• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
• /
• v.52 no.4
• /
• pp.214-223
• /
• 2019

Objectives: Equity in financial protection against healthcare expenditures is one the primary functions of health systems worldwide. This study aimed to quantify socioeconomic inequality in facing catastrophic healthcare expenditures (CHE) and to identify the main factors contributing to socioeconomic inequality in CHE in Iran. Methods: A total of 37 860 households were drawn from the Households Income and Expenditure Survey, conducted by the Statistical Center of Iran in 2017. The prevalence of CHE was measured using a cut-off of spending at least 40% of the capacity to pay on healthcare services. The concentration curve and concentration index (C) were used to illustrate and measure the extent of socioeconomic inequality in CHE among Iranian households. The C was decomposed to identify the main factors explaining the observed socioeconomic inequality in CHE in Iran. Results: The prevalence of CHE among Iranian households in 2017 was 5.26% (95% confidence interval [CI], 5.04 to 5.49). The value of C was -0.17 (95% CI, -0.19 to -0.13), suggesting that CHE was mainly concentrated among socioeconomically disadvantaged households in Iran. The decomposition analysis highlighted the household wealth index as explaining 71.7% of the concentration of CHE among the poor in Iran. Conclusions: This study revealed that CHE is disproportionately concentrated among poor households in Iran. Health policies to reduce socioeconomic inequality in facing CHE in Iran should focus on socioeconomically disadvantaged households.

• Korean Journal of Social Welfare
• /
• v.52
• /
• pp.201-221
• /
• 2003

This paper aims to examine whether there are significant differences in various aspects of a household's arrangements by type of employment of married woman; 1) the extent of the division of labor, 2) the authority of decision making, and 3) financial and expenditure responsibilities. It also investigates the determinants of gender equality in the family. Based on data collected in the fall of 2002 from a representative sample of the Korean population, this study finds that nonstandard employment of married woman including temporary work and daily basis work does not contribute to gender equality within the household, although most of nonstandard employees are full-time workers. However, standard employment of married woman contribute to gender equality in the family. The results of this study show that husbands whose wives are standard-employed are more likely to take part in housework chores that are female-dominated, and standardly employed wives are more likely than non-standardly employed or housewives to take part in the household's financial and expenditure responsibilities. Standardly employed wives also have more power in decision making process within households. On the contrary, non-standardly employed wives gain no advantage over housewives within their families, due to lack of bargaining resources that enable them to affect the household's arrangements. Thus, they have confronted additional burdens, which stem from carrying the dual role of doing house work as well as paid work. Such increasing work-family conflict may bring about disruption of family. Therefore, this study maintains that it is high time that government-level efforts should be made in order to improve the status of irregularly employed wives in the workplace.

• Journal of Navigation and Port Research
• /
• v.36 no.6
• /
• pp.481-488
• /
• 2012

As an exploratory research to understand the nature of relationships between ports and their neighboring communities, this study analyzes how ports influence their residents' quality of life(QOL). The QOL was measured by 17 indicators reconstructed by reviewing relevant literatures. As a result, both Busan port and Dalian port were found to have statistically significant influence on many of QOL indicators including general expenditure per capita, number of manufacturing factories per capita, number of factories's laborer per capita, the rate of pavement, number of traffic accident per capita, rate of housing supply, number of financial agencies per capita, park area per capita, number of cultural assets per capita, the size of welfare expenditure per capita, number of fire occurrence per capita. And Busan port have statistically significant influence on QOL indicators including the rate of increase in population, number of public health industries per capita, number of public health industries per capita, number of schools per capita, number of sick-beds per capita, but Dalian port not have influence. Also Dalian port have statistically significant influence on number of crime occurrence per capita, but Busan port not have influence.

• The Southeast Asian review
• /
• v.28 no.1
• /
• pp.173-218
• /
• 2018

This study focuses on the healthcare sector in Vietnam which is promoting universal health insurance for the achievement of Universal Health Coverage (UHC) under Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The purpose of this study is to examine the characteristics of the reform process of the health care system and the law on health insurance through the historical and cultural contexts and its implications from the perspective of development. Based on the three dimensions of UHC - extension of protection for population, provision of various medical services, and financial protection, the current status of the Vietnam healthcare sector is summarized respectively as follows. First, according to the revised Health Insurance law which came into effect in 2015, the mandatory health insurance premiums are calculated based on household units. Second, there is a medical network that can provide preventive and healthcare services centered on primary health care facilities, for example commune health stations (trạm y $t{\hat{e}}$ $X{\tilde{a}}$). Third, out-of-pocket expenditure is still a large proportion although public spending has increased and private spending has decreased since the enforcement of the health insurance law and various schemes. Vietnam is currently striving towards a universal health care system. The development of institutions and systems should be designed in a way that is appropriate for the members of the society rather than efficiency. This article findings shed light on the role of social values, family culture, and informal institutions.

• Journal of Internet Computing and Services
• /
• v.16 no.6
• /
• pp.123-131
• /
• 2015

Recently the development of ICT has a big impact on education field, and diffusion of smart devices has brought new education paradigm. Since people has an opportunity to use various contents anytime and communicate in an interactive way, the method of learning has changing. In 2011, Korean government has established the smart education promotion plan to be a first mover in the paradigm shift from e-learning to smart learning. Especially, government aimed to improve the quality of learning materials and method in public schools, and also to decrease the high expenditure on private education. However, the achievement of smart education policy has not emerged yet, and the refinement of smart learning policy and strategy is essential at this moment. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to propose the successful strategies for smart learning in public education. First, this study explores the status of public education and smart learning environment in Korea. Then, it derives the key success factors through SWOT(Strength, Weakness, Opportunity, Threat) analysis, and suggests strategic priorities through AHP(Analytic Hierarchy Priority) method. The interview and survey were conducted with total 20 teachers, who works in public schools. As a results, focusing on weakness-threat(WT) strategy is the most prior goal for public education, to activate the smart learning. As sub-factors, promoting the education programs for teachers($W_2$), which is still a weakness, appeared as the most important factor to be improved. The second sub-factor with high priority was an efficient optimizing the capability of new learning method($S_4$), which is a strength of systematic public education environment. The third sub-factor with high priority was the extension of limited government support($T_4$), which could be a threat to other public schools with no financial support. In other words, the results implicate that government institution factors should be considered with high priority to make invisible achievement in smart learning. This study is significant as an initial approach with strategic perspective for public education. While the limitation of this study is that survey and interview were conducted with only teachers. Accordingly, the future study needs to be analyzed in effectiveness and feasibility, by considering perspectives from field experts and policy makers.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
• /
• v.13 no.2
• /
• pp.421-425
• /
• 2012

Cancer can be a major cause of poverty. This may be due either to the costs of treating and managing the illness as well as its impact upon people's ability to work. This is a concern that particularly affects countries that lack comprehensive social health insurance systems and other types of social safety nets. The ACTION study is a longitudinal cohort study of 10,000 hospital patients with a first time diagnosis of cancer. It aims to assess the impact of cancer on the economic circumstances of patients and their households, patients' quality of life, costs of treatment and survival. Patients will be followed throughout the first year after their cancer diagnosis, with interviews conducted at baseline (after diagnosis), three and 12 months. A cross-section of public and private hospitals as well as cancer centers across eight member countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) will invite patients to participate. The primary outcome is incidence of financial catastrophe following treatment for cancer, defined as out-of-pocket health care expenditure at 12 months exceeding 30% of household income. Secondary outcomes include illness induced poverty, quality of life, psychological distress, economic hardship, survival and disease status. The findings can raise awareness of the extent of the cancer problem in South East Asia and its breadth in terms of its implications for households and the communities in which cancer patients live, identify priorities for further research and catalyze political action to put in place effective cancer control policies.

• Health Policy and Management
• /
• v.17 no.2
• /
• pp.1-17
• /
• 2007

Limited coverage for health care services of National Health Insurance(NHI) in Korea has been ongoing policy issue but additional NHI financing through raising contribution or taxes in order to improve coverage faces substantial obstacles. Private health insurance(PHI) is often considered as an alternative financing source to improve coverage. Recent reform that attempted to stretch the role of PHI allowed life insurance companies to provide complementary PHI, indemnity plan which will pay for uncovered services by NHI and out-of-pocket spending for covered services. Although complementary PHI may relieve financial burden of patients, it may significantly raise NHI spending as well as total health expenditure since little out-of-pocket spending may increase utilization of health care. So far, there has not been enough discussion about concerns of potential adverse effect resulting from extended role of PHI. This study investigated potential increase of NHI spending followed by extension of complementary PHI through sensitivity analysis. The amount of NHI spending for services that would be covered by complementary PHI was calculated using 2005 NHI statistics and expected complementary PHI enrollment rate by age and sex. Expected utilization increases were obtained based on price elasticities$(-0.2{\sim}-0.5)$ from previous studies and expected coverage rate$(50{\sim}80%)$ of complementary PHI and then converted to monetary figures. Because coverage rate of complementary PHI has not been determined yet, we employed the sensitivity analysis using coverage rate of $50{\sim}80%$. Findings demonstrate that additional spending for health care services is expected to be $426{\sim}1,702$ billion won, corresponding amount payed by NHI $298{\sim}1,192$ billion won. In conclusion, since complementary PHI may raise NHI spending significantly, there should be an agreement whether this additional cost would be accountable and acceptable in our society. Potential inefficiency resulting from extended role of complementary PHI should be considered since public and private financing do not operate in isolation and there should be more discussion on proper role of PHI in Korea.

• Journal of Korean Society of Forest Science
• /
• v.67 no.1
• /
• pp.17-27
• /
• 1984

The Yangsan Forest Management Station (YFMS) of Korean German Forest Management Project (KGFMP), working with the 6 legal villages of Uljugun, Kyongnam, led the forest owners in the area to organize the Forest Management Cooperative (FMC) voluntairily for improvement of private forest management and fostered it as a model from May 1975 to Apr. 1984. YFMS sent out FMC a forest manager as a forestry expert carrying out the leading extension program at the equal position with forest owners and gave FMC financial, administrative and technical assitances. During the 6 years from 1977 to 1982, 4 FMC were founded and are being operated democratically. 228 forest owners have taken the membership of their own free will and the forestland of the members covers 2,567 ha equivalent to 57% of the total private forest in the area. During the period the total area of the planting and tending is 4,185 ha, this means that a member executed 3.1 ha of forest operations per year in average, showing the high willingness on forest operations. In addition the joint works have resulted in the joint properties equivalent to 27 million Won and it will be an important foundation for operation of FMC which is a forest owners's cooperative organization for improvement of private forest management in this area. The total expenditure spent for the fostering of FMC amounted to 497,587 thousand Won and 58% of them were charged from KGFMP funds, 27% from the forest owners and 15% from public funds. The expenditure for investment was 273,104 thousand Won and 59% of the sum were appropriated as subsidies at the national level. The forest owners charged 43% of that and this means that each member invested approximately 100 thousand Won to his forestland per year in average. For the extension program 169,503 thousand Won were spent and it can be explained that 5,885 Won were spent per ha a year. The organization of FMC operated autonomously in a democratic way and the horizontal and leading extension system, which aspects the human rights, were very much effective in fostering the cooperative organization of forest owners for improvement of private forest management.

• Asia-Pacific Journal of Business Venturing and Entrepreneurship
• /
• v.19 no.1
• /
• pp.119-133
• /
• 2024

As a result of significant investments by the government in promoting public technology commercialization and fostering a venture startup ecosystem, there have been quantitative achievements, such as the registration of over 1,600 Innopolis Start-ups since 2006, generating a total revenue of 1.1 trillion won as of 2021. However, these achievements have been overshadowed by critical qualitative challenges, including a continuous decline in average revenue per Innopolis Start-up. This led to a focus on whether managers' technological and market orientations affect business performance. This study aims to provide insights into improving the qualitative growth of Innopolis Start-ups by analyzing the effects of technological and market orientations on business performance, as well as the moderating effects of adjusting marketing and research and development (R&D) costs on this relationship. Through prior research and empirical analysis, this study derives three main findings. First, technological excellence and innovation significantly influence the business performance of Innopolis Start-ups, while technological intensity does not. Second, customer orientation and competitive orientation significantly impact business performance, whereas entry barriers as a single factor do not. Third, adjusting marketing and R&D costs, as controlled variables obtained through general situations, has no direct impact on other variables. However, it interacts with entry barriers, influencing financial business performance, with R&D costs exhibiting a negative buffering effect and marketing costs showing a positive enhancing effect. This study confirms that both technological and market orientations directly influence the business performance of Innopolis Start-ups, thus being crucial factors affecting their growth. Moreover, it establishes that investments in marketing and R&D play significant roles in alleviating initial entry barriers and enhancing financial performance. Consequently, it underscores the importance of reinforcing technological and market orientations tailored to the characteristics of Innopolis Start-ups. Additionally, it proposes five theoretical contributions: strengthening institutional support systems for technology commercialization and innovation, improving qualitative evaluation criteria during the selection process of Innopolis Start-ups, conducting comprehensive analyses of technological and market aspects during startup selection, enhancing support for marketing education and consulting for smooth market entry, and supporting expenditure strategies and milestone setting tailored to the industrial characteristics of individual Innopolis Start-ups.