• Korean Journal of Labor Studies
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• v.24 no.3
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• pp.1-34
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• 2018

This paper attempts to provide a new theoretical approach and an empirical analysis based on it to interrogate the structure of household income inequality and its changes in South Korea in the 2010s. Previous research on inequality in sociology, labor economics and feminism has focused on local inequalities which derive from specific spaces of society. For a comprehensive understanding of social inequality in totality, it requires a discussion of global inequality beyond local inequalities. Thus, a synthetic approach that integrates local inequalities, encompassing class, the labor market, population, and family. By using regression-based inequality decomposition, we decompose the contribution of gender, level of education, employment status, occupation, household composition and wealth to household income inequality. This paper shows that household and wealth, as well as the factors discussed in the previous research, are significant factors affecting household income inequality in South Korea.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.51 no.6
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• pp.289-297
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• 2018

Objectives: Obesity is a considerable and growing public health concern worldwide. The present study aimed to quantify socioeconomic inequalities in adult obesity in western Iran. Methods: A total of 10 086 participants, aged 35-65 years, from the Ravansar Non-communicable Disease Cohort Study (2014-2016) were included in the study to examine socioeconomic inequalities in obesity. We defined obesity as a body mass index ${\geq}30kg/m^2$. The concentration index and concentration curve were used to illustrate and measure wealth-related inequality in obesity. Additionally, we decomposed the concentration index to identify factors that explained wealth-related inequality in obesity. Results: Overall, the prevalence of obesity in the total sample was 26.7%. The concentration index of obesity was 0.04; indicating that obesity was more concentrated among the rich (p<0.001). Decomposition analysis indicated that wealth, place of residence, and marital status were the main contributors to the observed inequality in obesity. Conclusions: Socioeconomic-related inequalities in obesity among adults warrant more attention. Policies should be designed to reduce both the prevalence of obesity and inequalities in obesity by focusing on those with higher socioeconomic status, urban residents, and married individuals.

• Asia-Pacific Journal of Business
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• v.12 no.3
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• pp.251-269
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• 2021

Purpose & methodology - This study is to answer the following three questions, analyzing data on Top 50 Indian Billionaires, Top 50 Indian companies and Top 50 Indian start-ups. The first is whether or not traiditonal merchant caste like Vaisya's ability of creating wealth declined as some studies argue. The second is whether non-merchant caste like Brahmin, Kshatriya, OBC, Dalit, emerged as an India's new business elite. The third is whether the results of top 50 Indian companies and top 50 start-ups' analyses have similarities with that of top 50 Indian Billionaires analysis. Findings - The result is firstly, the ability of creating wealth of businessmen from the merchant caste was still overwhelming. Secondly, the big businessmen' rising from non-merchant castes as a new business elite was extremely rare. Thirdly, according to the analysis of top 50 Indian start-ups, the percentage of Vaisya has significantly declined while the the percentage of upper castes like Brahmin has noticeably increased. Fourthly, no evidence was found that businessmen from the lower castes like OBC or Dalit were increasing the expanding business influence. Research implications - The Studies mean that in big-sized Indian companies, the power of traditional merchant caste remains the same as before and is even reinforcing, while in small start-ups, Vaisya's power is considerably decreasing, and the upper castes like Brahmin who are highly educated are noticeably increasing.

• Journal of Environmental Science International
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• v.17 no.3
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• pp.305-314
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• 2008

As forest land takes up 65% of the Korean peninsula, there have been continuing conflicts between the development and conservation of forest land. As the income level has changed over time, the usage of forest land in society has changed. There has been increasing demands for forest land for urban development and recreational use. On the other hand, a large proportion of the land is required to be preserved for the forest and the natural ecosystem in it. The existing management system for the forest land has been designed focusing on the management of the trees on the land, and not the land itself. Due to this limitation, the current management system of forest land has failed to protect the forest land from being developed indiscreetly, making it difficult to conserve and develop the forest land in an efficient way. A major question in forest land management is how to integrate economic use activities with the supporting ecosystems to maximize performance of the ecological-economic system. In order to promote sustainable use of forest resources, and to achieve efficient forest land management, it is prerequisite to evaluation on forest resources of natural ecosystems. Quantitative measures are needed that signify how necessary the services and products of forested ecosystems are to human endeavors. In this study, the natural wealth provided by forest land was quantified based on emergy synthesis. Emergy is a universal measure of real wealth of the work of nature and society made on a common basis. Thus, Calculations of emergy provide a basis for making choices about environment and economy following the general public policy to maximize real wealth. The goals of forest land management to achieve balance between the ecology and economy of its integrated system and to foster equity among the diverse outcomes of the forest land were assessed with emergy. Emergy was demonstrated to holistically integrated and quantify the interconnections of a coupled nature-human system allowing the goals of ecological balance and outcome equity to be measured quantitatively. Doing so will provide a better understanding of the basis of forest land wealth and the consequences of management decisions.

• Journal of Korea Technology Innovation Society
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• v.21 no.4
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• pp.1577-1605
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• 2018

This study analyzes China's technology billionaires. However, this study does not show the accumulating process of wealth in each of the Chinese billionaires, because there are many technology billionaires, but only deals with the macro analysis of the technology billionaire; the pattern of existence, comparison with other industries, the process of wealth creation reflecting China's particularity, and comparison with the world's technology billionaires. The findings of this study are as follows. First, more than 10 billion yuan of Chinese billionaires will emerge from 2004. Second, in the early days, illegal and corruption made rich, but the wealth of own efforts has gradually increased. Third, the real estate and manufacturing billionaires are still strong overall, but the growth of billionaires in technology, medicine and finance industry is remarkable. Fourth, in the case of the top 10 richest, four are from real estate, four from technology, and two from manufacturing and distribution. Most technology billionaires are in Guangdong, Zhejiang, Beijing and Shanghai. The determinants of the number of billionaires are GDP, exchange rate to US Dollar and Shenzen Stock Index, and those of technology billionaire are GDP and exchange rate. Given the relationship with existing theories, this study can be called the fifth type of billionaire research. Conceptually, the main reason for accumulating wealth is the search for policy opportunities, market opportunities and technology opportunities.

• Journal of Korea Trade
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• v.25 no.3
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• pp.21-47
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• 2021

Purpose - Offshoring has emerged as one of the major trends in international trade and has become one of the strategies for achieving competitiveness in the global market. In spite of this, the expected gains of offshoring can be offset by hidden costs and risks, such as those associated with the COVID-19 pandemic, the trade war between the USA and China, and the ongoing trade dispute between Korea and Japan. To obviate such business failure and prevent critical business blunders, offshoring strategies that efficiently consider both risk elements and potential wealth creation are urgently need. The first purpose of this study is to contribute to the development of more advanced offshoring strategies to help host countries select the best locations to manage supply chain risks and create unique value. The second purpose is to specifically analyze the current status of Korea and provide Korean companies with implications to be considered when deciding whether to offshore or re-shore. Design/methodology - A Network DEA model was applied to measure the comparative location efficiency of national competencies for offshoring strategy from perspectives of wealth creation opportunities (profitability and marketability) and supply chain risk management. The location efficiencies are compared among a total 70 countries selected from the Global Competitiveness Index (GCI) and globally attractive locations outlined by Kearney (2017). For the secondary analysis of efficiency, a t-test examining the nature of competitive advantage and the level of sophistication in production processes was implemented in three divisions. We then analyzed differences in offshoring performance in terms of the identified national traits. Moreover, Tobit regression analysis is conducted to investigate the correlation between value-added business activities and each divisional efficiency, seeking to determine how each degree of value-added business activity influences the increase in offshoring productivity. Findings - Regarding overall location efficiency for offshoring performance, only the USA and Italy were identified as being efficient as host countries for offshoring, under circumstances of advanced development, such as productivity and risk management. Korea ranks 13th among 70 countries. The determinants of national competitiveness depend on national traits (the nature of competitive advantage and business sophistication). Countries with labor/resource advantages and labor-intensive industries are more competitive in terms of marketability than others. In contrast, countries with strong technology-intensive industries benefit offshoring companies, particularly in the technology sector, with the added advantage of supply chain risk management. As the perception of a value chain is broader in a country, it can achieve both production sophistication and competitive advantages such as marketability and SCRM. Originality/value - Existing studies focus on offshoring effectiveness from a company perspective. This paper contributes to comparing country efficiency in producing core competencies related to an offshoring strategy and also segments countries into three performance-based considerations associated with the global offshoring market. It also details Korea's position as an offshoring location according to national efficiency and competency.

• Proceedings of the Korean Operations and Management Science Society Conference
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• 1999.04a
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• pp.343-343
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• 1999

• Journal of the Korean housing association
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• v.26 no.2
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• pp.89-101
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• 2015

The purpose of this study is to explore the housing pathways of middle-class married women toward owning a first home. In doing so, an in-depth interview as a qualitative method was conducted, life history was utilized to track down the path to first-home owning, and all the interviews were transcribed for analysis. The research participants were well-educated middle-class full-time housewives owning a home. The findings indicated that family formation through marriage and child birth was a primary driving force to buy a home. It was shown that owning a home was perceived not just as a stepping stone for building both family wealth and social capital but as one of the most important pillars to reinforcing traditional family values. In spite of some intergenerational distinctions on the path toward home owning, commonalities across generations included that home owning was considered to be a social icon for middle-class, it became almost impossible for younger generations without parental support which stimulated the intergenerational transfer of wealth, and it was greatly determined by both family income (affordability) and home finance options(borrowing capacity). This research implies that the changing social landscape transforms the value on homeownership and could undermine the socioeconomic strengths of home owning. Nonetheless, it's of importance to strategically assist first homebuyers who are likely to be a member of middle-class.

• Environmental and Resource Economics Review
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• v.13 no.4
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• pp.685-715
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• 2004

This study applies two-choice model to identify the major determinants of NIMBY attitudes when a large-scale composting facility is built around a residential area. Using a survey data of residents in Jeju City, Korea, logit estimation is implemented. The empirical results are consistent with the implication of the specified model: a representative resident's NIMBY attitude is positively (negatively) affected by "Negative Neighborhood Characteristic Variables" ("Positive Wealth Attribute variables"). Socio-demographic variables may be summarized as mostly statistically insignificant, which implies that policy makers may have to take into consideration their region-specific socio-demographic factors instead of simply emulating the policies which have been successful elsewhere.

• Journal of Distribution Science
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• v.15 no.4
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• pp.5-13
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• 2017

Purpose - This research analyzes the effects of Korean family ownership characteristics on firm value. The positive and negative effects of family ownership on Korean firm value were analyzed. If negative effects are evident, this research explores the factors that cause a decrease in firm value. Research design, data, and methodology - The study examined a total of 5,743 companies listed on the Korea Exchange from the period 2002 to 2012 using a panel data regression analysis. Result - An empirical analysis suggests that Korean family ownership diminishes firm value. Korean family firm value has been reduced when controlling shareholders are participated in management and pursue excessive wages, or make the management entrenchment effects associated with ownership-control disparity. When the controlling shareholders of family firms have increasing control rights over the shareholders' general meeting and the directors' board, the agency costs associated with seeking increasing executive wages or private benefits reduce firm value. Conclusions - This study has significance because it reveals the negative effect of family ownership in Korea on firm value. These negative effects can be the result of agency problems from controlling family shareholders seeking excessive wages or ownership-control disparity.