• Title/Summary/Keyword: Economic feasibility analysis

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A Study on the Verification of an Indoor Test of a Portable Penetration Meter Using the Cone Penetration Test Method (자유낙하 콘관입시험법을 활용한 휴대용 다짐도 측정기의 실내시험을 통한 검증 연구)

  • Park, Geoun Hyun;Yang, An Seung
    • Journal of the Korean GEO-environmental Society
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    • v.20 no.2
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    • pp.41-48
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    • 2019
  • Soil compaction is one of the most important activities in the area of civil works, including road construction, airport construction, port construction and backfilling construction of structures. Soil compaction, particularly in road construction, can be categorized into subgrade compaction and roadbed compaction, and is significant work that when done poorly can serve as a factor causing poor construction due to a lack of compaction. Currently, there are many different types of compaction tests, and the plate bearing test and the unit weight of soil test based on the sand cone method are commonly used to measure the degree of compaction, but many other methods are under development as it is difficult to secure economic efficiency. For the purpose of this research, a portable penetration meter called the Free-Fall Penetration Test (FFPT) was developed and manufactured. In this study, a homogeneous sample was obtained from the construction site and soil was classified through a sieve analysis test in order to perform grain size analysis and a specific gravity test for an indoor test. The principle of FFPT is that the penetration needle installed at the tip of an object put into free fall using gravity is used to measure the depth of penetration into the road surface after subgrade or roadbed compaction has been completed; the degree of compaction is obtained through the unit weight of soil test according to the sand cone method and the relationship between the degree of compaction and the depth of the penetration needle is verified. The maximum allowable grain size of soil is 2.36 mm. For $A_1$ compaction, a trend line was developed using the result of the test performed from a drop height of 10 cm, and coefficient of determination of the trend line was $R^2=0.8677$, while for $D_2$ compaction, coefficient of determination of the trend line was $R^2=0.9815$ when testing at a drop height of 20 cm. Free fall test was carried out with the drop height adjusted from 10 cm to 50 cm at increments of 10 cm. This study intends to compare and analyze the correlation between the degree of compaction obtained from the unit weight of soil test based on the sand cone method and the depth of penetration of the penetration needle obtained from the FFPT meter. As such, it is expected that a portable penetration tester will make it easy to test the degree of compaction at many construction sites, and will lead to a reduction in time, equipment, and manpower which are the disadvantages of the current degree of compaction test, ultimately contributing to accurate and simple measurements of the degree of compaction as well as greater economic feasibility.

Feasibility of Tax Increase in Korean Welfare State via Estimation of Optimal Tax burden Ratio (적정조세부담률 추정을 통한 한국 복지국가 증세가능성에 관한 연구)

  • Kim, SeongWook
    • 한국사회정책
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    • v.20 no.3
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    • pp.77-115
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    • 2013
  • The purpose of this study is to present empirical evidence for discussion of financing social welfare via estimating optimal tax burden in the main member countries of the OECD by using Hausman-Taylor method considering endogeneity of explanatory variables. Also, the author produced an international tax comparison index reflecting theoretical hypotheses on revenue-expenditure nexus within a model to compare real tax burden by countries and to examine feasibility of tax increase in Korea. As a result of the analysis, the higher the level of tax burden was, the higher the level of welfare expenditure was, indicating the connection between high burden and high welfare from the aspect of scale. The results also indicated that the subject countries recently entered into the state of low tax burden. Meanwhile, Korea had maintained low burden until the late 1990s but the tax burden soared up since the financial crisis related to the IMF. However, due to the impact of foreign economy and the tax reduction policy, it reentered into the low-burden state after 2009. On the other hand, the degree of social welfare expenditure's reducing tax burden has been gradually enhanced since the crisis. In this context, the current optimal tax burden ratio of Korea as of 2010 may be 25.8%~26.5% of GDP based on input of welfare expenditure variables, a percent that Korea was investigated to be a 'high tax burden-low ITC' country whose tax increase of 0.7~1.4%p may be feasible and that the success of tax system reform for tax increase might be higher probability when compare to others. However, measures of increasing social security contributions and consumption tax were analyzed to be improper from the aspect of managing finance when compared to increase in other tax items, considering the relatively higher ITC. Tax increase is not necessarily required though there may be room for tax increase; the optimal tax burden ratio can be understood as the level that may be achieved on average when compared to other nations, not as the "proper" level. Thus, discussion of tax increase should be accompanied with comprehensive understanding of models of economic developmental difference from nations and institutional & historical attributes included in specific tax mix.

The Contribution of Innovation Activity to the Output Growth of Emerging Economies: The Case of Kazakhstan

  • Smagulova, Sholpan;Mukasheva, Saltanat
    • Journal of Distribution Science
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    • v.10 no.7
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    • pp.33-41
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    • 2012
  • The purpose of this study is to analyse the state of the energy industry and to determine the efficiency of its functioning on the basis of energy conservation principle and application of innovative technologies aimed at improving the ecological modernisation of agricultural sectors of Kazakhstan. The research methodology is based on an integrated approach of financial and economic evaluation of the effectiveness of the investment project, based on calculation of elasticity, total costs and profitability, as well as on comparative, graphical and system analysis. The current stage is characterised by widely spread restructuring processes of electric power industry in many countries through introduction of new technical installations of energy facilities and increased government regulation in order to enhance the competitive advantage of electricity market. Electric power industry features a considerable value of creating areas. For example, by providing scientific and technical progress, it crucially affects not only the development but also the territorial organisation of productive forces, first of all the industry. In modern life, more than 90% of electricity and heat is obtained by Kazakhstan's economy by consuming non-renewable energy resources: different types of coal, oil shale, oil, natural gas and peat. Therefore, it is significant to ensure energy security, as the country faces a rapid fall back to mono-gas structure of fuel and energy balance. However, energy resources in Kazakhstan are spread very unevenly. Its main supplies are concentrated in northern and central parts of the republic, and the majority of consumers of electrical power live in the southern and western areas of the country. However, energy plays an important role in the economy of industrial production and to a large extent determines the level of competitive advantage, which is a promising condition for implementation of energy-saving and environmentally friendly technologies. In these circumstances, issues of modernisation and reforms of this sector in Kazakhstan gain more and more importance, which can be seen in the example of economically sustainable solutions of a large local monopoly company, significant savings in capital investment and efficiency of implementation of an investment project. A major disadvantage of development of electricity distribution companies is the prevalence of very high moral and physical amortisation of equipment, reaching almost 70-80%, which significantly increases the operating costs. For example, while an investment of 12 billion tenge was planned in 2009 in this branch, in 2012 it is planned to invest more than 17 billion. Obviously, despite the absolute increase, the rate of investment is still quite low, as the total demand in this area is at least more than 250 billion tenge. In addition, industrial infrastructure, including the objects of Kazakhstan electric power industry, have a tangible adverse impact on the environment. Thus, since there is a large number of various power projects that are sources of electromagnetic radiation, the environment is deteriorated. Hence, there is a need to optimise the efficiency of the organisation and management of production activities of energy companies, to create and implement new technologies, to ensure safe production and provide solutions to various environmental aspects. These are key strategic factors to ensure success of the modern energy sector of Kazakhstan. The contribution of authors in developing the scope of this subject is explained by the fact that there was not enough research in the energy sector, especially in the view of ecological modernisation. This work differs from similar works in Kazakhstan in the way that the proposed method of investment project calculation takes into account the time factor, which compares the current and future value of profit from the implementation of innovative equipment that helps to bring it to actual practise. The feasibility of writing this article lies in the need of forming a public policy in the industrial sector, including optimising the structure of energy disbursing rate, which complies with the terms of future modernised development of the domestic energy sector.

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Consistency in the Basic Plan on Electricity Demand and Supply and Social Costs (전력수급기본계획의 정합성과 사회적 비용)

  • LEE, Suil
    • KDI Journal of Economic Policy
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    • v.34 no.2
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    • pp.55-93
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    • 2012
  • In Korea, energy policies are actualized through various energy-related plans. Recently, however, as high-ranking plans, which are very vision-oriented, continually set higher sector-by-sector goals, subordinate action plans, which require consistency, encounter distortions in their establishment process. Also, each subordinate action plan reveals limitations in terms of securing flexibility of the plan in responding to uncertainties of the future. These problems pose potential risks such as causing huge social costs. In this regard, with an aim to provide empirical evidence for discussions on improving the procedure for developing and executing Korea's energy plans, this study mainly analyzes the Basic Plan on Electricity Demand and Supply-one of the most important subordinate action plans-in order to explain the problems of the Basic Plan in a logical manner, and potential problems that could occur in the process of sustaining consistency between the Basic Plan and its higher-ranking plans. Further, this paper estimates the scale of social costs caused by those problems assuming realistic conditions. According to the result, in the case of where maximum electric power is estimated to be 7% (15%) less than the actual amount in the Basic Plan on Electricity Demand and Supply, the annual generation cost will rise by 286 billion won and (1.2 trillion won) in 2020. Such social costs are found to occur even when establishing and executing the Basic plan according to the target goal set by its higher-ranking plan, the National Energy Master Plan. In addition, when another higher-ranking GHG reduction master plan requires the electricity sector to reduce emissions by additional 5% in the GHG emissions from the right mix in electricity generation with 'zero' cost of carbon emission, the annual generation cost will rise by approximately 915 billion won in 2020. On the other hand, the analysis finds that since economic feasibility of electric powers in Korea varies significantly depending on their type, Korea is expected to face very small potential social costs caused by uncertainties over the future price of carbon dioxide in the process of establishing the Basic Plan.

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Arsenic Removal Using Iron-impregnated Ganular Activated Carbon (Fe-GAC) of Groundwater (철침착 입상활성탄(Fe-GAC)을 이용한 지하수 내 비소 제거기술)

  • Yoon, Ji-Young;Ko, Kyung-Seok;Yu, Yong-Jae;Chon, Chul-Min;Kim, Gyoo-Bum
    • Economic and Environmental Geology
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    • v.43 no.6
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    • pp.589-601
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    • 2010
  • Recently it has been frequently reported arsenic contamination of geologic origin in groundwater. The iron-impregnated ranular activated carbon (Fe-GAC) was developed for effective removal of arsenic from groundwater n the study. Fe-GACs were prepared by impregnating iron compounds into a supporting medium (GAC) with 0.05 M iron nitrate solution. The materials were used in arsenic adsorption isotherm tests to know the effect of iron impregnation time, batch kinetic tests to understand the influence of pH, and column tests to evaluate for the preliminary operation of water treatment system. The results showed that the minimum twelve hours of impregnation time were required for making the Fe-GAC with sufficient iron content for arsenic removal, confirmed by a high arsenic adsorption capacity evaluated in the isotherm tests. Most of the impregnated iron compounds were iron hydroxynitrate $Fe_4(OH)_{11}NO_3{\cdot}2H_2O$ but a mall quantity of hematite was also identified in X-ray diffraction(XRD) analysis. The batch isotherms of Fe-GAC for arsenic adsorption were well explained by Langmuir than Freundlich model and the iron contents of Fe-GAC have positive linear correlations on logarithmic plots with Freundlich distribution coefficients ($K_F$ and Langmuir maximum adsorption capacities ($Q_m$. The results of kinetic experiments suggested hat Fe-GAC had he excellent arsenic adsorption capacities regardless of all pH conditions except for pH 11 and could be used a promising adsorbents for groundwater arsenic removal considering the general groundwater pH range of 6-8. The pseudo-second order model, based on the assumption that the ate-limiting step might be chemisorption, provided the best correlation of the kinetic experimental data and explained the arsenic adsorption system f Fe-GAC. The column test was conducted to valuate the feasibility of Fe-GAC use and the operation parameters in arsenic groundwater treatment system. The parameters obtained from the column test were the retardation actor of 482.4 and the distribution coefficient of 581.1 L/mg which were similar values of 511.5-592.5 L/mg acquired from Freundlich batch isotherm model. The results of this study suggested that Fe-GAC could be used as promising adsorbent of arsenic removal in a small groundwater supply system with water treatment facility.

An Efficient Estimation of Place Brand Image Power Based on Text Mining Technology (텍스트마이닝 기반의 효율적인 장소 브랜드 이미지 강도 측정 방법)

  • Choi, Sukjae;Jeon, Jongshik;Subrata, Biswas;Kwon, Ohbyung
    • Journal of Intelligence and Information Systems
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    • v.21 no.2
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    • pp.113-129
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    • 2015
  • Location branding is a very important income making activity, by giving special meanings to a specific location while producing identity and communal value which are based around the understanding of a place's location branding concept methodology. Many other areas, such as marketing, architecture, and city construction, exert an influence creating an impressive brand image. A place brand which shows great recognition to both native people of S. Korea and foreigners creates significant economic effects. There has been research on creating a strategically and detailed place brand image, and the representative research has been carried out by Anholt who surveyed two million people from 50 different countries. However, the investigation, including survey research, required a great deal of effort from the workforce and required significant expense. As a result, there is a need to make more affordable, objective and effective research methods. The purpose of this paper is to find a way to measure the intensity of the image of the brand objective and at a low cost through text mining purposes. The proposed method extracts the keyword and the factors constructing the location brand image from the related web documents. In this way, we can measure the brand image intensity of the specific location. The performance of the proposed methodology was verified through comparison with Anholt's 50 city image consistency index ranking around the world. Four methods are applied to the test. First, RNADOM method artificially ranks the cities included in the experiment. HUMAN method firstly makes a questionnaire and selects 9 volunteers who are well acquainted with brand management and at the same time cities to evaluate. Then they are requested to rank the cities and compared with the Anholt's evaluation results. TM method applies the proposed method to evaluate the cities with all evaluation criteria. TM-LEARN, which is the extended method of TM, selects significant evaluation items from the items in every criterion. Then the method evaluates the cities with all selected evaluation criteria. RMSE is used to as a metric to compare the evaluation results. Experimental results suggested by this paper's methodology are as follows: Firstly, compared to the evaluation method that targets ordinary people, this method appeared to be more accurate. Secondly, compared to the traditional survey method, the time and the cost are much less because in this research we used automated means. Thirdly, this proposed methodology is very timely because it can be evaluated from time to time. Fourthly, compared to Anholt's method which evaluated only for an already specified city, this proposed methodology is applicable to any location. Finally, this proposed methodology has a relatively high objectivity because our research was conducted based on open source data. As a result, our city image evaluation text mining approach has found validity in terms of accuracy, cost-effectiveness, timeliness, scalability, and reliability. The proposed method provides managers with clear guidelines regarding brand management in public and private sectors. As public sectors such as local officers, the proposed method could be used to formulate strategies and enhance the image of their places in an efficient manner. Rather than conducting heavy questionnaires, the local officers could monitor the current place image very shortly a priori, than may make decisions to go over the formal place image test only if the evaluation results from the proposed method are not ordinary no matter what the results indicate opportunity or threat to the place. Moreover, with co-using the morphological analysis, extracting meaningful facets of place brand from text, sentiment analysis and more with the proposed method, marketing strategy planners or civil engineering professionals may obtain deeper and more abundant insights for better place rand images. In the future, a prototype system will be implemented to show the feasibility of the idea proposed in this paper.

Development of Single-span Plastic Greenhouses for Hot Pepper Rainproof Cultivation (고추 비가림재배용 단동 비닐하우스 개발)

  • Yu, In Ho;Lee, Eung Ho;Cho, Myeong Whan;Ryu, Hee Ryong;Moon, Doo Gyung
    • Journal of Bio-Environment Control
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    • v.22 no.4
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    • pp.371-377
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    • 2013
  • The government has been carrying out a project for supporting the rain shelter for hot pepper as part of measures stabilizing the demand and supply of hot pepper since 2012. However, the eaves height of single-span plastic greenhouses extensively used in farms is low, which are inappropriate for the rainproof cultivation of hot pepper. This study attempted to develop single-span plastic greenhouses which are structurally safe and have the dimensions suitable for the rainproof cultivation of hot pepper as well. The structure status of plastic greenhouses and restructuring wishes of 56 rainproof cultivation farms nationwide were investigated to set up the width and height of the plastic greenhouses. 53% of the plastic greenhouses currently in operation had a width of under 7 m and 64% of their eaves had a height of 1.5 m or less, which accounted for the highest rate. Mostly the width of 7.0 m was desired for the greenhouses and the height of 2.0 m for their eaves, so these values were chosen as the dimensions for the singlespan plastic greenhouses. After an analysis of their structural safety while changing the specifications of the rafter pipe in various ways, 5 kinds of models were suggested considering the frame ratio and installation costs. The 12-Pepper-1 model is a developed single-span plastic greenhouse for hot pepper in which a ${\emptyset}42.2{\times}2.1t$ rafter pipe is installed at an interval of 90cm and the models of 12-Pepper-2 through 5 are the other developed ones in which a ${\emptyset}31.8{\times}1.5t$ rafter pipe is installed at intervals of 60 cm, 70 cm, 80 cm and 90 cm, respectively. As a result of an analysis of economic feasibility of 12-Pepper-2 compared to 10-Single-3 in the notification of the Ministry for Food, Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, it turned out that there would be an increase in profits by about 1.2 million won based on one building of a greenhouse sized 672 $m^2$.

Analysis of Heating Characteristics of Multi-Layered Insulation Curtain with Silica Aerogel in Greenhouses (실리카 에어로겔을 이용한 다겹보온커튼의 온실 난방 특성 분석)

  • Jin, Byung-Ok;Kim, Hyung-Kweon;Ryou, Young-Sun;Lee, Tae-Seok;Kim, Young-Hwa;Oh, Sung-Sik;Kang, Geum-Choon
    • Journal of Bio-Environment Control
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    • v.29 no.4
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    • pp.320-325
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    • 2020
  • This study aimed to analyze thermo-keeping and economic feasibility by utilizing silica aerogel, which has been attracting attention as a new material, complementing the disadvantages of the conventional multi-layered thermal screen, and producing and installing multi-layered thermal screen. The multi-layered thermal screen used in the experiment was produced in two combinations using a non-woven fabric containing silica aerogel and measured and compared the temperature and fuel consumption changes due to differences in practice with the multi-layered thermal screen being sold and used on the market. Experimental results show that the temperature and relative humidity changes due to the differences of the multi-layered thermal screens in the single-span greenhouse and the multi-span greenhouse were small but remained almost the same temperature and relative humidity. It is judged that this shows that the multi-layered thermal screen using silica aerogel is not inferior to the conventional multi-layered thermal screen. As a result of a comparative analysis of heating energy, the aerogel-based multi-layered thermal screen reduced fuel consumption by about 15% in the single-span greenhouse and about 20% in the multi-span greenhouse compared to the conventional multi-layered thermal screen. It is clear that heating energy is saved as a greenhouse size and duration increase. It was found that the silica aerogel-based multi-layered screen was more breathable and warmer than the conventional multi-layered thermal screen, but It was found that the multi-layered screen used in the multi-span greenhouse was heavier and stiff compared with the conventional multi-layered thermal screen, indicating less workability and operability. Therefore, improvements were applied to the multi-layered screens used in the single-span greenhouses. It was confirmed that the replacement of internal insulation materials reduced thickness and improved stiffness so that there could be sufficient possibility for farmers to use.

A Study on Development and Site selection of an AIRFIELD (경비행장 개발 및 입지선정에 관한 연구)

  • Park, Sang-Yong
    • The Korean Journal of Air & Space Law and Policy
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    • v.30 no.2
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    • pp.3-36
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    • 2015
  • As of end of 2014, the population engaging in aviation activities for leisure has reached approximately 13 million, where approximately 356 cases involve a general aircraft, 200 cases involve light aircraft, and 636 cases involve an ULM. The industry for leisure has become a very promising industry in line with rapidly rising living standards which are expected to further increase in the future. The demand for such services is expected to increase over time. The purpose of this paper is to review the development and site selection of airfields in anticipation of these developments in the industry. While the government also has experience in the review of airfield location and candidate sites, it is not the government that carries out the actual construction. As such, the feasibility of the site needs to be verified in terms of actual construction. This study identified factors for Site Selection of factors through a review of related documents and existing research reports. A questionnaire was also used to collect the views of experts in the field, which was then analyzed. The Research model was confirmed in the layered form for an AHP analysis. The factors for Site Selection were identified as the technical / operational factors and economic / political elements for a two-stage configuration. The third step consisted of technical and operational elements. The final step is was constructed a total of 11 elements (weather, surface conditions, obstacle limitation surface, airspace conditions, operating procedures, noise problems, environmental issues, availability of facilities, construction and investment costs, contribution to the local economy, accessibility, demand / the proximity of demand). The surveys are conducted for more than 10 General and light aircraft pilots, professionals, and instructor. The analysis results showed a higher level in the technical / operating elements (73.2%) in the first step, while the next step sawa higher level of the operational elements (30.9%) than the other. The factors for Site Selection were any particular elements did not appear high, the weather conditions (17.5%), noise problems (19.8%), the proximity of demand (6%), accessibility (5.7%), environmental issues (11.1%), availability of facilities (8%), airspace conditions (7.9%), obstacle limitation surface (12%), construction and investment costs (4.2%) and to operating procedures (4.9%), contribution to the local economy (3.8%).

A Study on the Locational Decision Factors of Discount Stores : The Case of Cheonan (종합슈퍼마켓의 입지 결정 요인에 관한 연구 : 천안상권을 중심으로)

  • So, Jang-Hoon;Hwang, Hee-Joong
    • Journal of Distribution Science
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    • v.10 no.5
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    • pp.37-44
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    • 2012
  • In this paper, we investigate several factors that affect the locational decision of discount stores by using previous studies on the marketing area and the location of commercial facilities. We selected 21 primary variables that are expected to influence the decision of store location and, by factor analysis, grouped them into five underlying factors. Among these, the demographic factor, which shows the potential purchasing power level, had the greatest impact on the locational decision for the store. However, we found individual stores positioned according to unique locational characteristics in addition to the demographic factor. It means that we have to additionally consider if the vicinity of the market is based on any physical properties. Many previous studies proposed four decision factors for store location: the economic factor, the demographic factor, the land utilization factor, and traffic factor. However, the fivefold factors-our distinctive contribution-are more concrete and persuasive according to Korean reality. We show that location preference is based on the following criteria: (1) the area is densely populated, (2) houses stand close together, (3) residents have a high income level, (4) road traffic is developed and easy to access, and (5) public transportation is well developed. The demographic factor has the greatest impact on the location of a discount store. The number of households has a greater relevance to the demographic factor than does the individual consumer. Second, discount stores relatively prefer places where houses are located close together because such places offer easy access to the market. Third, a place whose residents have a high income level will be preferred, with its large cars and excellent traffic conditions. Fourth, a location would be highly rated if the roads around commercial facilities are well developed and their accessibility is good. Finally, discount stores must be located close to bus stops because female consumers, including housewives-the most important customers-evaluate stores based on distance. In this research, the variable of consumer attitude and preference was excluded, and the location factors of discount stores were analyzed according to a microscopic view through physical spatial data. In the future, the opening of new discount stores based on the five factors indicated above will require a comparatively shorter time from the first project feasibility analysis. In addition, the result of our study can be applied to the field of public policy for constructing and attracting large-scale distribution facilities.

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