• Korea Trade Review
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• v.46 no.3
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• pp.99-117
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• 2021

Korea's FTA e-commerce regulations are evolving into a standardized norm. However, "location of computing facilities", which was not covered by Korea's existing FTA, was newly established in Korea's first Mega FTA, RCEP. China, a member of RCEP, restricts data movement and requires data localization through its Cybersecurity law. These facts have led to start this study with interest in data-related regulations. It examined country-specific and regulatory characteristics in the process of forming digital trade norms, using the TAPED established by Burri et al. (2020). It also analyzed the current status of introducing norms related to 'data flow', 'data localization' and 'data protection' of the EU, USA and China, which are leading the formation of e-commerce trade norms. Finally, the legal review was conducted to compare the exact meaning of the wording expressed in each agreement for the six recently enacted Mega FTAs and Digital Economic Agreements. These findings are meaningful in that they provided implications for the effectiveness of RCEP and the direction of negotiations on Korea's digital trade norms.

• The Journal of Asian Finance, Economics and Business
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• v.10 no.2
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• pp.183-193
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• 2023

This paper proposes and examines the economic impact of infrastructure improvement on the San-En-Nanshin region in the Chubu area of Japan. We develop a single transportation computable general equilibrium (CGE) model for each subregion within the San-En-Nanshin region. The explicit modeling of the transportation infrastructure is defined based on interregional commuting flows and business trips, considering the spatial structure of the San-En-Nanshin economy. A CGE model is integrated with an interregional transportation network model to enhance the framework's potential for understanding the infrastructure's role in regional development. To evaluate the economic impact of transportation improvement, we analyze the interrelationship between travel time savings and regional output and income. The economic impact analysis under the CGE framework reveals how transportation facilities and systems affect firm and household behavior and therefore induce changes in the production and consumption of commodities and transportation services. The proposed theoretical model was tested by using data from the 2005 IO tables of each subregion and the 2006 transport flow dataset issued by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport, and Tourism in Japan. As a result, the paper confirms the positive effect of transportation investment on the total output and income of the studied region. Specifically, we found that while economic benefits typically appear in urban areas, rural areas can still potentially benefit from transportation improvement projects.

• Informatization Policy
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• v.27 no.3
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• pp.3-18
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• 2020

In the growing digitalized world, the European Union implemented the General Data Protection Regulation(GDPR) to establish a comprehensive data protection framework across member states. Given the constitutional roots of GDPR, the EU's regulatory approach is different than other data protection regimes. The new regulation has strengthened individual rights to data protection, but it also introduced several obligations for businesses that collect and process personal data. We review the existing literature on privacy, particularly GDPR, from a policy perspective. The evidence outlines data regulation's effects on competition, innovation, marketing activities, and cross-border data flows. The discussion highlights the tradeoffs between increased regulation of data protection and its effects on the market.

• Korea Trade Review
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• v.47 no.4
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• pp.233-254
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• 2022

Although there is growing literature evidence of linkages between global value chains (GVCs) and foreign direct investment (FDI), the results are mixed and ambiguous by geographic dimension, time period and sectoral scope. Moreover, bilateral approaches on these connections have been rarely analyzed. In this context, we investigate the effect of bilateral greenfield FDI and cross-border M&A on GVC linkages between host countries and source countries. We match three-year averages of bilateral FDI and UNCTAD-Eora GVC value-added data from 2005 to 2019 between 37 OECD sources and 176 host countries (37 OECD versus 139 non-OECD countries). In the structural gravity model, the empirical specification includes bilateral and country-period fixed effects and uses a Poisson Pseudo-Maximum Likelihood (PPML) estimator. We find that greenfield and M&A FDI promote forward and backward GVC linkage for all sectors between OECD countries, whereas greenfield FDI promotes backward GVC linkage between OECD and non-OECD countries. In addition, the results indicate that the degree of influence of GVCs by FDI flows is greater for forward GVC than backward GVC among OECD countries.

• Journal of Convergence for Information Technology
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• v.11 no.10
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• pp.93-100
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• 2021

With the spread of digital trade, the share of digital trade under the global trade environment is increasing. However, since there is no international digital trade standard, the discussion to establish a new trade rule has important significance. Countries around the world are implementing digital trade policies in consideration of their own interests, but different regulatory policies are causing trade conflicts. In order to provide safeguards against personal information infringement due to the free movement of data across borders, major countries around the world have taken measures to localize data, and the EU has enacted GDPR. And the United States regards the imposition of the digital tax as a trade barrier, and some countries oppose the implementation of the digital tax for fear of negative impact on their countries. However, discussions on the global digital tax, centered on the OECD and the G20 are making progress. As it is highly likely that a digital tax agreement will be drawn up within this year, countermeasures must also be prepared. Therefore, this study presents implications for the future direction of Korea's trade policy by examining recent trends in digital trade norms and analyzing major issues in digital trade.

• Journal of International Area Studies (JIAS)
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• v.13 no.1
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• pp.135-156
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• 2009

The two waves of EU enlargement in 2004 and 2007, have been milestones of European integration. While research has been conducted into the impact of these events on both the European and the global economies,1 there have been few attempts to assess the effects of EU enlargement and the introduction of the euro on countries such as Russia, which neighbour the EU but currently have no perspective of accession. This paper aims to provide an assessment of the effects that EU enlargement and the introduction of the euro have had on Russia, the largest country neighbouring the EU. In particular, it focuses on trade and investment links between the EU and Russia, as well as the use of the energy by Russian residents and authorities. Economic links between Russia and the EU are found to have strengthened considerably in the areas of trade, investment and other financial flows in recent years. Strong growth, particularly in Russia, as well as the high price of oil and gas, Russia's major export items, has facilitated this expansion of trade and finance. Moreover, available data do not suggest that EU enlargement has had a negative impact on Russia in terms of trade or investment diversion. Thus, the strategic partnership between Russia and the EU has been increasingly underpinned by an expansion of cross-border economic activities. Thus, the paper contributes to two broad strands of literature on this subject, namely the impact of regional trade and economic arrangements on non-member countries and the international role of currencies.