• Archives of Plastic Surgery
• /
• v.48 no.6
• /
• pp.660-669
• /
• 2021

Background The demand for aesthetic procedures continues to grow globally, particularly in East Asian countries. The popularity of specific aesthetic procedures varies, however, depending on the particular East Asian geographical region being studied. This study aimed to evaluate the experiences of and attitudes toward aesthetic procedures in five East Asian countries/regions, including China, Japan, South Korea, Hong Kong, and Taiwan. Methods To recruit participants, an online questionnaire was designed and distributed on social media networks between May 2015 and March 2016. The statistical analysis was conducted using SPSS software, version 22.0. Results A total of 3,088 people responded (approximately 600 in each country/region). Of these, 940 participants (47.8%) responded that they had experienced at least one aesthetic procedure in the past. Taiwan had the highest number of participants who had experienced at least one procedure (264/940, 41%), with primarily non-surgical experiences. Only in South Korea did surgical cosmetic experiences exceed non-surgical cosmetic experiences (55.9% vs. 44.1%). The popularity of particular procedures and the motivation for undergoing aesthetic procedures varied by country. Conclusions The popularity of aesthetic procedures continues to evolve. Similar trends were observed across the East Asian regions; however, each country had its unique demands and preferences. The information provided by this study can help aesthetic plastic surgeons further understand the patients in their corresponding region, customize their practice, and develop the requisite skills.

• Asia-Pacific Journal of Business
• /
• v.7 no.2
• /
• pp.61-76
• /
• 2016

This study aims to establish ways of how languages are used as determination factors for investment decisions among Asian countries where used languages are diversified. According to the analysis result, language segmentation of the investing country increases investment whereas the language segmentation of the invested countries is analyzed as the decreasing factor of investment. Also, it is analyzed that the further the linguistic distance between the investing country and the invested country the more investment increases. In the aspects of approached language distance and investment time selection, along with the increased linguistic distance, the elasticity to foreign direct investment is apprehended to be more flexible than other forms of investment. Such result shows the more segmented the languages of the targeted invested country the more investment cost will increase and therefore the results in linguistic distance can be explained as diversification of the invested country and the result to the forming of bridgehead at the invested area.

• East Asian Economic Review
• /
• v.18 no.2
• /
• pp.111-142
• /
• 2014

We examine whether country fundamentals help explain the cross-section of currency excess returns. For this purpose, we consider fundamental variables such as default risk, foreign exchange rate regime, capital control as well as interest rate in the multi-factor model framework. Our empirical results show that fundamental factors explain a large part of the cross-section of currency excess returns. The zero-intercept restriction of the factor model is not rejected for most currencies. They also reveal that our factor model with country fundamentals performs better than a factor model with usual investment-style factors. Our main empirical results are based on 2001-2010 balanced panel data of 19 major currencies. This paper may fill the gap between country fundamentals and practitioners' strategies on currency investment.

• Korean Journal of Organic Agriculture
• /
• v.19 no.spc
• /
• pp.111-114
• /
• 2011

Construction of the Asian Network for Sustainable Organic Farming Technology (ANSOFT) will be cooperatively administered by the public researchers in 12 Asian member countries from 2010 to 2012. ANSOFT will bring forward multiple reports, which will be constantly renewed by the member countries, regarding environmental issues, plant and landscape protection techniques, regulations and policies of each country's government on an organic agriculture, and natural resources such as organic seeds and biological agents.

• The Journal of Asian Finance, Economics and Business
• /
• v.8 no.4
• /
• pp.21-32
• /
• 2021

This paper aims to investigate the relationship between country-level institutional quality and public debt in the context of Pakistan. The hypotheses of this study were assessed by using the country-level institutional quality data for Pakistan throughout the years from 1996 to 2018. Data came from the World Databank, IMF and Worldwide Governance Indicators databases. For the analysis, ordinary least square, quantile regression and robust regression were employed to assess the factors influencing the public debt. The results of this study indicate that the factors of voice and accountability, regulatory quality, and control of corruption have a positive and significant relationship with public debt, while political stability, government effectiveness, and the rule of law have a negative and significant effect on public debt. Based on the findings, a weak country-level institutional quality poses a substantial market risk as it signals the existence of an unfavorable economic condition that raises public debt. It was also revealed that an improved performance of country-level institutional quality can lead to the improvement of financial market transparency, hence reduce public debt. In contrast to previous studies, the present study will be breaking ground in enhancing public insight regarding the impact of country-level institutional quality on Pakistan's public debt.

• The Journal of Asian Finance, Economics and Business
• /
• v.9 no.9
• /
• pp.283-289
• /
• 2022

Public investment is the process of investing capital in projects that serve national interests and thereby create a driving force for economic development in each country. Especially in developing countries, investment capital is limited, so improving the efficiency of public investment becomes a decisive factor for economic development and enhancing the country's status and ultimately making the country a should be rich. Vietnam has a low starting point, has gone through the doi moi process, and has gradually become a middle-income country, and public investment is attracting attention to improve the quality of the country's infrastructure. The objective of this study is to evaluate the factors affecting the effectiveness of public debt management in Vietnam, through a survey of 150 experts with knowledge of public investment and public debt management, using the results of the estimation through the Using SPSS software, the research results show that the monitoring system and human resource quality have an impact on the effectiveness of public debt management. The study could not, however, discover any proof of the influence of institutional quality, geographic location, or accountability on the effectiveness of public debt management. The research also addresses several policy recommendations for Vietnam that would help the country manage its public debt better in the future.

• Journal of Environmental Policy
• /
• v.2 no.2
• /
• pp.41-63
• /
• 2003

CDM(Clean Development Mechanism) project is said to be a mechanism, which profits both the investing country and the host country, while additionally contributing to the reduction of greenhouse gases of the earth as a whole. However in reality, most of the proposed projects do not end up in agreement because of the problems related to differences in recognition between the investing country and the host country of the CDM project. This outlines the background for this research which proposes a new design of institutional arrangements of CDM projects in the Northeast Asian region, mainly Japan, China and Korea. In addition, we investigate the feasibility of the proposed design. The research firstly focuses on the reduction in transaction costs that the participation of Korea will have on a Japan-China CDM project. This paper further emphasizes the potential gains that would materialize if a CDM project involved the whole Northeast Asian region, and not only one country. Our research suggests that an approximate reduction of 23% in transaction costs, and about 4% reduction in the total costs of a CDM project can be expected to follow the Korean participation. In addition to decreasing costs we find that a Korean involvement in a CDM project with Japan will lead to efficiency gains illustrated by a higher increase in the IRR(Internal rate of return) in a Japan-Korea project(11.45% to 12.21%) compared to an IRR incresement of 10.57% to 11.27% for a pure Japanese CDM project. Similar results of a rise in the IRR is found for the whole investment period of 20 years. We can hence conclude that Korean participation in a Japan-China CDM project would improve the implementation possibilities of CDM project in the Northeast Asia region.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
• /
• v.24 no.11
• /
• pp.1629-1636
• /
• 2011

Global pork markets are becoming more competitive, riding the wind of the bilateral free trade agreement. China is the world's largest pork producer with nearly 50% of the world's total production. China's fast growing economy has provided its people with higher purchasing power, resulting in a rapid expansion of the Chinese swine industry over the past decades. Worldwide, China consumes the greatest amount of pork and it is believed that this trend will continue. Japan is the world's largest pork importing country, even though it also produces a lot of pork. The Japanese swine industry encounters weighty obstacles in production costs and environmental limitations which result in reduced domestic supply and creates the situation in which Japan has to import a significant amount of pork for their consumption. South Korea is also a large buyer of pork, with a status greatly influenced by the struggle that the country has faced with Foot and Mouth Disease (FMD) which occurred in 2000, 2002 and 2010. High production costs, low production efficiency, and forced culling following the FMD outbreak resulted in the loss of many hog farming households in the country, reducing supply of domestic pork in the face of continued demand. Overall, pork production in these economically important countries can greatly impact the industry globally. The goal of this review paper is to describe pork production in China, Japan, and South Korea and discuss these countries' role in global pork export markets.

• STI Policy Review
• /
• v.6 no.2
• /
• pp.54-86
• /
• 2015

The study examines the U.S. Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program, with a focus on the recent Reauthorization, and compares, in the political context, the U.S. and East Asian countries-Japan, Korea and Taiwan-that adopted the U.S. SBIR program. For the systematic analysis and cross-country comparison, the study employs Kingdon (2003)'s framework-his political theory and Garbage Can Model-to identify political participants and processes underlying the SBIR Reauthorization and to analyze the differences in problem, policy, and politics streams between the U.S. and East Asian countries. For the cross-country comparison, specifically, the study uses various data sources such as OECD, Global Entrepreneurship Monitor, Hofstede's Cultural Dimensions, and World Value Survey. Based on the analysis outcomes, implications of U.S. practices on East Asian countries are extracted as follows. East Asian countries tend to: Have higher entrepreneurial aspiration while lower entrepreneurial activity and attitude than the U.S.; bear higher long term orientation and uncertainty avoidance while lower individualism than the U.S.; and have greater expectations of technology development and higher confidence in political parties while participating less in political action than the U.S. Drawing on the differences, the following policy recommendations are suggested. East Asian countries should: Improve entrepreneurs' access to resources (in particular, financial resource) in order to link their high entrepreneurial aspiration to actual entrepreneurial activities; cultivate failure-tolerating culture and risk-taking entrepreneurs, for instance, by providing a second chance to SBIR-participating businesses that failed to materialize their innovative ideas; and leverage their high expectations of new technology in order to take bold actions regarding their SBIR programs, and update the programs by drawing out constructive dialogues between SBIR stakeholders.

• East Asian Journal of Business Economics (EAJBE)
• /
• v.4 no.1
• /
• pp.16-21
• /
• 2016

This study analyzed the successful case of Naver LINE's entry into the Japanese market. LINE pursued a strategy of establishing its dominance early on and implemented localization for Japan and thereby achieved success in the Japanese market. The various strategies adopted by LINE allowed it to win over 80% of the market share in Japan and function as a nationally ubiquitous mobile messenger. The conclusions to be drawn from our LINE analysis is that LINE must implement localization strategies suited to the characteristics of each country, as it had done successfully in Japan. In the Asian region, it should retain the platform that provides various contents while pursuing a localization strategy to secure competitive edge, by offering emoticons suitable for each country, such as Ramadan emoticons in Islamic regions.