• Journal of the Economic Geographical Society of Korea
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• v.14 no.3
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• pp.358-376
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• 2011

This study investigated the agglomeration process of the towel industry in the Daejeon and Chungcheong regions, which are located in the mid-western part of South Korea, focusing in particular on industrial restructuring. Moreover, it aimed to identify the spatial features of the towel industry by analyzing the subcontracting linkages and to discover the implications of such linkages on government policy. The towel industry in the Daejeon and Chungcheong regions began to grow from the end of the Korean War when textile technicians from North Korea settled down in this area, spreading their techniques and know-how within the region. Later, in the 1980s, the industry underwent restructuring when companies within the region strengthened their linkages through corporate specialization based on the concept of social division of labor. Accordingly, the industrial linkages and linkage spaces, as well as characteristics of the industry, should all be considered to develop and implement policies for the regions of the towel industry.

• Journal of the Korean Geographical Society
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• v.42 no.3 s.120
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• pp.434-452
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• 2007

The globalization of the economy has strengthened competition in all industries. Facing an intensely competitive environment, the firm's choice of location is one of the most important strategies in enhancing its competitiveness. This paper aims to examine the locational changes and the spatial restructuring of suppliers firm with regard to modularization and customer diversification which result from the process of assembler's restructuring after the financial crisis. Some experimental findings which have been identified throughout this study can be summarized as follows: First, a number of suppliers has been located in the southern Seoul metropolitan area and northern Chungcheong area. And Hyundai's suppliers has been enlarged in the Seoul metropolitan area and Kia's in the Southeastern area. Second, suppliers who transact with several assemblers(network trade) tend to be more dispersed, but dedicated(exclusive) suppliers are more concentrated on assembly plants. Also it was confirmed that 'JIS(Just In Sequence)' system which is more detailed than 'JIT(Just In Time)'system has been used. Third, it was Prominent that suppliers are internalizing in order to reach economies of scale compare to assemblers are externalizing.

• Journal of the Economic Geographical Society of Korea
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• v.16 no.4
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• pp.597-612
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• 2013

The purpose of this paper is to examine the building process of industrial competitiveness of the Korean cosmetics industry in the global production network. For this study, cosmetics industry in Korea is selected as a research subject. Secondary data and the Korea Health Industry Statistics are analyzed to examine the overall changes of the cosmetics firms under the changes of global economy overtime. In-depth interviews of the case firms are also conducted to understand the old and new corporate strategies which locate with the sustainability and competitive advantages under an uncertain environment. As a result of the restructuring processes, the Korea cosmetics industry has upgraded its position as an innovative power in the world cosmetics industry. In addition, during the restructuring processes, cosmetics industry is overwhelmingly concentrated in the Capital Region, reflecting intensification of agglomeration economies.

• Journal of the Korean Geographical Society
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• v.29 no.4
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• pp.420-437
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• 1994

The starting point of the research is the relation between capital restructuring and urban restructuring. The economic restructuring, which has been caused by the economic crisis in the early 1970s in the United States has brought a spatial restructuring at different geographic scales. The degree of the success of urban restructuring is contingent to the local economic and political environments. The local contingent factor such as local politics should not be neglected for investigating the restructuring process. Through the case study of Chicago, the research provides two inconsistencies in applying the structural approach to the local level: first, the lack of the theoretical link between crisis and restructuring; and second, the crucial importance of local politics in shaping urban development.

• Journal of the Korean Geographical Society
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• v.29 no.4
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• pp.377-401
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• 1994

This study examines the impact of national economic restructuring on regional development patterns. Korea's development over the last decade has been characterized by a rapid economic restructuring towards the information economy. This economic restructuring has had significant impacts on regional development patterns. The most remarkable feature is a clear coreperiphery disparity in terms of levels of informatization. Seoul showed an extraordinarily high level of informatization. The process of regional development in the information era is marked by an intensified spatial division of labor, which articulates with the pre-existing pattern of regional disparity. Information infrastructrue improvements for regional development do not necessarily result in reductions in regional unevenness. There is an urgent need to develop the integrated regional informatization strategy.

• Journal of the Economic Geographical Society of Korea
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• v.5 no.2
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• pp.187-207
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• 2002

This study investigates the wage determination process of regional labor markets in order to understand the regional dimension of labor market processes in Korean metropolitan cities. Since the financial crisis in late 1997, the interplay between labor market restructuring such as unemployment and skill polarization and income disparity has been shaped by the labor market process in the metropolitan cities. This is also closely related to the fact that both industrial restructuring and expanding information technologies in the metropolitan region have reshaped the labor demand structure and finally resulted in structural unemployment due to skill mismatch and spatial mismatch and wage inequality across different occupations. In addition, since wage determination process clearly has a regional dimension, wage determination and its influence on income profile in a certain regional labor market need to be understood by investigating its labor market characteristics including labor supply and demand structure, industrial changes, changing unemployment, etc. This is why labor market policy as a regional policy needs to be redefined and it can be much enhanced by geographical investigation on regional labor market.

• Journal of the Korean Geographical Society
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• v.34 no.2
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• pp.155-175
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• 1999

본 연구는 대구 섬유산업의 재구조화를 지역 내.외적 요인들의 관계적 관점에서 분석하고, 이에 기초하여 지역경제 발전전략의 정책적 함의를 도출하기 위해 수행되었다. 1970년대 이후 대구 섬유산업은 정부의 중화학공업 정책과 수출지향적 경제발전 정책에 힘입어 화학섬유 중심의 대량생산과 수출체제를 수립하였다. 노동력 공급의 부족현상이 나타남에 따라 노동력을 안정적으로 확보하기 위해 산업체 특별학급.부설학교와 섬유기술진흥원을 설립하였고 또한 기혼여성 노동력을 활용하기 시작하였다. 그리고 생산시설은 대구시 외곽지역에 집중적으로 입지하였다. 1980년대 중반 이후 대구 섬유산업은 국내.외 환경변화에 따라 구조전환을 시도하고 있다. 지역노동시장에서 저임금 노동력 확보가 어렵게 됨에 따라 자동섬유기계의 도입을 증대시키고 기혼여성과 외국인 노동력을 적극적으로 활용하고 있으며, 자본과 생산시설을 경북이나 해외로 이동시키고 있다. 대구 섬유산업의 재구조화 정책은 섬유업체간에 협력체제의 구축, 노.사공생의 노동제도 확립, 섬유업과 연관된 생산자 서비스업의 육성 등을 중심으로 추진되어야 할 것이다.

• Journal of the Economic Geographical Society of Korea
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• v.9 no.3
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• pp.410-430
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• 2006

In the process of industrial restructuring at the regional and firm's level induced by significant changes in external economic circumstances, geographic and economic inheritances could be exploited as a constraint and/or asset for firms' strategies. Through a theoretical discussion of this argument, an attempt has been to categorize the effects of inherited regional assets on firms' strategies and regional development and to analyze the firms' strategies located at the city of Ansan. Capitalizing upon this empirical findings, some feasible development paths of Ansan in the future have been proposed and then critically discussed.

• Journal of the Korean Geographical Society
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• v.34 no.3
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• pp.265-279
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• 1999

경제활동의 세계화는 세계적 금융체계의 출현을 수반하고 있으며 금융부문의 역할은 현대 경제체계에서 중요성을 더하고 있다. 또한 정보통신기술의 발달과 금융기법의 혁신, 자본이동의 자유화는 새로운 조절양식과 이에 따른 조절공간의 변화를 수반한다. 한국의 경우 금융구조조정은 전세계적인 금융위기와 필요에 의한 대응으로 이해되며 제도적 변화와 함께 금융기관의 흡수.합병.퇴출을 통하여 기업부문, 정부부문뿐 아니라 공간적으로도 막대한 영향을 미친다. 일반은행 점포수의 변화를 금융구조조정 이전인 1997년과 이후인 1998년을 비교 분석한 결과 점포수의 급격한 감소와 함께 지역적인 특색이 나타났다. 금융구조조정은 서울.경기를 포함한 수도권에서 가장 활발히 일어나고 있으며, 도시 인구규모에 민감하게 반응하여 소규모 도시일수록 변화의 폭이 감소하고 있다. 구조조정 기간 중에 은행수의 변화는 인구규모와 밀접한 연관성을 나타내고 있다.

• Journal of the Korean Geographical Society
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• v.35 no.2
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• pp.207-225
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• 2000

본 연구는 대구 섬유기업들이 재구조화 과정에서 생산기술, 노동력 이용, 기업간 관계에서 어떤 유연성 전략들을 추구하였으며, 이것이 공간을 통하여 어떻게 표출되었는가를 고찰하였다. 대구 섬유업체는 모든 생산 공정을 통합.운영하고 있는 기업에서부터 단일공정 기업에 이르기까지 다양하고, 이러한 섬유기업들이 서로 밀접하게 연관을 맺고 있는 네트워크 생산체계로 특정지워질 수 있다. 모든 생산공정을 통합한 기업들조차도 외주생산방식을 이용하고 있는데 과거 설비하청중심에서 전문하청의 비중이 점차 커지고 있다. 이러한 네트워크 생산체계는 무역기능을 가진 기업들이 가장 저비용의 생산체계로 조직화한 결과이다. 생산체계상의 공간분화의 정도는 기업규모와 외부화의 정도에 의하여 결정되는 경향이 강하였다.