• Journal of the Economic Geographical Society of Korea
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• v.10 no.3
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• pp.344-353
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• 2007

Business incubators (BIs) could be regarded as an effective mechanism for linking research and industry to inspire technology and knowledge based entrepreneurship and innovation of start-up SMEs. The performance of BIs for small and medium enterprises (SMEs) innovation should be differentiated in accordance with the technology capacity of SMEs, the national entrepreneurial culture and characters in each economy. Therefore, the research intended to categorize BIs in the selected 10 APEC member economies into four types by investigating the issue of member economies' strategies, functions and characteristics in various focused programs.

• East Asian Economic Review
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• v.17 no.1
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• pp.3-25
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• 2013

This paper evaluates whether the proposed FTAAP is a desirable policy option for APEC member economies and the world economy. More specifically, this paper qualitatively investigates whether the FTAAP satisfies conditions for a trade bloc to generate positive and sufficient net trade creation effect. In addition, this paper estimates the likely impact of the FTAAP by using a CGE model analysis. From the qualitative analysis based on statistical data, this paper strongly argues that the FTAAP can be a desirable regional trade bloc able to generate positive gains from freer trade. From the ex-ante scenario analysis using both static and capital accumulation CGE Models, this paper concludes that the FTAAP has great potential for improving welfare of participating APEC economies and will boost economic growth in the region. In particular, the FTAAP would be even better if it can be linked with liberalization of trade in services and enhanced trade facilitation.

• Journal of Information Technology Applications and Management
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• v.12 no.2
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• pp.79-106
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• 2005

This study, by adopting case study methodology, is focused on examining the present state and analyzing the cause of the digital divide, and suggesting policies for bridging the divide, specifically in view of SMEs. We have taken cases of manufacturing companies, visiting and interviewing 18 SMEs in 10 APEC member economies which show sharp difference in usage of ICT. In order to analyze the digital gap among SMEs, we used 5 variables that are composed of computer hardware, computer software, Internet, readiness of ICT, and performance of ICT adoption, while categorizing the cases into low and high tier based on the national ICT index. From a computer hardware perspective, the high tier (0.66) has almost double the number of PC’s per employee, compared with the low tiers (0.34). This gap can be explained by financial availability of low income and high tariff in the developing economies. In the computer software perspective, the SMEs in the low tier had some restrictive use of computer applications such as financial and accounting management and document management, while those in the high tier enjoyed more diversity in the use of applications such as inventory management, sales management, financial and accounting management, procurement management, CRM, and ERP. In view of the readiness of ICT, the difference in ICT infrastructure and financial status between the low and high tier was far wider than any other variables. As a result of ICT adoption, SMEs benefited in view of learning and growth, internal business processes, customer service, and financial affairs. To effectively bridge the digital divide between the low and high tier, actions such as setting up a secondary market of used computers among cooperating developed and developing countries, developing and diffusing good business applications, and building speedy, low-cost telecommunication infrastructures should be taken.