• Journal of Environmental Policy
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• v.5 no.2
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• pp.1-26
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• 2006

This paper reveals Material Flow Analysis(MFA) has the possibility of reconciling the two contending theoretical viewpoints(weak sustainability v.s. strong sustainability) and thereby makes the concept of sustainability useful at operational level. For this purpose, this paper shows that the theoretical logic of MFA can be applied from national level to product level (EW-MFA, PIOT/NAMEA, LCI), and investigates the meanings and policy implications of MFA at each level.

• The Journal of the Korea Contents Association
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• v.14 no.10
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• pp.514-526
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• 2014

The predominant concern of the study consist of: (1) whether Chinese young people think Korean Wave would lasts; (2) the direct effect of viewing degree of Korean contents on the sustainability of Korean Wave; (3) the mediation effect of liking for Korean Wave and receptiveness to foreign cultural inflow on that sustainability; (4) the moderating effect of sense of rivalry between Korean and China. The research is based on a survey conducted with 371 chinese people between high teen and early 30's, located in Guilin of Guangxi and Zhengzhou of Henan in China. The notable findings are as follow: While the group with strong rivalry does not have a direct effect of viewing degree on the sustainability for Korean Wave, the group with weak rivalrous sense and higher viewing degree of Korean contents predict shorter sustainability of Korean Wave, therefore, the moderating effect of sense of rivalry between Korea and China is significant .Next, liking for Korean Wave shows a full mediating effect among Chinese with weak rivalry and a partial mediating effect among them with strong rivalry. The mediating effect of receptiveness to foreign cultural inflow is non-significant.

• Journal of the Korean Geographical Society
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• v.39 no.1
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• pp.70-87
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• 2004

This paper is to conceptualize 'new urbanization' on the basis of a certain possibility of 'sustainable urbanization' in the capitalist society, while admitting some criticism on its possibility. For this purpose, first of all, this paper points out some economic and environmental difficulties in the Fordist regime of accumulation and the developmentalist strategies which have promoted the modem urbanization in the industrial society. Then, this paper examines the concept of 'sustainable development' which has been suggested to manage such problems in modem industrial cities, and explores its limitation that the application of this concept has been usually confined to some ex post facto - that is, weak sustainable development - strategies to resolve urban environmental problems. Finally, in order to overcome these problems both of developmentalism and of weak sustainable development, this paper conceptualize strong sustainable development for new urbanization and suggest urban environmental strategies for strong sustainable cities.

• Proceedings of the Korea Water Resources Association Conference
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• 2023.05a
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• pp.394-394
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• 2023

The world's sustainable growth is being severely hampered by the inefficient use of water resources. Despite the widely acknowledged importance of trade in global and regional water and food security, societal reliance on local production as well as international trade remains inadequately assessed. Therefore, using South Korea as a case study, this study fills in this research gap by applying the virtual water concept, the logarithmic mean divisia index (LMDI) method, and the Tapio decoupling model. The virtual water concept was used to estimate South Korea's net virtual water trade for major grain crops from 1992 to 2017. Then, the LMDI method was utilized to assess the driving factors causing changes in net virtual water trade. Lastly, the Tapio decoupling model was used to investigate the decoupling relationships between economic growth and the driving factors of net virtual water trade. Results showed that South Korea remains a net importer of virtual water flows with respect to grain crops, with an average import of 16,559.24 million m³ over the study period. In addition, the change in net virtual water trade could be attributed to water intensity effect, product structure effect, economic effect, and population effect. However, water intensity and economic effects were the major decisive factors for decrease and increase in net virtual water trade respectively, while the population and product structure effects had minor positive influences on the net virtual water trade. Furthermore, water intensity and economic growth showed a strong decoupling in most periods, while the decoupling state between product structure and economic growth was observed as expansive negative decoupling. Likewise, population size and economic growth showed a weak decoupling in most periods. The results reveal South Korea's status as it concerns the virtual water trade of grain crops, thus providing valuable insights into the sustainability of trade activities for the management of local water resources.

• Journal of Distribution Science
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• v.14 no.6
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• pp.75-80
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• 2016

Purpose - A growing demand for sustainability reporting has placed pressure on firms with non-financial information that affects firm valuation, growth, and development. In particular, a number of researchers have investigated various topics in Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), non-financial information. Prior studies suggest that CSR may affect corporate outcomes like corporate reporting, financial performance, and disclosures. However, the results from prior studies are not clear whether CSR affects corporate outcomes. This is partially due to the measurement issues with CSR. In this study, we examine whether CSR affects the quality of corporate reporting, one of the popular measures in corporate outcomes. We find an evidence that CSR positively affects the quality of corporate reporting. Research design, data, and methodology - In this study, we collected a unique dataset of CSR from MSCI. Total 169 firms listed in the Korean Stock Exchange from 2011 to 2014 were collected and analysed with the detailed CSR reports. Using a correlation test, we found a weak association between CSR and the quality of corporate reporting. However, the regression tests provided a strong relationship between CSR and the quality of corporate reporting after controlling for other variables that may affect the quality of corporate reporting. Additionally, we calculated the t-statistics based on heteroskedaticity-consistent standard errors (White, 1980). Results - Before we run the regression test, we sort the measures of the two dependent variables into each rating of CSR (from AAA to CCC). The results indicate that the quality of corporate reporting measured by discretionary accruals and performance-matched discretionary accruals monotonically decrease as the CSR ratings increase. This supports our hypothesis. In the regression tests, the coefficient on MJDA (PMDA) is -0.183 (-0.173) and significant at the 5% level. We can interpret the results as CSR affecting the quality of corporate reporting in positive ways. Other coefficients on control variables are consistent with prior studies. For example, the coefficients on both LOSS and LEV are positive and significant at conventional level, meaning that firms with financial difficulty may harm their quality of corporate reporting. Conclusion - We found an evidence that CSR is positively associated with the quality of corporate reporting. This study contributes to the literature in various ways. First, this study extends the line of CSR research by providing additional evidence in the setting of ethical behaviors by managements. This is consistent with the hypothesis and supports the results of prior studies. Second, to the best of my knowledge, this is the first study using the MSCI CSR ratings. In contrast with prior studies using different measures of CSR, the MSCI CSR ratings allow us to provide in-depth analysis. Third, the additional measure of dependent variable (PMDA) allows us to improve the robustness of our results. Overall, the results provided this study to extend the findings in prior studies by providing incremental evidence.