• Journal of Distribution Science
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• v.12 no.7
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• pp.77-88
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• 2014

Purpose - Based on the existing retail policy literature, this study aims to compare Korea with foreign countries, to propose better ideas for the Korean retail market. Research design, data, and methodology - It is necessary to analyze the existing retail regulations after categorizing them into several groups, depending on why governments have regulated retailers and the background for the retail policy. Results - Given that Korean retail regulations have focused on protecting conventional markets, comparing the retail policy objectives of South Korea and foreign countries is difficult. Conclusions - It is necessary examine how to protect independent stores, irrespective of store locations across the country. Rather than limiting the distance between traditional markets and the projected locations suggested by large retailers, various factors such as store size limit, opening and closing times, below-cost selling, land use planning, and competition tests are needed to protect small stores. Further, centralized authority for store operations should be delegated to local governments, to tackle the aggressive expansion of retail giants. To protect independent stores, political background is among the most important factors.

• Journal of Distribution Science
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• v.15 no.9
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• pp.5-16
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• 2017

Purpose - This research is to provide new insights for policy makers in Korea, comparing South Korea and foreign countries such as Japan, UK, France, Germany, Netherlands, Sweden, Spain and the forth, in terms of the effects of retail regulations on a retail trade industry. Research design, data, and methodology - After introduction, the research begins with literature review on the background why advanced countries have introduced retail legislations, then, will present their effects. The fourth section will compare the South Korea with the above foreign countries. Finally, the authors will draw conclusions and mention not only research limitations but also future research directions. Results - Based on the previous research, the authors compared Korea and advanced countries, in terms of how retail regulations influence retail employment, retail productivity, retail price, and the protection of independent retailers. The authors found that industrialized countries have made a significant effort to protect small shops for social stability with many different regulations and/or budget. With regard to results, however, the degree of its achievement is lower than expected. Conclusions - In order to protect small- and medium-sized retailers efficiently and effectively, policy makers need to develop better sophisticated retail regulations than those of advanced countries.

• Environmental and Resource Economics Review
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• v.23 no.4
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• pp.553-581
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• 2014

This paper analyzes competition among service stations in the Korean gasoline market. We consider spatial differentiation as a source of product differentiation as well as the characteristics of the stations and vertical contracts between refiners and retailers as factors causing changes in equilibrium prices in the Korean gasoline retail market. The effect of the government's price disclosure policy on the retail market competition is also analyzed. Moran's I test indicates that the prices of neighboring gas stations are spatially correlated in the market. It is also found that gasoline prices for vertically integrated stations are much lower than those for independent stations. In addition, unbranded stations charge lower prices than branded stations but also induce branded stations to price more competitively. Meanwhile, the government's price disclosure policy did intensify price competition in the retail gasoline market. It is inferred that the price disclosure policy contributed to retailers gaining more bargain power in price negotiation with refiners, causing an eventual increase in retail prices.

• International Commerce and Information Review
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• v.9 no.3
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• pp.273-284
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• 2007

New retailers, especially giant retailers, so called "mart" or "discounter" which introduced around 1996, when Korea's domestic retail market was opened to the world, have brought big transitions. Consequently, new comers like discounters and CVS drove out department stores, mom & pops and traditional retailers. Literatures showed two reverse opinions for the giant retailers; rising consumers' benefit, or dropping small retailers' businesses. This study have conducted to find the situation of market concentration in retail market, and to learn the new market condition in it. According to the study, in 2005, CR3's of Korea's whole retail industry was counted 12.8%, and CR5 of that was 13.9%. CR3 of discount store business was 39%, department stores' 55%, and TV home shopping businesses' was 75%. In addition to those results, indices growing worse. So, we can say this industry already get into the oligopolistic industrial organization. Generally, under monopolistic or oligopolistic market structure, consumers' benefit may shrink and businesses' surplus profit may jump. So, it means, it's good time to turn government's policy for the retail industry in Korea to fair competition policy instead of development policy.

• Journal of Distribution Science
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• v.13 no.11
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• pp.101-109
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• 2015

Purpose - A traditional retail market is a place that offers economic opportunity to employees and employers alike it also is a place where the community can meet. The Korean government has invested three trillion won to improve physical and non-physical aspects in traditional retail markets since 2004. However, little research on this has been conducted. We explore this research gap that could lead to theory extension. We analyze consumption behavior with respect to traditional retail markets through an empirical analysis, thus overcoming limits in previous research. We empirically analyze policy effects of traditional retail market projects supported by the Korean government. Research design, data, and methodology - We propose a traditional retail market improvement plan via the relation between cause and effect resulting from the analysis. More specifically, logit analysis was carried out with 1,754 consumers in 16 cities nationwide. In order to analyze consumer consumption behaviors nationwide, the probability was analyzed using a logit model. This research analyzes the link between support and non-support by the Korean government using binary values. The dependent variable is whether Korean government support is implemented; the binomial logistic regression is used as the statistical estimation technique. The object variables are:1 (support) or 0 (nonsupport), and the prediction value is between 1 and 0. As a result of the factor analysis of questions related to attributes of service quality, four factors were extracted: convenience, product, facilities, and service. Results - The results indicate that convenience, product, and facilities have a significant influence on consumer satisfaction in accordance with the government's traditional retail market support. Additionally, the results reveal that convenience, product, facilities, and service all have a significant influence on consumer satisfaction in a traditional retail market's service quality and consumer satisfaction. Finally, the analysis indicates that the highly satisfied traditional retail market customer has a significant influence on revisit intention. Moreover, the results reveal that the highly satisfied traditional retail market customer has a significant influence on recommendation intention. Conclusions - This research focused on consumers nationwide to measure policy effects of traditional retail markets compared to previous research that focused on one traditional retail market or a specific area. We verified the relationship of service quality and customer satisfaction and consumer behavior based on service quality theory. The results indicate that consumer satisfaction of traditional retail markets supported by service quality factors has a significant impact. In a concrete form, the results indicate that these effects are from facility modernization projects and marketing support projects of the Korean government. The results also imply that these facility and management support effects from the Korean government have been consistent. We realize that the Korean government has to selectively support traditional retail markets in major cities and small and medium-sized cities. To that end, the Korean government needs to select a concentration strategy for the revitalization of traditional retail markets.

• Journal of Distribution Science
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• v.12 no.9
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• pp.5-13
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• 2014

Purpose -This study is to measure the effects of retail legislations on small retailers and traditional markets. Research Design, Data, and Methodology - The authors have developed a questionnaire with five hypotheses on the basis of previous research results and six constructs: the improvement of sales volume, the number of customers, the improvement of store traffic, the increase of store staff, business expansion and retail regulation. Furthermore, the research has adopted a five-point Likert-scale technique. In order to increase research reliability as well as validity, the authors have adopted a few different research techniques such as exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA). Results - Although existing retail regulations might be better than nothing for now, the degree of retail constraints on large retailers should be strengthened. Furthermore, different legal methods to protect mom and pops are needed. Conclusions - In order to improve the effects of retail restrictions on large retailers, the research indicates that the central government should change a retail policy, that is, introduce new technical ways to keep mom and pops and conventional markets.

• Journal of Korean Institute of Industrial Engineers
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• v.32 no.4
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• pp.382-392
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• 2006

Vendor-managed inventory policy(VMIP) is a supply-chain initiative where the supplier is authorized to manage inventories of items at retail locations. In VMIP, the supplier monitors sales and stock information at retail locations and makes decisions of inventory replenishment and transportation simultaneously. VMIP has been known as an effective supply chain strategy that can realize many of benefits obtainable only in a fully integrated supply chain. However, VMIP does not always lead to lower the supply chain cost. It sometimes generates the total supply chain cost higher than the traditional retailer-managed inventory policy (RMIP). In this paper, we perform a comparison study on RMIP and VMIP in the retail supply chain which consists of a single supplier and a number of retailers. We formulate mixed integer programming models for both RMIP and VMIP with vehicle routing problems and perform computational experiments on various test problems. Furthermore, we derive the conditions which guarantee the dominant position for VMIP with respect to total supply chain cost in the simple retail supply chain.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Clothing and Textiles
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• v.32 no.8
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• pp.1233-1243
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• 2008

This study examined return policies of the Korean retailers and their differences by retail format. Return policies of 363 retailers including dept stores, discount stores, brand consignment stores, small shops, outlet stores, TV home shopping companies, and internet shopping malls were collected. Acceptance of refund or/and exchange, return grace period, and return requirements or restrictions of each retailer were analyzed. The results showed that most retail formats except small shops and internet shopping malls allowed refund. The seven day return grace period was most common though large retail chains allowed more generous time frames and small shops allowed shorter dates. Restrictions for return varied by retailers and retail formats. Generally retailers followed the guidelines of consumer protection laws. The study discussed implications of return policy analysis.

• KDI Journal of Economic Policy
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• v.40 no.2
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• pp.1-21
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• 2018

The private brands (PB) of corporate retailers are booming in Korea. This paper examines the effect of the rise of PB on Korean retail and manufacturing. By utilizing both store-level data and firm-level data, I find that the expansion of PB elevates the profits of corporate retailers but does not significantly affect, and in some cases even reduces, those of subcontracting manufacturers. This occurs not only because sales of national brands (NB) decline due to the launch of similar PBs but also because the imbalance in the bargaining positions of the two parties has caused retail margins to be set high while manufacturers' operating profits are set low. The paper provides policy recommendations for fair contracts and cooperative development between retail and manufacturing companies.

• Journal of Distribution Science
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• v.21 no.12
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• pp.113-125
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• 2023

Purpose: Support policies for small and medium-sized retailers (SMSRs) have been promoted in various ways over the past 20 years, but they are generally regarded as unsuccessful. The purpose of this study is to analyze the process and impact of policy changes, identify the reasons for the lack of success, and explore policy alternatives. Research design, data and methodology: This study explored major policies in various categories such as the retail industry, traditional markets, and Micro-Enterprises from the mid-1990s to the present. It also analyzed the short- and long-term impacts of major policies at the retail format level like SMSRs, using data from Statistics Korea's service industry survey. Results: This research found that sudden shifts in policy philosophy conflicted with the existing market structure and reduced the effectiveness of policies. It also found that policies aimed at improving competitiveness at the SMSRs-level had some effect, while polices aimed at supporting expenses at the individual store-level were difficult to achieve their intended purpose. Conclusions: The failure of the policy to support SMSRs is fundamentally due to the late response and conflicts between policies. It was also not successful due to the policy's focus on individual store-level expenses and maintaining employment rather than structural improvements of SMSRs format.