• Korea journal of population studies
• /
• v.20 no.1
• /
• pp.97-128
• /
• 1997

This paper was set out to study the structure of the career occupational mobility in the early and rapid phase of industrialization in Korea. By analyzing the individual life histories regarding occupational mobility and achievement, I propose a model of yearly career mobility of Korean men and Women during the period of 30 years between 1954 and 1983. With the occupational classification scheme of 5 groups - Upper Nonmanual, Lower Nonmanual, Self Employed, Manual, Farm - the mobility pattern in the person-year mobility table analyzed can be characterized primarily by the strong influence of immobility. The degree of immobility, however, is different by the occupational groups. The absolute amount of immobility can be summarized as being U-shaped. Overall, the pattern of mobility can be explained best by the concept of occupational distance. I then propose a model of relative career occupational mobility pattern that combines the conceptual and theoretical basis and the methodological rigor. The model is based on the notion of the reproduction of inequality, the labor market context, and the life history perspective. The model encompasses the 6 conceptual explanatory factors such as persistence effect, ceiling effect, traditional sector effect, nonmanual occupation effect, alternative mobility channel effect, and occupational distance effect, as well as the effects of both origin and destination occupations. The relative pattern of career mobiliity in Korea can be characterized by the following six findings. First, the persistence effect on the diagonal cells of the mobility table is dominant. Second, a clear evidence of the negative effect of occupational distance between nonmanual occupations and manual and farm occupations is found. Third, the out-mobility from farming took place regardless of the destination occupations. Fourth, the internal mobility within the nonmanual occupation block is high and bi-directional, and is exclusive against other occupations. Fifth, the 'self employed' occupation is serving a peculiar function in both inflow and outflow pattern. Last, the relative pattern of career occupation mobility is asymmetrical in terms of the upward and downward mobility.

• Korea journal of population studies
• /
• v.10 no.1
• /
• pp.28-38
• /
• 1987

This paper was set out to study the structure of the career occupational mobility in the early and rapid phase of industrialization in Korea. By analyzing the individual life histories regarding occupational mobility and achievement, I propose a model of yearly career mobility of Korean men and Women during the period of 30 years between 1954 and 1983. With the occupational classification scheme of 5 groups - Upper Nonmanual, Lower Nonmanual, Self Employed, Manual, Farm - the mobility pattern in the person-year mobility table analyzed can be characterized primarily by the strong influence of immobility. The degree of immobility, however, is different by the occupational groups. The absolute amount of immobility can be summarized as being U-shaped. Overall, the pattern of mobility can be explained best by the concept of occupational distance. I then propose a model of relative career occupational mobility pattern that combines the conceptual and theoretical basis and the methodological rigor. The model is based on the notion of the reproduction of inequality, the labor market context, and the life history perspective. The model encompasses the 6 conceptual explanatory factors such as persistence effect, ceiling effect, traditional sector effect, nonmanual occupation effect, alternative mobility channel effect, and occupational distance effect, as well as the effects of both origin and destination occupations. The relative pattern of career mobiliity in Korea can be characterized by the following six findings. First, the persistence effect on the diagonal cells of the mobility table is dominant. Second, a clear evidence of the negative effect of occupational distance between nonmanual occupations and manual and farm occupations is found. Third, the out-mobility from farming took place regardless of the destination occupations. Fourth, the internal mobility within the nonmanual occupation block is high and bi-directional, and is exclusive against other occupations. Fifth, the 'self employed' occupation is serving a peculiar function in both inflow and outflow pattern. Last, the relative pattern of career occupation mobility is asymmetrical in terms of the upward and downward mobility.

• 한국사회정책
• /
• v.25 no.2
• /
• pp.429-446
• /
• 2018

The $4^{th}$ Industrial Revolution, symbolizing the explosive innovation of digital technologies, is expected to have a great impact on labor relations and produce a lot of contested issues. The labor-management issues, created by the $4^{th}$ Industrial Revolution, are as follows: (1) employment restructuring, job re-allocation, and skill-reformation, driven by the technological displacement, resetting of worker-machine relationship, and negotiation on labor intensity and autonomy, (2) the legislation of institutional protection for the digital dependent self-employed, derived from the proliferation of platform-mediated labor, and the statutory recognition of their 'workerness', (3) unemployment safety net, income guarantee, and skill formation assistance for precarious workeforce, (4) the protection of worker privacy from workplace surveillance, (5) protecting labor rights of the digital dependent self-employed and prcarious workers and guaranteeing their unionization and collective bargaining. In comparing how labor unions in Western countries have responded to the $4^{th}$ Industrial Revolution, German unions have showed a strategic approach of policy formation toward digital technological innovations by effectively building and utilizing diverse channel of social dialogue and collective bargaining, while those in the US and UK have adopted the traditional approach of organizing and protesting in attempting to protect the interest of platform-mediated workers (i.e. Uber drivers). In light of the best practice demonstrated by German unions, it is necessary to build the process of productive policy consultation among three parties- the government, employers, and labor unions - at multi levels (i.e. workplace, sectoral and national levels), in order to prevent the destructive damage as well as labor-management confrotation, caused by digital technological innovations. In such policy consultation procesess, moreover, the inclusive and integrated approach is required to tackle with diverse problems, derived from the $4^{th}$ Industrial Revolution, in a holistic manner.

• Journal of Korean Society of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene
• /
• v.4 no.2
• /
• pp.224-239
• /
• 1994

In this study we examined several subjective symptoms in an exposed group and an unexposed group to perchloroethylene. The exposed group consists to 30 workers employed in 23 dry-cleaning establishments located in Chung Cheung Do, whereas the unexposed group consists of 42 officers employed in a certain university. This study was conducted from October, 1993 to March, 1994. Also we investigated personal exposure levels and area concentration of PCE, and performed hematological and biochemical examination in blood and urine samples from the exposed group. The results are : 1. The exposed group highly complains several subjective symptoms, particularly in neuropsychiatry, eye, respiratory system and digestive system, compared with the unexposed group. But complaint rates in the exposed group are not related with PCE exposure levels. 2. PCE exposure levels for all dry-cleaning establishment varied widely, from 0.18 to 37.58ppm. The mean exposure level for centers of chain was 16.85ppm, and for local laundries was 8.83ppm, while for self-service establishment it was 3.07ppm. Eighty three percent of the workers were exposed less than the half-level(25.0ppm) of the Korea 50.0ppm standard for eight-hour PCE exposure. Seventeen percent of them exceeded the half-level of the Korea TLV. 3. Statistical correlation exists between the work load(number of operation cycles of equipment and the mass of processed textiles) and the personal exposure levels to be observed. 4. In hematological examination the values of WBC, RBC, Hgb, Hct, MCV, MCH, MCHC and PLT in the exposed group were within normal ranges. In biochemical examination(GOT, GPT, ALP, U-A and LDH) most of the items were within normal ranges. From this surveys conducted on 23 dry-cleaning establishments, the complaint rates of the exposed group to PCE in several subjective symptoms were higher than those of the unexposed group, and PCE exposure levels in all dry-cleaning establishment were below the Koera standard 50.0ppm. In hematological and biochemical examination the significant abnormalities by occupational exposure to PCE were not observed. However, the workers employed in dry-cleaning establishments are always faced with risk, becauses they are also exposed to several organic solvents used to remove stains. Therefore, various measures to improve occupational environment in dry-cleaning establishment should be considered.

• Journal of Distribution Research
• /
• v.17 no.3
• /
• pp.25-57
• /
• 2012

This study identified motives for writing apparel product reviews in online stores, and determined what motives increase the behavior of writing reviews. It also classified store customers based on the type of writing motives, and clarified the characteristics of internet purchase behavior and of a demographic profile. Data were collected from 252 females aged 20s' and 30s' who have experience of reading and writing reviews on online shopping. The five types of writing motives were altruistic information sharing, remedying of a grievance and vengeance, economic incentives, helping new product development, and the expression of satisfaction feelings. Among five motives, altruistic information sharing, economic incentives, and helping new product development stimulate writing reviews. Store customers who write reviews were classified into three groups based on their writing motive types: Other consumer advocates(29.8%), self-interested shoppers(40.5%) and shoppers with moderate motives(29.8%). There were significant differences among three groups in writing behavior (the frequency of writing reviews, writing intent of reviews, duration of writing reviews, and frequency of online shopping) and age. Based on results, managerial implications were suggested. Long Abstract : The purpose of present study is to identify the types of writing motives on online shopping, and to clarify the motives affecting the behavior of writing reviews. This study also classifies online shoppers based on the motive types, and identifies the characteristics of the classified groups in terms of writing behavior, frequency of online shopping, and demographics. Use and Gratification Theory was adopted in this study. Qualitative research (focus group interview) and quantitative research were used. Korean women(20 to 39 years old) who reported experience with purchasing clothing online, and reading and writing reviews were selected as samples(n=252). Most of the respondents were relatively young (20-34yrs., 86.1%,), single (61.1%), employed(61.1%) and residents living in big cities(50.9%). About 69.8% of respondents read and 40.5% write apparel reviews frequently or very frequently. 24.6% of the respondents indicated an "average" in their writing frequency. Based on the qualitative result of focus group interviews and previous studies on motives for online community activities, measurement items of motives for writing after-purchase reviews were developed. All items were used a five-point Likert scale with endpoints 1 (strongly disagree) and 5 (strongly agree). The degree of writing behavior was measured by items concerning experience of writing reviews, frequency of writing reviews, amount of writing reviews, and intention of writing reviews. A five-point scale(strongly disagree-strongly agree) was employed. SPSS 18.0 was used for exploratory factor analysis, K-means cluster analysis, one-way ANOVA(Scheffe test) and ${\chi}^2$-test. Confirmatory factor analysis and path model analysis were conducted by AMOS 18.0. By conducting principal components factor analysis (varimax rotation, extracting factors with eigenvalues above 1.0) on the measurement items, five factors were identified: Altruistic information sharing, remedying of a grievance and vengeance, economic incentives, helping new product development, and expression of satisfaction feelings(see Table 1). The measurement model including these final items was analyzed by confirmatory factor analysis. The measurement model had good fit indices(GFI=.918, AGFI=.884, RMR=.070, RMSEA=.054, TLI=.941) except for the probability value associated with the ${\chi}^2$ test(${\chi}^2$=189.078, df=109, p=.00). Convergent validities of all variables were confirmed using composite reliability. All SMC values were found to be lower than AVEs confirming discriminant validity. The path model's goodness-of-fit was greater than the recommended limits based on several indices(GFI=.905, AGFI=.872, RMR=.070, RMSEA=.052, TLI=.935; ${\chi}^2$=260.433, df=155, p=.00). Table 2 shows that motives of altruistic information sharing, economic incentives and helping new product development significantly increased the degree of writing product reviews of online shopping. In particular, the effect of altruistic information sharing and pursuit of economic incentives on the behavior of writing reviews were larger than the effect of helping new product development. As shown in table 3, online store shoppers were classified into three groups: Other consumer advocates (29.8%), self-interested shoppers (40.5%), and moderate shoppers (29.8%). There were significant differences among the three groups in the degree of writing reviews (experience of writing reviews, frequency of writing reviews, amount of writing reviews, intention of writing reviews, and duration of writing reviews, frequency of online shopping) and age. For five aspects of writing behavior, the group of other consumer advocates who is mainly comprised of 20s had higher scores than the other two groups. There were not any significant differences between self-interested group and moderate group regarding writing behavior and demographics.

• Journal of Distribution Science
• /
• v.8 no.3
• /
• pp.27-35
• /
• 2010

As the population, buying power, and intensity of self-expression of the elderly generation increase, its importance as a market segment is also growing. Therefore, the mass marketing strategy for the elderly generation must be changed to a micro-marketing strategy based on the results of sub-segmentation that suitably captures the characteristics of this generation. Furthermore, as a customer access strategy is decided by sub-segmentation, proper segmentation is one of the key success factors for micro-marketing. Segments or sub-segments are different from sectors, because segmentation or sub-segmentation for micro-marketing is based on the homogeneity of customer needs. Theoretically, complete segmentation would reveal a single voice. However, it is impossible to achieve complete segmentation because of economic factors, factors that affect effectiveness, etc. To obtain a single voice from a segment, we sometimes need to divide it into many individual cases. In such a case, there would be a many segments to deal with. On the other hand, to maximize market access performance, fewer segments are preferred. In this paper, we use the term "sub-segmentation" instead of "segmentation," because we divide a specific segment into more detailed segments. To sub-segment the elderly generation, this paper takes their lifestyles and life stages into consideration. In order to reflect these aspects, various surveys and several rounds of expert interviews and focused group interviews (FGIs) were performed. Using the results of these qualitative surveys, we can define six sub-segments of the elderly generation. This paper uses five rules to divide the elderly generation. The five rules are (1) mutually exclusive and collectively exhaustive (MECE) sub-segmentation, (2) important life stages, (3) notable lifestyles, (4) minimum number of and easy classifiable sub-segments, and (5) significant difference in voices among the sub-segments. The most critical point for dividing the elderly market is whether children are married. The other points are source of income, gender, and occupation. In this paper, the elderly market is divided into six sub-segments. As mentioned, the number of sub-segments is a very key point for a successful marketing approach. Too many sub-segments would lead to narrow substantiality or lack of actionability. On the other hand, too few sub-segments would have no effects. Therefore, the creation of the optimum number of sub-segments is a critical problem faced by marketers. This paper presents a method of evaluating the fitness of sub-segments that was deduced from the preceding surveys. The presented method uses the degree of homogeneity (DoH) to measure the adequacy of sub-segments. This measure uses quantitative survey questions to calculate adequacy. The ratio of significantly homogeneous questions to the total numbers of survey questions indicates the DoH. A significantly homogeneous question is defined as a question in which one case is selected significantly more often than others. To show whether a case is selected significantly more often than others, we use a hypothesis test. In this case, the null hypothesis (H0) would be that there is no significant difference between the selection of one case and that of the others. Thus, the total number of significantly homogeneous questions is the total number of cases in which the null hypothesis is rejected. To calculate the DoH, we conducted a quantitative survey (total sample size was 400, 60 questions, 4~5 cases for each question). The sample size of the first sub-segment-has no unmarried offspring and earns a living independently-is 113. The sample size of the second sub-segment-has no unmarried offspring and is economically supported by its offspring-is 57. The sample size of the third sub-segment-has unmarried offspring and is employed and male-is 70. The sample size of the fourth sub-segment-has unmarried offspring and is not employed and male-is 45. The sample size of the fifth sub-segment-has unmarried offspring and is female and employed (either the female herself or her husband)-is 63. The sample size of the last sub-segment-has unmarried offspring and is female and not employed (not even the husband)-is 52. Statistically, the sample size of each sub-segment is sufficiently large. Therefore, we use the z-test for testing hypotheses. When the significance level is 0.05, the DoHs of the six sub-segments are 1.00, 0.95, 0.95, 0.87, 0.93, and 1.00, respectively. When the significance level is 0.01, the DoHs of the six sub-segments are 0.95, 0.87, 0.85, 0.80, 0.88, and 0.87, respectively. These results show that the first sub-segment is the most homogeneous category, while the fourth has more variety in terms of its needs. If the sample size is sufficiently large, more segmentation would be better in a given sub-segment. However, as the fourth sub-segment is smaller than the others, more detailed segmentation is not proceeded. A very critical point for a successful micro-marketing strategy is measuring the fit of a sub-segment. However, until now, there have been no robust rules for measuring fit. This paper presents a method of evaluating the fit of sub-segments. This method will be very helpful for deciding the adequacy of sub-segmentation. However, it has some limitations that prevent it from being robust. These limitations include the following: (1) the method is restricted to only quantitative questions; (2) the type of questions that must be involved in calculation pose difficulties; (3) DoH values depend on content formation. Despite these limitations, this paper has presented a useful method for conducting adequate sub-segmentation. We believe that the present method can be applied widely in many areas. Furthermore, the results of the sub-segmentation of the elderly generation can serve as a reference for mature marketing.

• The Journal of Korean Academic Society of Nursing Education
• /
• v.7 no.2
• /
• pp.308-322
• /
• 2001

The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between climacteric symptoms and management of menopause of middle -aged women. The subjects of this study were 261 women(40 to 60 years old). Data were collected from Jun. 1 to Jul. 15, 2001 by a structured questionnaire. The instruments employed were : 1) The Climacteric Symptoms Scale developed by Aeri Song and Eun soon Chung(1998). 2) The Management of Menopause Scale developed by Aeri Song(1997). The data were analyzed by the SPSS p.c. program using t-test, ANOVA and Pearson correlation coefficient. The results of the study were as follows : 1. Mean score of climacteric symptoms was $2.18{\pm}0.39$(Maximum 4, Minimum 1). The mean scores among the categories of climacteric symptoms, in descending order, were : a) physical and physiological reactions ($2.62{\pm}0.53$), b) social and family relationships ($2.23{\pm}0.50$), c) psychiatric and psychological reactions ($2.08{\pm}0.49$), d) relationship with sexual partner($1.73{\pm}0.54$), e) genitourinary reactions ($1.72{\pm}0.55$). 2. Mean score of management of menopause was $1.79{\pm}0.45$ (Maximum 4, Minimum 1). The mean scores among the categories of management of menopause, in descending order, were : a) dietary management($2.57{\pm}0.52$), b) self control ($2.24{\pm}0.57$), c) management of exercise and physical activity($2.14{\pm}0.75$), d) management of sex life($1.71{\pm}0.47$), e) management of professional health maintenance($1.61{\pm}0.59$). 3. There were statistically significant differences in the score of middle-aged women's self reported climacteric symptoms according to : a) occupation (t=-2.79, p<0.001) b) marriage state (t=-2.29, p<0.05) c) age of menarche (F=4.66, p<0.001) d) method of Sanhujori (post natal care & treatment) (F=4.22, p<0.001) e) hormone replacement therapy (t=-3.09, p<0.05). From the above statistics, several significant findings were noted : a) There were more climacteric symptoms from those who were unemployed, those who had no partner or were divorced and those who started a menarche earlier. b) There were less climacteric symptoms reported from those on hormone replacement therapy and those who followed their parents or parents-in-law advice regarding Sanhujori (postnatal care) 4. There were statistically significant differences in the score of middle-aged women's self reported management of menopause according to : The educational background (F=7.63, p<0.001), religion (F=3.74, p<0.001), income (F=3.65, p<0.001), number of parity (F=4.87, p<0.001), method of Sanhujori(postnatal care) (F=5.73, p<0.001), period of Sanhujori (postnatal care) (F=2.81, p<0.05), hormone replacement therapy (t=3.81, p<0.001). Women with higher educational background, strong religion, higher income, large number of parity, managed their post natal care well, were on HRT, managed their menopause significantly better than the others who took part in the survey. 5. It will be noted from the above that women's degree of climacteric symptoms showed a negative correlation to the management of menopause(r=-0.2146, p<0.001). The findings shown above suggest the need to develop a variable management of menopause, in order to improve climacteric symptoms of middle-aged women. It is hoped that the above findings will stimulate more detailed research into this matter, and thereby enable guidance to be given to women going through the menopause to cope with it in a less stressful way.

• Management & Information Systems Review
• /
• v.36 no.5
• /
• pp.61-83
• /
• 2017

The purpose of this study is to investigate the mediating effects of psychological empowerment between participative leadership and creative behavior. Especially, it aims to analyze the unidimension and multidimension of psychological empowerment in an integrated manner, and to suggest effective practice of participative leadership together with theoretical and methodological implications. In this study, the dependent variable was measured separately with time lag as a method to solve the common method bias that can be shown by the self-report type survey method, and positive emotions and negative emotions expressing emotional states in job situations were employed as control variables along with rank. A total of 283 questionnaires were collected from employees who work for companies in various industries with more than 300 domestic employees. SPSS PROCESS macro program('model 4') was used for statistical analysis. Results, First, the full mediation effect of psychological empowerment(unidimension) was confirmed in the relationship between participative leadership and creative behavior. Second, the analysis of the multidimension of psychological empowerment revealed the full mediating effect of meaning, self-determination, and impact, and the mediating effect of competence was not significant. Third, as a result of comparing the mediating effects of unidimension of psychological empowerment and the mediating effects of multidimension, the magnitude of mediating effect of unidimension was found to be much greater than mediating effect of multidimension. And The magnitudes of the three multidimensional mediating effects were similar. This is a case in which the motivational model of participative leadership revealed in the overseas study is proven in the domestic management environment and is significant in that it is the basis of future research. Based on the results of the empirical studies, the implications and limitations of the study and future research directions are presented.

• Journal of Korean Dental Hygiene Science
• /
• v.6 no.2
• /
• pp.51-64
• /
• 2023

Background: This study was conducted to determine the association with dual jobbing on dental hygienists' job satisfaction and to identify the factors that lead to dual jobs. Methods: This study was an online survey of 110 currently employed dental hygienists conducted during the month of May 2022. To determine job satisfaction, we used the 20-item Korea-Minnesota Satisfaction Questionnaire (K-MSQ). Survey questions related to dual job were adapted and supplemented from the dual job survey instrument for dental hygienists to identify intention to dual job and future intention to dual job. Descriptive statistics, independent t-test, ANOVA and Scheffe's post hoc analysis, and multiple logistic regression were performed. Results: The dual job rate and future dual job rate of the participants in this study were about 27% and 47%, respectively. The means for Intrinsic job satisfaction, Extrinsic job satisfaction, and job satisfaction were 3.44, 3.15, and 3.36, respectively. It was statistically significant that extrinsic job satisfaction increased with increasing position, and intrinsic job satisfaction, extrinsic job satisfaction, and job satisfaction increased with increasing salary. Those currently working dual jobs cited "self-actualization" as a reason for doing so, and those who intended to work dual jobs in the future cited "not being paid enough in their primary job" as a reason. We found that a one-unit increase in intrinsic job satisfaction and job satisfaction increases the odds of future intention to dual job by about 1.07 and 1.05 times, respectively (p<0.05). Conclusion: This study confirmed the influence of dental hygienists' job satisfaction on intention to dual job and future intention to dual job, and self-actualization was found to be the main factor. Therefore, the consideration of dual jobs in the future will affect the improvement of dental hygienists as professionals and the reduction of turnover through better working conditions.

• Journal of Intelligence and Information Systems
• /
• v.22 no.1
• /
• pp.187-204
• /
• 2016

Document classification based on emotional polarity has become a welcomed emerging task owing to the great explosion of data on the Web. In the big data age, there are too many information sources to refer to when making decisions. For example, when considering travel to a city, a person may search reviews from a search engine such as Google or social networking services (SNSs) such as blogs, Twitter, and Facebook. The emotional polarity of positive and negative reviews helps a user decide on whether or not to make a trip. Sentiment analysis of customer reviews has become an important research topic as datamining technology is widely accepted for text mining of the Web. Sentiment analysis has been used to classify documents through machine learning techniques, such as the decision tree, neural networks, and support vector machines (SVMs). is used to determine the attitude, position, and sensibility of people who write articles about various topics that are published on the Web. Regardless of the polarity of customer reviews, emotional reviews are very helpful materials for analyzing the opinions of customers through their reviews. Sentiment analysis helps with understanding what customers really want instantly through the help of automated text mining techniques. Sensitivity analysis utilizes text mining techniques on text on the Web to extract subjective information in the text for text analysis. Sensitivity analysis is utilized to determine the attitudes or positions of the person who wrote the article and presented their opinion about a particular topic. In this study, we developed a model that selects a hot topic from user posts at China's online stock forum by using the k-means algorithm and self-organizing map (SOM). In addition, we developed a detecting model to predict a hot topic by using machine learning techniques such as logit, the decision tree, and SVM. We employed sensitivity analysis to develop our model for the selection and detection of hot topics from China's online stock forum. The sensitivity analysis calculates a sentimental value from a document based on contrast and classification according to the polarity sentimental dictionary (positive or negative). The online stock forum was an attractive site because of its information about stock investment. Users post numerous texts about stock movement by analyzing the market according to government policy announcements, market reports, reports from research institutes on the economy, and even rumors. We divided the online forum's topics into 21 categories to utilize sentiment analysis. One hundred forty-four topics were selected among 21 categories at online forums about stock. The posts were crawled to build a positive and negative text database. We ultimately obtained 21,141 posts on 88 topics by preprocessing the text from March 2013 to February 2015. The interest index was defined to select the hot topics, and the k-means algorithm and SOM presented equivalent results with this data. We developed a decision tree model to detect hot topics with three algorithms: CHAID, CART, and C4.5. The results of CHAID were subpar compared to the others. We also employed SVM to detect the hot topics from negative data. The SVM models were trained with the radial basis function (RBF) kernel function by a grid search to detect the hot topics. The detection of hot topics by using sentiment analysis provides the latest trends and hot topics in the stock forum for investors so that they no longer need to search the vast amounts of information on the Web. Our proposed model is also helpful to rapidly determine customers' signals or attitudes towards government policy and firms' products and services.