• International conference on construction engineering and project management
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• 2011.02a
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• pp.534-541
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• 2011

Risk evaluation approaches for bidding on international construction projects are typically partitioned into three stages: country selection, project classification, and bid-cost evaluation. However, previous studies are frequently under attack in that they have several crucial limitations: 1) a dearth of studies about country selection risk tailored for the overseas construction market at a corporate level; 2) no consideration of uncertainties for input variable per se; 3) less probabilistic approaches in estimating a range of cost variance; and 4) less inclusion of covariance impacts. This study thus suggests a three-staged risk evaluation model to resolve these inherent problems. In the first stage, a country portfolio model that maximizes the expected construction market growth rate and profit rate while decreasing market uncertainty is formulated using multi-objective genetic analysis. Following this, probabilistic approaches for screening bad projects are suggested through applying various data mining methods such as discriminant logistic regression, neural network, C5.0, and support vector machine. For the last stage, the cost overrun prediction model is simulated for determining a reasonable bid cost, while considering non-parametric distribution, effects of systematic risks, and the firm's specific capability accrued in a given country. Through the three consecutive models, this study verifies that international construction risk can be allocated, reduced, and projected to some degree, thereby contributing to sustaining stable profits and revenues in both the short-term and the long-term perspective.

• Journal of Korea Trade
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• v.25 no.3
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• pp.1-20
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• 2021

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to examine the welfare effects of standards harmonization between technologically asymmetric countries, and to determine optimal harmonization strategies for a country with mid-level technological advancement. Design/methodology - Following Salop's circular city model (Salop, 1979), this study constructs a simple, horizontally-differentiated oligopoly model in which three firms and three countries exist. Each country adopts different compatibility standards and each firm incurs conversion costs for foreign market access due to differences in standards. The conversion costs are related to technology; standards harmonization removes these costs between participating countries. The paper considers three cases: i) no harmonization; ii) harmonization with the more technologically-advanced country and iii) harmonization with the less technologically-advanced country. Findings - The paper first considers a scenario in which all three firms occupy some share of the market in each country. It shows that standards harmonization with both the technologically moreor less-advanced country always increases consumer surplus and social welfare. In addition, the producer surplus will increase if the harmonization partner has a higher technology level, whereas it may decrease if the partner has a lower technology level. It also shows that if most domestic export goods are in sectors with conversion costs above a certain level, harmonizing standards with a technologically more-advanced country should be prioritized. Such strategies, moreover, should be emphasized when there exists a large technology gap among countries. Lastly, the paper considers another scenario, in which harmonization leads to the foreclosure of the non-member firm from the member countries' markets. It shows that harmonization improves the social welfare of a mid-level technology country regardless of its partner's technology. It also shows that the country should prioritize harmonization with the technologically less-advanced country. Originality/value - Though some of the existing studies consider the welfare effects of harmonization, their main assumption is that firms have the same conversion technology. Since complying with standards often requires substantial technological advancement and technical expertise, harmonization of compatibility standards between countries with gaps in technological ability carries different implications. This paper investigates the welfare effects of this harmonization and determines an optimal harmonization strategy while considering technological asymmetry among countries in standards compliance.

• Communications for Statistical Applications and Methods
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• v.29 no.3
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• pp.353-371
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• 2022

This paper analyzes death counts after World War II of several countries to identify and to compare their stochastic structures. The stochastic structures that this paper entertains are three structural time series models, a local level with a random walk model, a fixed local linear trend model and a local linear trend model. The structural time series models assume that a time series can be formulated directly with the unobserved components such as trend, slope, seasonal, cycle and daily effect. Random effect of each unobserved component is characterized by its own stochastic structure and a distribution of its irregular component. The structural time series models use the Kalman filter to estimate unknown parameters of a stochastic model, to predict future data, and to do filtering data. This paper identifies the best-fitted stochastic model for three types of death counts (Female, Male and Total) of each country. Two diagnostic procedures are used to check the validity of fitted models. Three criteria, AIC, BIC and SSPE are used to select the best-fitted valid stochastic model for each type of death counts of each country.

• Korea Trade Review
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• v.48 no.3
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• pp.107-130
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• 2023

This study examines the economic effects of a developed country's minimum quality standards (MQS) and mutual recognition agreements (MRAs) between countries. Based on the results of such analysis, it also considers the optimal MRA strategy for South Korea. For this purpose, the paper constructs a simple three-country model in which the representative firms in each country supply differentiated goods to the developed country market. The analysis results are as follows: First, the rise in the MQS of a developed country intensifies the competition level, reduces the profits of all firms, and raises the developed country's consumer surplus. In addition, if one of the firms exits the market due to the MQS, competition is relaxed, and the profits of the remaining firms increase. Second, countries subject to MQS can improve their social welfare through the MRAs; thus, it is essential to utilize them strategically. In the case of South Korea, the optimal situation is to have an MRA with the developed country or for all three countries not to have any MRA.

• Human Ecology Research
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• v.55 no.2
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• pp.153-166
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• 2017

This study examined the effects of the cognitive and affective country image of Korea on product evaluation and purchase intention for Korean products. The research model was developed from relevant literature based on the halo effect model and data was collected using a self-administered online survey of 772 Southeast Asian consumers from Vietnam, Indonesia, and Malaysia. The major findings are as follows. First, analysis of variance revealed that Vietnam consumers have a significantly positive perception compared to Indonesia and Malaysia, regarding the affective country image and purchase intention towards Korean products. Second, results from structural equation model showed that the affective country image has significantly positive effects on product evaluation and purchase intention, which means the affective country image is directly and indirectly connected to purchase intention towards Korean products. However, cognitive country image only has an indirect effect on purchase intention. Third, the results of comparing path coefficient among three countries showed that the direct effect is more effective for consumers in Indonesia and Malaysia, whereas indirect effect has a stronger effect on consumers in Vietnam. Academically, this study contributes to an expansion of understanding the effects of country image by empirically proving the different roles of cognitive and affective dimensions for country image. This study provides practical implications for developing marketing communication strategies for businesses that hope to penetrate Southeast Asian countries.

• Korean Journal of Occupational Health Nursing
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• v.29 no.2
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• pp.140-149
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• 2020

Purpose: This study analyzed the effects of a health policy capacity development education program as a publicprivate partnership (PPP) model in official development assistance (ODA) for health policy administrators. Methods: Between October 2015 and September 2017, 41 participants from underdeveloped countries completed the three-week education program at K university, following the official selection process of the Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA) and each country's embassy. Results: The effects of the health policy capacity development education program differed significantly according to participants' age (p=.043), country region (p=.045), and academic or professional degree (p=.007). Academic or professional degree significantly predicted the effects of the program (β=.41, p=.007), explaining 21.7% of the variance in the regression model. Conclusion: The current selection process for ODA program participants considers recommendations from each country's embassy to determine eligible candidates. The hosting institution's opinions or suggestions regarding participants' professional expertise or work experience, country region, or demographic characteristics should also be considered in the participant selection process.

• Korea Trade Review
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• v.44 no.1
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• pp.253-268
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• 2019

This paper analyses the characteristics of partner countries when multinational firms of Korea, China, and Japan make greenfield FDI in foreign countries. Particularly, this paper applies the gravity model for greenfield FDI flows for the period 2003-2017. This paper finds that multinational firms of Korea, as compared to those of China and Japan, are very significantly and negatively responsive to political risks of partner countries. In contrast, multinational firms of Korea as well as those of China and Japan tend to make greater amounts of greenfield FDI in financially high-risk countries. This result indicates that multinational firms from these three countries should take financial risks of partner countries into more serious consideration.

• Journal of Korea Trade
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• v.23 no.6
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• pp.33-51
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• 2019

Purpose - The purpose of this study is to provide practical implications for Korean companies searching for new market opportunities. From the experimental analysis, the impact of country image on product-country image and purchase intention of Korean products are measured. In addition, this study disaggregates the impacts of country image and product-country image and purchase intention among ethnic groups in South Africa for searching further useful implications. Design/methodology - To examine South African consumers' country image and product-country image towards Korean products, data were collected between June and July 2019 through an online questionnaire, and 335 questionnaires were used for analysis. Firstly, the multivariate analysis was conducted to examine the general tendency of South African consumers' perceptions of country image to Korea, product-country image, and purchase intention among three ethnic group consumers. Then in order to verify the country image model and hypotheses of the study, we analyzed the structural models for each of the three ethnic groups and compared the sizes of the path coefficients for each groups. To compare the difference of path coefficients across ethnic groups, configural invariance, metric invariance, and scalar invariance tests were conducted sequentially. Findings - In the black and white ethnic groups, the country image had a statistically significant impact on product-country image, but it did not affect the purchase intention to Korean products. The product-country image showed a statistically significant impact on the purchase intention to Korean products in both ethnic group. However, in the coloured ethnic group consumer, the country image had a significant effect on the product-country image, but it did not affect the purchase intention of Korean products. In addition, the product-country image did not have a significant influence on the purchase intention of coloured ethnic group consumers unlike black and white ethnic group consumers. The results of this study suggest that even though differences in terms of the impact of CoI on PCI and PI were investigated for the sample of white, coloured, and black respondents, the groups seemed to respond in a reasonably comparable manner. Originality/value - South Africa occupies more than 20% of Africa's total GDP in sub-Saharan Africa and is a hub for Southern African logistics as a hub for Korean companies to enter Africa. However, it is rare to find a study focused on the determinants of consumer behavior in South Africa. In particular, this study disaggregates the impacts of country image and product-country image on consumer behavior across ethnic groups in South Africa. Therefore, this study could provide practical implications for Korean firms which desire to diversify their export markets and pioneer future markets.

• Journal of Korea Trade
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• v.23 no.3
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• pp.84-104
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• 2019

Purpose - This paper explains why free trade agreements (FTAs) are more popular than customs unions (CUs) in respect of tariff coordination. Design/methodology - This paper employs an equilibrium theory of trade agreements with tariff coordination. I set up three-country partial equilibrium model with competing exporters. Domestic and exporting firms decide their optimal production under given tariffs and each country levies its tariff under the trade agreements. I found stability of implicit tariff coordination and preference of each country between an FTA and a CU. Findings - I demonstrate that two FTA members can keep their external tariffs higher than separately decided external tariffs by keeping the status-quo. This implicit tariff coordination can benefit each member through trade diversion. In a CU, each member country must have a common optimal external tariff and it must incur costs because each country may seek different external tariffs for their own national welfare. The benefit of implicit coordination in an FTA and the cost of explicit coordination in a CU account for the popularity of the FTA. Originality/value - This paper uses the idea of implicit tariff coordination in trade agreements. In a CU, tariff coordination is explicit and mandatory. All member countries must have a single common external tariff for each good. On the other hand, in an FTA, each country establishes its external tariff with the goal of maximizing its own welfare. However, each country can also coordinate "implicitly" by keeping the status-quo after establishing an FTA.

• Journal of Korea Trade
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• v.27 no.4
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• pp.61-76
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• 2023

Purpose - Along with emerging international entrepreneurship, there is a need for exploring the influencing mechanism of dual network embeddedness of the host country on international entrepreneurial performance. Drawing on network embeddedness theory and organizational improvisational theory, the present study constructs a theoretical model regarding the logic relationships between the dual network embeddedness of the host country, organizational improvisational capability, and international entrepreneurial performance. Design/methodology - Using a questionnaire survey, our study conducted data in two ways. The final research sample comprised 129 international new ventures. To test the hypotheses, a three-step mediation test method was conducted. Findings - Our empirical results suggested that both host-country social network embeddedness and industrial network embeddedness significantly affected the international entrepreneurial performance. Organizational improvisational capability significantly affected the international entrepreneurial performance. Third, organizational improvisational capability partially played mediating role in the relationship between the dual network embeddedness of the host country and international entrepreneurial performance. Originality/value - This study mainly concentrates on the two important types of host-country networks, host-country social network embeddedness and industrial network embeddedness, that may help international new ventures access the strategic resources necessary to support performance. Thus, it extends the existing network embeddedness theory and improvisational theory to encompass international entrepreneurship.