• The Journal of Health Technology Assessment
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• v.6 no.2
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• pp.123-132
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• 2018

Objectives: Maternal morbidity and mortality are important healthcare issues. However there have been few studies on cost of illness (COI) from maternal disorders. This study aimed to estimate the COI due to maternal disorders in Korea. Methods: By reviewing previous studies and consulting expert we determined the scope of maternal disorders. We operationally defined maternal disorders as maternal hemorrhage, maternal sepsis, hypertensive disorders of pregnancy, obstructed labor, and abortion for maternal disorders. The reference period of this study is the year 2015. Main source of data were the National Health Insurance Service claims data, cause of death statistics from the Korea National Statistical Office, and the Korea Health Panel study. We classified the total costs into direct and indirect costs. The direct costs cover healthcare costs and non-healthcare costs. The indirect costs consist of productivity losses due to morbidity and premature death. Results: The cost of maternal disorders in 2015 was 229.7 billion won. The direct and indirect costs of maternal disorders were 165.2 billion won and 64.5 billion won respectively. The largest cost item for maternal disorders was healthcare cost (138.3 billion won, 60.2%). By age groups, the COI in 30-39 years old women were the highest (165.1 billion won, 71.9%). Abortion was the disorder with the highest COI among maternal disorders (71.9 billion won, 31.3%). Conclusion: The COI due to maternal disorders in Korea is quite substantial. Economic burden of maternal disorder increased when being compared with the year 2012 data despite the continued low birth rate in Korea. Therefore, it is necessary to continuously monitor the social costs of the maternal disorders in Korea.

• Journal of Obesity & Metabolic Syndrome
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• v.27 no.4
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• pp.238-247
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• 2018

Background: We aimed to estimate the proportion of patients with diabetes who achieved target glycemic control, to estimate diabetes-related costs attributable to poor control, and to identify factors associated with them in the United Arab Emirates. Methods: This retrospective cohort study used administrative claims data handled by Abu Dhabi Health Authority (January 2010 to June 2012) to determine glycemic control and diabetes-related treatment costs. A total of 4,058 patients were matched using propensity scores to eliminate selection bias between patients with glycosylated hemoglobin (HbA1c) <7% and HbA1c ${\geq}7%$. Diabetes-related costs attributable to poor control were estimated using a recycled prediction method. Factors associated with glycemic control were investigated using logistic regression and factors associated with these costs were identified using a generalized linear model. Results: During the 1-year follow-up period, 46.6% of the patients achieved HbA1c <7%. Older age, female sex, better insurance coverage, non-use of insulin in the index diagnosis month, and non-use of antidiabetic medications during the follow-up period were significantly associated with improved glycemic control. The mean diabetes-related annual costs were $2,282 and $2,667 for patients with and without glycemic control, respectively, and the cost attributable to poor glycemic control was $172 (95% confidence interval [CI], $164-180). The diabetes-related costs were lower with mean HbA1c levels <7% (cost ratio, 0.94; 95% CI, 0.88-0.99). The costs were significantly higher in patients aged ${\geq}65$ years than those aged ${\leq}44$ years (cost ratio, 1.45; 95% CI, 1.25-1.70). Conclusion: More than 50% of patients with diabetes had poorly controlled HbA1c. Poor glycemic control may increase diabetes-related costs.

• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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• v.85 no.2
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• pp.165-174
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• 2022

Background: One goal of the End tuberculosis (TB) Strategy is to see no TB-affected households experiencing catastrophic costs. Therefore, it is crucial for TB-elimination programs to identify catastrophic costs and their main drivers in order to establish appropriate health and social measures. This study aimed to measure the percent of catastrophic costs experienced by Egyptian TB patients and to identify its determinants. Methods: We conducted a prospective cohort study with 151 Egyptian TB patients recruited from two chest dispensaries from the Cairo governate from May 2019 to May 2020. We used a validated World Health Organization TB patient-cost tool to collect data on patients' demographic information, household income, and direct and indirect expense of seeking TB treatment. We considered catastrophic TB costs to be total costs exceeding 20% of the household's annual income. Results: Of the patients, 33% experienced catastrophic costs. The highest proportion of the total came in the pre-treatment stage. Being the main breadwinner, experiencing job loss, selling property, and the occurrence of early coronavirus disease 2019 lockdown were independent determinants of the incidence of catastrophic costs. Borrowing money and selling property were the most-often reported coping strategies adopted. Conclusion: Despite the availability of free TB care under the Egyptian National TB Program, nearly a third of the TB patients incurred catastrophic costs. Job loss and being the main breadwinner were among the significant predictors of catastrophic costs. Social protection mechanisms, including cash assistance and insurance coverage, are necessary to achieve the goal of the End TB Strategy.

• Journal of the Korean Dietetic Association
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• v.1 no.1
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• pp.54-65
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• 1995

Commissary school foodservice system has been expanded rapidly in elementary foodservices in Korea. Therefore, it is essential that cost effectiveness should be assessed by comparing between alternative systems. The objectives of this study were to assess the effects on meal costs of foodservice systems and other school characteristics in terms of meal costs/day per 1 person ; to examine financial management practices and dietitians' perception concerning importance of school foodservices financial management. A total of 16 commissary schools in nationwide and 102 conventional schools at Chungnam province and Seoul were participated in this survey by mails. The results are as follows 1. Average meal costs per one person was 1,232.6 won evaluated on the standards of monthly budget basis on June, 1994. Average food costs per one person was 836.1 won(67.83%), average labor cost was 320.1 won(25.97 %) and operation costs was 76.3 won(6.2 %). 2. Average meal costs per one person did not show any significant difference between commissary and conventional foodservice schools. Meal costs of the island type and the rural type were significantly higher than those of the urban type. Meal costs of schools in Chungnam and other province were higher than schools in Seoul. The schools with less than 200 feeding numbers were higher than the schools more than 201 in meal costs per one person. 3. Food costs per one person were higher in the urban type, especially in Seoul, as the scale of feeding number increased. Labor costs and operational costs were increased in island type as well as in the schools of small feeding numbers. 4. Foodservice teachers, not dietitians were in charge of foodservice duties at the 75 % of satellites. Dietitians participated in the satellite foodservice duties were only averaged at 2.19 visits per month of 20 feeding days. 5. Items which influenced by food costs per person at the step of foodservice production were purchasing method, the perception of inventory, the distributor for foodservice, and usage of standardized recipes.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.42 no.3
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• pp.190-198
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• 2009

Objectives : The objective of this study is to estimate the economic costs of cancer on society. Methods : We estimated the economic burden of people with cancer in South Korea. To perform the analysis, we reviewed the records of people who were cancer patients and those who were newly diagnosed with cancer. The data was compiled from the National Health Insurance Corporation, which included the insurance claims database, a list of cancer patients, a database that records the cancer rates, the Korea Central Cancer Registry Center s cancer patient registry database and the Korea National Statistical Office s causes of death database. We classified the costs as related to cancer into direct costs and indirect costs, and we estimated each cost. Direct costs included both medical and non-medical care expenses and the indirect costs consisted of morbidity, mortality and the caregiver's time costs. Results : The total economic costs of cancer in South Korea stood at 14.1 trillion won in 2005. The largest amount of the cost 7.4 trillion won, was the mortality costs. Following this were the morbidity costs (3.2 trillion won), the medical care costs (2.2 trillion won), the non-medical care costs (1.1 trillion won) and the costs related to the caregiver's time (100 billion won). As a result, the economic cost of cancer to South Korea is estimated to be between 11.6 trillion won to 14.1 trillion won for the year 2005. Conclusions : We need to reduce the cancer burden through encouraging people to undergo early screening for cancer and curing it in the early stage of cancer, as well as implementing policies to actively prevent cancer.

• Journal of Korea Trade
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• v.26 no.5
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• pp.23-38
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• 2022

Purpose - This research intends to find out whether R&D cost stickiness shows differentiated aspects depending on exports in Korea. A cost behavior that indicates a lower rate of costs decrease when sales decrease than the rate of costs increase when sales increase is called cost stickiness. This sticky cost behavior is caused by considering the adjusting costs. This study aims to empirically verify that R&D cost stickiness is greater in export firms than in non-export firms. We also investigate the effect of exports on R&D cost stickiness is nonlinear. Design/methodology - We obtain data for the analysis from Kis-Value and TS2000 from 2012 to 2020. This study tests for R&D cost stickiness of exports using the cost stickiness model developed by Anderson et al. (2003) that is used in a lot of prior literature. To explore the nonlinear behavior of R&D cost stickiness we include a quadratic term of exports in our model. Findings - The results of our analysis are as follows. First, we observed that R&D costs of export firms are more sticky than that of non-export firms. Our result indicated that export firms are less likely to reduce R&D costs in decreasing sales periods in preparation for future sales recovery. Second, our empirical evidence shows that export firms view R&D costs much favorably. However, we hypothesize that the effect of export intensity on R&D costs may not necessarily be linear. Our result shows the effect of exports intensity on R&D stickiness is thus nonlinear, forming a reverse U-shaped curve. When export intensity exceeds a certain threshold, the growth rate of R&D costs appears to be viewed negatively. Firms with relatively high export intensity do not support R&D costs, viewing them as taking away firms' resources from other more productive costs. On the contrary, those with export intensity under the threshold view R&D costs as beneficial and therefore promote further R&D costs when revenue decreases. Originality/value - The results of this research can contribute academically to the expansion of empirical research on R&D cost stickiness. R&D cost stickiness varies by industry. As a result of our research, the managers of export firms recognize the importance of R&D to lead innovation. We expected that this research contributes to further studies on R&D costs and cost stickiness. Second, this research has implications from a business perspectives. Our findings of export firms' R&D stickiness suggest that export firms' managers should consider keeping the stickiness of R&D when revenue decreases because it is essential for exporting firms to maintain their R&D stickiness to secure long-term competitiveness. R&D stickiness can be used on a practical basis to emphasize the need for continuous investment in exporting firms' R&D activities.

• Journal of the Korea Institute of Building Construction
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• v.5 no.1 s.15
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• pp.97-103
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• 2005

Building costs means capital costs which include cost of land, costs of acquiring and preparing the site, construction costs, professional fees, furnishings, cost of financing the project. and cost of management required to run and maintenance the building for use. There are several phases that determine the building costs : design phase, construction phase, and operation & maintenance phase. So, the cost of work could be set against the examining the full range of complexities that a building program might contain. To solve this problem, it needs to compute building cost systematically. This is still in the development stage, awaiting the organization of rational cost data base. The method of cost saving by cost control could be constituted by detailed knowledge of building costs for all possible combinations of components and subsystems that can be assembled into integration model of cost factor on each phase of project development. The model of cost saving in each building phase is available for procedures of cost control of building systems.

• Proceedings of the Technology Innovation Conference
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• 1996.12a
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• pp.63-76
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• 1996

This study investigates the factors determining accounting method for R & D costs (capitalize vs. expense) in Korea. Using agency theory and other economic factors, probit and regression models have been developed to distinguish between firms choosing different accounting alternatives for R&D costs. The results are consistent to debt contract, R&D burden and regulation hypotheses both in probit and regression analysis. The size variable has opposite sign in univariate t-test and probit analysis but the signs are mixed and insignificant in regression which may be due to the differences of political environment between Korea and the US. Generally, the results are consistent to those of previous research. The results support the hypothesis that firms with higher leverage and larger burden of R&D costs are more likely to capitalize R&D costs. Partially, larger and regulated firms are more likely to expense R & D costs.

• Journal of Energy Engineering
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• v.11 no.1
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• pp.47-58
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• 2002

This paper presents a new method for the evaluation of avoided generation costs. Unlike conventional load decrement method, it exactly considers forced outage rate and economic loading order of IPPs (Independent Power Producers). Therefore we can provide exact generation avoided costs of IPPs by the developed method. Because probabilistic simulation is conducted in this method, effects on the costs of IPPs are exactly considered. Also we suggest an allocation method of avoided generation costs by participation factor. In the case studies we have shown avoided generation costs considering loading order and forced out-age rate by using this method.

• Journal of the Korean Professional Engineers Association
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• v.9 no.3
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• pp.8-19
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• 1976

A set of study has been made on the table of vehicle running costs, officially used by Korean government, in view to clarifay the relative value of costs composition characteristic and reduction rate due to road surface improvement. The amount of vehicle running costs in Korea and of the components, has been compared, with the corresponding value of the USA, Japan, France, Great Britain and Italy. Findings are briefly summerized : vehicle running costs have been found to be generally much expensive in Korea than the four developed countries except Italy; and significant differences have been also found on the pattern of savings for components of vehicle running costs presumable by pavement construction on road surface, between two countries, Korea and the USA.