• The Journal of Asian Finance, Economics and Business
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• v.8 no.2
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• pp.725-735
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• 2021

This study investigates whether the Islamic Exchange-Traded Funds (ETFs) provide significant benefit to investors relative to conventional ETFs. Six pairs of Islamic and conventional ETFs with 10-year daily price data from 2010 to 2019 have been selected from major market indices like MSCI World Index, MSCI Emerging Markets, MyETF Dow Jones Islamic Market Malaysia, MSCI South East Asia and Wahed FTSE Shariah USA Index for this study. For ETFs that are launched after 2010, the price data from launch date to 2019 are used. Our results show: First, Islamic ETFs are more likely to trade at a premium rather than at a discount, implying the investors are willing to pay a premium. Second, it is also found that Islamic ETFs have a relatively shorter period of price deviation from the benchmark, implying more price stability. Third, conventional ETFs have higher return and lower tracking errors relative to Islamic ETFs. These new findings add to the stylized facts of Islamic ETFs in the extant literature for investors, plan sponsors and regulators as to the differences between the ETFs. As policy suggestion, asset management companies can design new investment products to bridge the gap between conventional and Islamic finance.

• Journal of Distribution Science
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• v.13 no.9
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• pp.37-45
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• 2015

Purpose - This paper's aim is to investigate whether or not gross profitability explains the cross-sectional variation of the stock returns in the Korean stock market. Gross profitability is an alternative profitability measure proposed by Novy-Marx in 2013 to predict cross-sectional variation of stock returns in the US. He shows that the gross profitability adds explanatory power to the Fama-French 3 factor model. Interestingly, gross profitability is negatively correlated with the book-to-market ratio. By confirming the gross profitability premium in the Korean stock market, we may provide some implications regarding the well-known value premium. In addition, our empirical results may provide opportunities for the fund distribution industry to promote brand new styles of funds. Research design, data, and methodology - For our empirical analysis, we collect monthly market prices of all the companies listed on the Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) of the Korea Exchanges (KRX). Our sample period covers July1994 to December2014. The data from the company financial statementsare provided by the financial information company WISEfn. First, using Fama-Macbeth cross-sectional regression, we investigate the relation between gross profitability and stock return performance. For robustness in analyzing the performance of the gross profitability strategy, we consider value weighted portfolio returns as well as equally weighted portfolio returns. Next, using Fama-French 3 factor models, we examine whether or not the gross profitability strategy generates excess returns when firmsize and the book-to-market ratio are controlled. Finally, we analyze the effect of firm size and the book-to-market ratio on the gross profitability strategy. Results - First, through the Fama-MacBeth cross-sectional regression, we show that gross profitability has almost the same explanatory power as the book-to-market ratio in explaining the cross-sectional variation of the Korean stock market. Second, we find evidence that gross profitability is a statistically significant variable for explaining cross-sectional stock returns when the size and the value effect are controlled. Third, we show that gross profitability, which is positively correlated with stock returns and firm size, is negatively correlated with the book-to-market ratio. From the perspective of portfolio management, our results imply that since the gross profitability strategy is a distinctive growth strategy, value strategies can be improved by hedging with the gross profitability strategy. Conclusions - Our empirical results confirm the existence of a gross profitability premium in the Korean stock market. From the perspective of the fund distribution industry, the gross profitability portfolio is worthy of attention. Since the value strategy portfolio returns are negatively correlated with the gross profitability strategy portfolio returns, by mixing both portfolios, investors could be better off without additional risk. However, the profitable firms are dissimilar from the value firms (high book-to-market ratio firms); therefore, an alternative factor model including gross profitability may help us understand the economic implications of the well-known anomalies such as value premium, momentum, and low volatility. We reserve these topics for future research.

• Health Policy and Management
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• v.25 no.3
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• pp.221-228
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• 2015

Background: This study explored the relationship between hospital resources and services uses in outpatient/inpatient-based hospital service area (HSA) in Korea. Methods: Study hospitals included all acute care hospitals except tertiary hospitals. Inpatient and outpatient hospital claims from the Korean National Health Insurance (NHI) program in 2010 were used to identify the service uses. Hospital resources and the degree of insurance premium in study areas were identified with the NHI corporation data. Study variables were computed by summing the service uses or hospital resources of study hospitals in each HSA. Service uses were represented by the total medical charges and number of visits/inpatient days. Hospital resources were measured by number of beds, number of doctors, and number of computed tomography (CT). The economic status of NHI enrollees in each HSA was controlled by the average monthly premium of NHI program per household in each HSA. The degree of using local hospitals was controlled with the localization index. Results: Analysis results showed that hospital resources such as beds, CT were statistically related to the service uses. And also localization index was found to have positive significant relationships with service uses. Conclusion: Hospital resources such as beds, CT had not only positive impacts on inpatient service uses, but also influences on the outpatient setting. Health policy makers will require monitoring and assessing the hospital resources in Korea.

• Economic Analysis
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• v.26 no.3
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• pp.1-47
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• 2020

This paper surveys research since the 1990s on the ability of the yield spread and its components (i.e., expectation spread and term premium components) for future economic activity, and also conducts an empirical analysis of their forecasting ability using the yield data of Korean government bonds. This paper's survey, particularly for the US, shows that the yield spread has significant predictive power for some macroeconomic variables, but since the mid-1980s, its predictive power seems to have declined, possibly due to stronger inflation targeting. Next, this paper's empirical analysis using Korean data indicates that the yield spread, and the term premium component in particular, has significant predictive power for industrial production (IP) growth, consumer price index growth, and the IP gap. An out-of-sample analysis shows that the prediction equations are unstable over time, and that in predicting IP growth, the yield spread decomposition makes a significant contribution to the prediction of IP growth.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Safety
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• v.32 no.5
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• pp.96-102
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• 2017

The highest fatal accident ratio was recorded in the construction industry. According to the industrial insurance premium rate & business type example, among the construction industry, the architectural work has the highest fatal and loss time accident ratio. Previous literature has investigated various aspects of accident occurrence and prevention in architectural work. However, those studied were limited in that they only focused on the fatal accident without considering the loss time accident. But non fatal accidents were recorded more than 50 times of fatal accidents. Therefore non fatal accidents must be controlled to lessen industrial accidents. Based on this, the goal of this study was to investigate the nature of the loss time accident and derive the risk index of work type in architectural work. In this study, opinions of safety experts were gathered and the risk index of work type was derived using AHP(Analytic Hierarchy Process). And verification was accomplished by comparing the results of this study with the risk index derived by analysis of accident records. Results showed that the risk index of work type was significantly higher in steel frame work, temporary installation work, earth & foundation work, facilities work, concrete work. And statistical analysis for verification showed that coefficient of Pearson correlation was 0.686 and P-value was 0.001.

• The Journal of Asian Finance, Economics and Business
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• v.9 no.2
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• pp.141-149
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• 2022

Despite the importance of the insurance business for financial and economic development, few studies have looked at the factors that influence its growth. This research adds to the body of knowledge by empirically examining the impact of numerous factors on the development of the insurance business in 15 Middle East and North African (MENA) countries from 2000 to 2017. The study looks at macroeconomic, demographic, and institutional factors as potential drivers of the insurance industry's growth, with the insurance premium as a percentage of GDP as the dependent variable. All variables are stationary at the first difference, according to the IPS panel unit root test. The Pedroni residual cointegration test, Kao residual cointegration test, and Johansen-Fisher panel cointegration tests are then used to look for long-run associations. The cointegration tests strongly suggest that the insurance premium and the various variables have long-run correlations. Findings from the Fully-Modified OLS imply that GDP per capita, gross capital formation, and the KOF economic globalization index have a positive long-term impact on the insurance business. The insurance business is also driven by combating corruption and the rule of law. The population and regulatory quality, on the other hand, have no significant impact.

• Asia-Pacific Journal of Business
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• v.15 no.2
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• pp.71-88
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• 2024

Purpose - This study provides an overview of existing research and practices related to market risk premiums(MRP), and empirically estimates the MRP in Korea, particularly using the related option prices. We also seek to improve the current MRP practices and explore alternative solutions. Design/methodology/approach - We present the option price-based MRP estimation method, as proposed by Martin (2017), and implement it within the context of the Korean stock market. We then juxtapose these results with those derived from other methods, and compare the characteristics with those of the United States. Findings - We found that the lower limit of the MRP in the Korean stock market shows a much lower value compared to the US. There seems to be the possibility of a market crash, exchange rate volatility, or a lack of option trading data. We investigated the predictive power of the estimated values and discovered that the weighted average of the results of various methodologies using the Principal Component Analysis (PCA) is superior to the individual method's results. Research implications or Originality - It is required to explore various methods of estimating MRP that are suitable for the Korean stock market. In order to improve the estimation methodology based on option prices, it is necessary to develop the methods using the higher-order(third order or above) moments, or consider additional risk factors such as the possibility of a crash.

• Journal of Korean Society for Quality Management
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• v.42 no.2
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• pp.253-264
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• 2014

Purpose: The aim of this study is to gain a competitive advantage in the global marketplace by examining the current situation of three domestic Food Dehydrator companies' products. Food Dehydrators are sort of small domestic appliances(SDA), first introduced by Korean companies. Furthermore, this study suggests the improvement plans in the rapidly changing world situation. Methods: Evaluate through comparing three domestic Food Dehydrator companies' products based on the PQI(Premium Quality Index) model, developed by product quality evaluation experts group. Results: At first, we classified evaluation factors into three parts - usability quality, emotional quality - and each of the factors includes sub factors. Under this condition, the results of this study are as follows; the brand quality is remaining at a high satisfaction level compare to other two factors but emotional quality is assessed to be low. This study has shown at customers consider brand and usability quality factors as the most important factor due to the nature of the product. Conclusion: As the possibility of increasing customer needs such as product design and sensitive quality besides usability quality has risen in a competitive global market, the manufacturing companies in Korea are recommended to put forth the necessary effort to improve their product quality, especially in terms of emotional quality.

• Journal of Convergence for Information Technology
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• v.10 no.4
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• pp.46-54
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• 2020

This study aims to develop and analyze the performance of a selective option straddle strategy based on forecasted volatility to improve the weakness of typical straddle strategy solely based on negative volatility risk premium. The KOSPI 200 option volatility is forecasted by the SVM model combined with the asymmetric volatility spillover effect. The selective straddle strategy enters option position only when the volatility is forecasted downwardly or sideways. The SVM model is trained for 2008-2014 training period and applied for 2015-2018 testing period. The suggested model showed improved performance, that is, its profit becomes higher and risk becomes lower than the benchmark strategies, and consequently typical performance index, Sharpe Ratio, increases. The suggested model gives option traders guidelines as to when they enter option position.

• PNF and Movement
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• v.22 no.1
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• pp.101-111
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• 2024

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to investigate physical activity as a risk factor for neck pain recurrence using the National Health Insurance Data Sharing Service that utilizes a nationwide cohort in South Korea. Methods: Medical records spanning a two-year period were extracted from the National Health Insurance database for 541,937 patients who sought healthcare services for neck pain (ICD 10 codes: M54.2) in 2020 and completed the national health examination survey. Selected variables for analysis included age, gender, health insurance premium decile, regional health vulnerability index, body mass index (BMI), acuity, blood pressure, and types of physical activity. A mixed-effect multivariate logistic regression analysis was conducted to examine the recurrence rate of neck pain and identify risk factors for neck pain recurrence. Results: Among the participants, 124,433 patients (23.0%) experienced a recurrence of neck pain within two years, with higher recurrence rates observed among older individuals and females. Regression analysis revealed that the risk of neck pain recurrence increased with age (OR=1.51), being female (OR= 1.10), being a medical aid recipient (OR=1.51), and having anaerobic (OR=1.04) or vigorous physical activities (OR=1.06). By contrast, an increased health insurance premium decile (OR=0.96) and having moderate physical activity (OR=0.97) were associated with a decreased risk of neck pain recurrence. Conclusion: This study highlights the importance of moderate physical activity as an effective strategy for reducing the recurrence of nonspecific neck pain, underscoring the necessity for personalized physical activity programs for patients.