization and urban internationalization. China, with is reform and opening-up policy and rapid economic growth, keeps pace with these two trends. The term "International City" has no putative standard or definition. If we make an analogue of urban functional hierarchy in the world with a pyramid, the International Citiesa are the few elites on its top. The highest level international cities can be called "World City" or "Global City". In today's new international division of labor, they are diversified leading cities with control capacity on a world scale, like New York, London, and Tokyo. The secondary international cities are either diversified cities with influence and regulative functions on multinational scale or specialized cities on politics, economics, culture, or other aspects with worldwide impact. Judged by different criteria, there is no city that is qualified as International City with the exception of Hong Kong, which was returned to the P.R. of China in 1997. Nevertheless, Some favorable conditions for the development of the international city still exist in China. This country is already the sixth largest economic entity in the world, and the second largest economic entity in the world, and the second largest one if GNP estimated by ppp. Furthermore its import and export value make up for 40% of its GNP, indicating that China is repidly merging into global economy. In this 1, 2 billion-population country, the difference of economic levels between urban and rural, coastal and inland regions is so big that a few metropolises in the coastal region have the possibilities and potentials to develop into international cities regardless of rather low GNP per capita of the whole country. This article will focus on analysis from several perspectives, such as the proportion of foreign trade values in GDP, the proportion of imports and exports by foreign funded enterprises in total foreign trade value; distribution of the 500 largest foreign-funded enterprises; distribution of the 500 enterprises with largest import and export values; distrigbution of foreign computer and telecom companies with offices in China; the number of outward flights per week and the international tourists; the value of foreign capital used in cities and so on. From this analysis, it is predicted that Chinese international cities will surely emergy from the eastern coastal regions and they must be the core cities of metropolitan interlocking regions that have been formed or in the process of forming. Those international cities will arise from south to north in turn : Hong Kong-Guangzhu, Shanghai, Beijing-Tianjin, and perhaps the last one is Dalian-Shenyang. The other side of this issue is that there is a long way for the coming international cities in China except Hong Kong. At least China and these core cities must continually devote to (1) improve the regional composition of foreign capital sources. (2) improve the composition of export commodities. (3) improve the investment environment (including hard and soft environment) to attract more transnational corporations to settle. (4) deepen the reform of state-owned enterprises and establish Chinese own transnational corporations to enter the world market.ons to enter the world market.

• Korea journal of population studies
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• v.26 no.2
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• pp.63-90
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• 2003

This study aims to discover patterns of Korean women's life course in terms of their life time sequence of family roles and economic activity. Primary factors for the change and diversity of family-work role sequence are also examined. Data used in this study is the Fourth Survey of Korean Women's Economic Activity which was conducted by Korean Institute of Women Development (KIWD) in 2002. According to the main results, five distinctive patterns of life course are to be disentangled for ever married women: First, doing simultaneously family and work roles with no maternal leave (13.7%); second, reentry into labor market after maternal leave (M type, 18.6%); third, no reentry into labor market after maternal leave (latent M type, 26.9%); fourth, first job entry after child rearing (23.5%); and finally, no work experience (17.3%). The relative composition of the respective life course has changed over marriage cohorts. M type including latent M type became a dominant life pattern among married women since marriage cohorts of 1980 and later. The share of married women who begin to work first after maternal role or have no work experience has declined with recent marriage cohorts. It is also noted that the share of women with simultaneous family and work roles has increased among marital cohorts of 1990 and later. Marriage cohort differences being controlled, life patterns significantly differ by women's educational level, existence of role model of working mother at growth, women's own and husbands' gender role attitude, and family economy. Finally, some policy concerns for gender role division of family and work are raised.

• International Commerce and Information Review
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• v.15 no.4
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• pp.341-366
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• 2013

The term, Mittelstand, has no exact english translation for the definition, but, today, Mittelstand refers to small and medium-sized enterprises(SME), mostly family-owned firms in Germany. The Mittelstand is called the backbone of the German economy because it drove the economic miracle after World War II. During the global recession and the euro zone's debt crisis in recent years, in which european businesses have faced the near-collapse of competitiveness particularly in manufacturing, the German exports are booming and exceeded exports of China in 2012. Most importantly, the Germany economic performance has been widely attributed to the strength of the Mittelstand. Many of countries, even some leading public companies are seeking to emulate the success of the Mittelstand. Investors evaluate that many of Germany's investable "hidden champions" are Mittelstand companies. The purpose of this study is to present some of answers to the following questions: Firstly, what makes the German Mittelstand so successful? Secondly, what does the success of the German Mittelstand mean for the Korean SMEs in global competitiveness? Thirdly, what Korean government has to do improve the global competitiveness of the Korean SMEs? Some discussions in this study mention the managerial implications for Korean exporting SMEs particularly in manufacturing. Several factors that account for the success of the German Mittelstand are technological excellence and the tradition of family-owned management, concentration on niche market and globalization, and institutional supports. There are some of important lessons to be learned from the German Mittelstand. If the purposes of Korean SMEs want to remain in the sustainable competitive advantage and withstand unforeseen economic turbulences in the future, they must be able to meet the followings: 1) Technology that meets the global standard or exceeding it 2) Competitiveness in price in the global market 3) Active involvement in the globalization process, utilizing various entry modes Innovative products at globally competitive price are a crucial point for Korean exporting SMEs to achieve their competitive edge over others in the target markets abroad. It is time for Korean SMEs to cultivate a core competence in manufacturing in order to position Korea as a global manufacturing hub with SMEs leading.

• Korean journal of communication and information
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• v.22
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• pp.77-106
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• 2003

As globalization of communication is going on and as the media have become increasingly central to the world economy, media policy matters have become the province of world economic organizations like the IMF and the WTO. The WTO service negotiation is focused primarily on the discriminatory and quantitative barriers associated with the trade of audiovisual services. Domestic measures such as subsidization, content regulation including quotas, and licensing requirements and restrictions on foreign ownership and control are at issues here. These measures have been successfully implemented by countries wishing to withstand competition from the American audiovisual industry. The debate about trade in audiovisual services is permeated by the unstated assumption that these programs are pure commodities whose production, distribution, exhibition and in turn, values are solely determined by the market forces. It is therefore presumed that liberalization of trade in audiovisual services will benefit all, serving cultural pluralism and diversity as well as economic efficiency. However, this assumption is not shared by developing countries, the recipients of U.S. television material. They argue audiovisual sector requires a social and cultural approach, since it plays a key role in the preservation of people's identity and social bonds. They claim that it is the each state's right to define its media policy and to implement it through the means it considers fit. These clashing views over the nature of the audiovisual material and the ways in which protect cultural pluralism and diversity do not confine to be the realm of theoretical debate. Each state's interest and motivation to protect its local industry and to have a competitive advantage in the international market is working in this battle. Consolidation with the countries like Australia, Canada, and EU nations, in favour of cultural exemption, seems to be the best policy for us. However, we are not entirely free from the WTO pressures, considering relation to the U. S. This study analyzes Korean Broadcasting Law compared with those of other OECD countries and tries to propose some strategical guidelines facing WTO service negotiation in the area of broadcasting.

• Journal of Korea Port Economic Association
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• v.28 no.3
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• pp.235-257
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• 2012

Recently the role of ports has been changed to satisfy flexibly needs of demands in global economy. A new concept for ports is not just a place for international trade but an important nodal point in logistics chain. The changing environment like this trend creates a high degree of uncertainty and leaves port managers confused with the question how to respond effectively to dynamic market. The latest studies provide that the port must have a good hinterland to achieve competitive advantages in a logistics chain. Korean Government announced "The Master Development Plan for Port Logistics Parks in Korea" in 2006. This contains the plan of hinterland construction of Busan New Port to achieve the status of logistics hub in Asian market. Previous studies rely solely on traditional DCF(discounted cash flow) analysis for investment of hinterland. However DCF method does not include irreversibility, uncertainty and the choice of timing for investment project. This thesis introduces a ROPM(real options pricing model) which overcomes the limitations of traditional valuation methods. The option valuations in this study utilize the Black-Scholes model, the binomial model and the MonteCarlo simulation to value investment opportunity of a port hinterland. In this thesis, an attempt is made to modify the NPV criterion by incorporating the real options approach, and its application is demonstrated in a hinterland construction investment plan. This research has conducted an empirical analysis by calculating economic value of the investment for a hinterland of Busan New Port.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.25 no.3 s.39
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• pp.303-311
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• 1992

It is very important to estimate the future medical care expenditure, because medical care expenditure escalation is a big problem not only in the health industry but also in the Korean economy today. This study was designed to project the medical care expenditure in view of population age change. The data of this study were the population projection data based on National Census Data(1990) of the National Statistical Office and the Statistical Reports of the Korea Medical Insurance Corporation. The future medical care expenditure was eatimated by the regression model and the optional simulation model. The significant results are as follows : 1. The future medical care expenditure will be 3,963 billion Won in the year 2000, 4,483 billion Won in 2010, and 4,826 billion Won in 2020, based on the 1990 market price considering only the population age change. 2. The proportion of the total medical care expenditure in the elderly over 65 will be 10.4% in 2000, 13.5% in 2010, and 16.9% in 2020. 3. The future medical care expenditure will be 4,306 billion Won in the year 2000, 5,101 billion Won in 2010, and 5,699 billion Won in 2020 based on the 1990 market price considering the age structure change and the change of the case-cost estimated by the regression model. 4. When we consider the age-structure change and inflation compared with the preceding year, the future medical care expenditurein 2020 will be 21 trillion Won based on a 5% inflation rate, 42 trillion Won based on a 7.5% inflation rate, and 84 trillion Won based on a 10% inflation rate. Consideration of the aged(65 years old and over) will be essential to understand the acute increase of medical care expenditure due to changes in age structure of the population. Therefore, alternative policies and programs for the caring of the aged should be further studied.

• Korean Journal of Construction Engineering and Management
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• v.15 no.2
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• pp.112-121
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• 2014

After IMF bailout crisis in Korea, project financing has been employed as a major funding vehicle for the housing development. In 2008, the recession of housing market due to the global financial crisis had an significant impact on the increasing insolvent site of PF based housing development project, resulting in serious impact to whole economy as a chain effect. In order to resolve this vicious circle of bankruptcy, the major construction companies were urged to take over the insolvent sites and invest to them for normal project exit, and finally play a critical role in normalization of market. Therefore, this study aims to define the core factors for decision making to invest to insolvent site and find out differences among constructors, developers, financial lenders. The results from AHP analysis, the profitability was the most important factor to constructors. Moreover, even though the location merit is little less, through competitive price, we can assure that stable profitability is most important factor to decide to invest in insolvent site. In conclusion, the price is cheap, is highly feasible, if the land secured, major construction company will participate in a PF business investment. These findings were verified by the investment case of major construction company.

• Korean Journal of Construction Engineering and Management
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• v.15 no.3
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• pp.12-22
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• 2014

In recent, many Korean contractors have tried to extend their business area into the overseas construction market, mainly as a result of a reduction in their domestic construction market. However in terms of risk, overseas construction projects are likely to face a number of unpredictable problems, many of which occur as a result of differences in contract cultures and construction environments between Korea and other countries. One key issue facing overseas construction projects in particular, is that of sub-contracting and control, and the way in which many countries of Commonwealth of Nations operate a unique subcontracting method well known as a nominated sub-contractor(NSC). This paper introduces the NSC system and differences as comparing among standard construction contract forms, such as JCT, SIA, HKIA and PAM. in UK and Asian Commonwealth of Nations. Also, we attempt to classify the type of the NSC system through the consideration of NSC clauses in accordance with the objection and termination of NSC contracting respectively.