• KDI Journal of Economic Policy
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• v.38 no.4
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• pp.45-76
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• 2016

This paper measures the extent to which South Korea participated in global value chains (GVCs) from 1995 through 2011 and scrutinizes the consequences of such participation on the Korean economy. To this end, the World Input Output Database is utilized to calculate GVC income, GVC employment, and value-added exports created by Korean and foreign industries. Our findings show that Korea radically internationalized its production activities during the sample period, widening the gap between gross exports and value-added exports. We also document that Korea's participation in GVCs has changed the value-added and employment structures in domestic industries in accordance with their comparative advantages while exacerbating the degree of wage inequality.

• Journal of Korea Trade
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• v.25 no.7
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• pp.41-55
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• 2021

Purpose - This paper empirically investigates the relationship between the Economic Complexity Index (ECI) and the level of development. Moreover, this research attempts to discover the determinants of ECI in the globalization wave. Design/methodology - Our empirical model considers the relationship between ECI and the level of development in middle- and high-income economies from 1995 to 2010 by using systemic qualitative analysis, including OLS, fixed-effects, and system GMM. Next, this research used OLS regression to find the determinants of ECI. In particular, we compared the effects of different factors on ECI in the different development stages. Findings - Our main findings can be summarized as follows: 1. If the ECI increases by 1, it could lead to an increase of about 30% in the level of development in middle- and high-income economies. 2. Human capital plays an important role in the development of and increase in ECI. 3. GVC participation and outflow FDI enhance an increase in ECI, in particular in middle-income economies. 4. The development of manufacturing industries is helpful to increase ECI; however, middle-income economies should pay more attention to their comparative advantage industries. 5. R&D has positive effects on the ECI. Originality/value - To the best of our knowledge, this is the first paper that uses systemic qualitative analysis to investigate the relationship between ECI and the level of development. The paper provides suggestions for policy makers to increase ECI under the current wave of globalization, in particular in middle-income economies.

• Asia-Pacific Journal of Business Venturing and Entrepreneurship
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• v.15 no.6
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• pp.55-65
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• 2020

The purpose of this study is to empirically analyze the factors that affect start-up activities at the national level. Unlike most existing research about entrepreneurship at the individual level, this empirical analysis makes use of the total early-stage entrepreneurial activity(TEA) index at national level. This was developed by the Global Entrepreneur Monitor (GEM) as the measure for the degree of entrepreneurship of the countries. Based on the previous studies, not only national income level and unemployment rate, but also other factors including the cultural characteristics of the countries were included in our regression model. Using GEM's panel data, we found that the effectiveness of the factors depends on the stage of economic development. In particular, we found 'U-shape' relationship between the level of per capita income and entrepreneurship activity by the panel regression analysis using quadratic function. This analysis result can explicitly confirm what the existing literature have explained descriptively. Furthermore, the governmental support programs are shown to have significantly positive effects on the entrepreneurship or start-up activities in the factor-driven and efficiency-driven economies. On the contrary, those programs were not very helpful in the innovative economies. Lastly, this research suggests that the 'education and training' and the 'entrepreneurial culture' be the supportive norm for new business regardless of the economic development level.