• Journal of the Korea Convergence Society
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• v.10 no.3
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• pp.185-192
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• 2019

Polymer materials are used in a wide variety of fields such as automobiles, aerospace, energy, IT, and as well as simple household products. Despite high interest in the technological convergence of polymer materials for the sustaining progress, there have been only limited analyzes on the topic. This research attempted to analyze the types of convergence and the level of technology in the polymer materials field. For this purpose, we collected patent information from the PCT database and implemented a co-classification analysis. The research shows that Japan and Korea have more section-level convergence whilst US and Europe focus on field-level convergence. In terms of the quality measured by patent activity, patent competitiveness, and patent effect, Korean convergence technologies seem to be inferior to those of other countries.

• Korea Trade Review
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• v.41 no.2
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• pp.97-121
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• 2016

This study evaluates industrial competitiveness of 34 industries in the 41 countries in terms of several trade indices such as value-added RCA(VRCA) and value added intra-industry trade(VIIT). Conclusions are as follows: First, China is still showing week evidence to replace or overtake Korea in terms of VRCA. Second, it is not supportive of the assertion that the gap between Japan and South Korea had widened in the 1995-2011 period. Third, Korea's exports pattern in the manufacturing sector has shifted from the one featured by developing countries(re-exportation of final goods produced using imported intermediate inputs) to that of the developed (exportation of intermediate goods). According to dynamic panel analysis regressing the RCA gap on the IIT gap, intermediate-goods RCA and the market share gap, the estimated coefficient of the gap between value-added IIT and gross IIT is 0.253 and statistically significant at the 2% level. This implies that increases in IIT or intermediate-goods trade to sustain the global competitiveness are the main reasons for the gap between value-added RCA and gross RCA.

• KDI Journal of Economic Policy
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• v.26 no.2
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• pp.249-280
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• 2004

This paper analyzes the industrial growth of Korea in the 1990s and its relationship with the nation's export performance. The result shows that total factor productivity (TFP) played a significant role in the growth of some industries, where in particular a sharp increase in TFP was observed in the electrics and electronics industry and the automobile industry in the late 1990s. While CEPII RCA indexes for the Korean industries such as IT industry and automobile industry significantly increased since 1998, only limited evidence was found that TFP or TFI influenced RCA. Investigating Korea's export performance in the Northeast Asian context, this paper shows that, in the 1990s, the growth of Korea's exports to Japan was led by industries that recorded relatively fast growth in total factor input (TFI). In contrast, that to China was almost equally contributed by industries that experienced relatively fast growth in TFP or TFI. This paper also investigates competition between Korea and China, and Korea and Japan in the world market. The competition between Korea and China was relatively stronger for the Korean industries to whose growth TFI made a more significant contribution. While no decisive evidence is found for the relationship between TFP growth in Korean industries and their competition against Japan in the world market, it is revealed that the competition between Korea and Japan became less intense for the Korean industries to whose growth TFI made a stronger contribution. In this regard, the paper supports the view of 'nut-cracking' that the Korean economy has lost its competitiveness in the sectors where it maintained comparative advantage, but failed to catch up more advanced countries such as Japan by gaining competitiveness in more capital or technology intensive sectors.

• International Commerce and Information Review
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• v.15 no.4
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• pp.27-46
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• 2013

The objective of this study is to analyze the export performance of Korean eyewear products in China market, and derive some implications from the results of the analysis. For the analysis, the statistical data from 2003 to 2013 produced by Korea International Trade Association were used, and Market Share Index, Trade Specialization Index, and Revealed Comparative Advantage Index as an analyzing method were selected. According to the analysis, Korea's eyewear goods market share in China's glasses market was less than 5% on average during the analyzing period amid recording chronic deficits in Korea's eyewear commodities trade to China and by product, contact lenses were competitive, while eyeglass frames, eyeglasses, eyeglass lenses and sunglasses were not competitive. The suggestions for revitalizing Korea's eyewear products exports to the China market are as follows: First, Korea's glasses industry must enhance the ability to develop creative and distinctive product design to meet the needs of Chinese consumers. Second, to meet Chinese consumers preferences, Korea's glasses industry must actively produce new materials and functional products. Third, Korea's glasses industry must improve brand awareness through the continuous launch of new products for the Chinese market. Fourth, Korea's glasses industry must actively promote strategic alliances with domestic and foreign enterprises, and the Hallyu marketing. Fifth, Korea's glasses industry must reasonably improve the unusual products distribution system. Finally, The government must prepare a systematic support system for eyeglasses industry.