• Journal of Science and Technology Studies
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• v.8 no.1
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• pp.97-129
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• 2008

We are living in the time of high probability of technological risk due to increased rate of technology development and diffusion of new technologies. Resolving uncertainties, the basic attribution of risk, by accumulating knowledge over the risk factors of certain technology is critical to management of technological risk. In many cases of technological risks, high uncertainty of knowledge is commonly mentioned reason for public controversies on risk management. However, the type of technological risk with low social agreement and low uncertainty of knowledge, the main reason for public controversy is absence of social agreement. Public debates on the risks of mobile phones electromagnetic fields(EMF) to human health comes under this category. The knowledge uncertainty on human health effect of mobile phones EMF has been lowered increasingly by accumulating enormous volume of knowledge though scientists have not reached a final conclusion whether it pose a risk to the physical and mental health of the general population or not. In contrast with civil organizations calling for precautionary approach based regulation, the mobile phone industry is cling to the position of no-regulation-needed by arguing no clear evidence to prove health risks of mobile phone EMF has found. In Korea, government set exposure standards based on a measurement called the 'specific absorption rate'(SAR) and require the mobile phone industry to open SAR information to the public by their own decision. From the view of pro-regulation side based on precautionary approach, technology risk managament of mobile phones EMF in Korea is highly limited and formalized one with limited measuring of SAR on head part only and problematic self-regulated opening of information about SAR to the public. As far as the government keeps having priority on protecting interest of mobile phone industry over precautionary regulation of mobile phones EMF, the disagreement between civil organizations and the government will not resolved. The risk of mobile phones EMF to human health have high probability of being underestimated in the rate and damage of risk than objectively estimated ones due to familiarity of mobile phone technology. And this can be the cause of destructive social dispute or devastating disaster. To prevent such disastrous results, technology risk management, which integrating the goals of safety with economic growth in public policy and designing and promoting risk communication, is required.

• KDI Journal of Economic Policy
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• v.32 no.2
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• pp.55-92
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• 2010

In terms of labor market accomplishments, such as income, size of the company, and the matching quality between one's job and college major (specialization), a very large discrepancy is observed between the graduates from colleges located in Seoul and those outside Seoul. But, when the department average score of the Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) at the time of college entrance is controlled for, the discrepancy is found to be reduced to a considerable degree. In the case of wage gap, at least two third can be explained by the SAT score gap. The remaining wage gap seems to reflect the characteristics of workplace. In other words, graduates with high SAT scores enter colleges located in Seoul and thus tend to find better jobs leading to earning differences. This result that confirms the importance of aptitude test scores suggests that in the labor market, one of the major reasons behind a lower accomplishment of the graduate from local colleges is due to a lower competitiveness of local colleges in attracting the brightest students. But, this should not be viewed as only an internal problem of local colleges. This is because the growth of local economies tends to haul the advancement of local colleges in that area rather than being the other way around. The agglomeration effect in Seoul where headquarters of large corporations and financial institutions gather is the factor that has elevated the status of colleges located in Seoul since this provides highly preferred job choices of graduates. When the competitiveness of college is significantly influenced by exogenous factors, such as the vicinity to Seoul, the effort being made by colleges alone would not be enough to improve the situation. However, the central government, too, is not in the position to carry out countermeasure policies for such problems. The regional development strategy boosted through supportive policies for local colleges, such as financial support, is not based on the persuasive and empirical grounds. It is true that college education is universal and that the government''s intervention in assisting local colleges to secure basic conditions, such as tenure faculty and adequate facilities is necessary. However, the way of intervention should not be a support-only type. In order to improve the efficiency and effect of financial support, restructuring programs, including the merger and integration of insolvent colleges, should be underway prior to providing support. In addition, when the policy is focused on education recipients-local college students, and not on education providers-local colleges, the importance of regional gap in compulsory education (elementary and junior high schools) turns out to be much important as the gap between metropolitan area colleges and local colleges. Considering the educational gap before college entrance shown from the discrepancies of aptitude test scores among different regions, the imbalance between regions in terms of human resources is apparently derived from compulsory education, and not from college education. Therefore, there is a need to double the policy efforts to reduce the educational gap among different regions. In addition, given the current situation where it is difficult to find appropriate ex post facto policy measures to solve the problem of income gap between the graduates from metropolitan colleges and local colleges, it can be said that improving the environment for compulsory education in local areas is a growing necessity for bridging the educational gap among different regions.

• KDI Journal of Economic Policy
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• v.32 no.2
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• pp.144-170
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• 2010

This paper considers the effect of various types of procurement auction system on competition focusing on the rate of successful bidding. We analyze the number of bidders and the rate of successful bids using online procurement data of the Public Procurement Service. The average number of bidders is 301 and the average rate of successful bids is 87.42% while the weighted average rate is 75.13%. These numbers show that there is quite strong competition among bidders and the rate is lower as the expected price is higher. When we analyze the data of price procurement auction, the rate is also shown to be lower as the expected price is higher. Furthermore, the rate decreases as the number of bidders increases which naturally makes the competition stronger. Meanwhile, the analysis finds that the inclusion of the onsite bidding, the PQ(Pre-Qualification) result, or major-10 winning companies cannot explain the rate much in our data. In case of turnkey-alternative, the average rate of successful bidding for 484 cases record 90.20%. The average is 84.89% with 120 alternatives and 91.97% with 364 cases of turnkey. The reason why the rate of turnkey-alternative is lower than that of price procurement auction is the lack of competition as well as the systematic difference. By setting up a model, we are able to explain the difference in rate caused by the respective reason. When we suppose there are 3 bidders in case of price procurement auction for a project that exceeds 100 billion won, the rate is expected to be around 64%. This implies that difference of 26% is caused by the systemic difference and 3% by the lack of competition. Therefore, we conclude that the difference in rate between turnkey-alternative and price procurement auction is caused mainly by the systemic difference. In case of PPP(Public Private Partnership) projects, among 154 projects in total, only 40% has more than 2 bidders that compete. The average number of bidders is 1.88 which is less than 2, and the average rate of successful bids is 90%. In sum, under the price procurement auction, there is strong competition which is reflected by the rate of successful bids. However, there is room to decrease the rate by strengthening the competition under the turnkey-alternative. Also with PPP projects, we expect the rate can be steadily reduced with revived competition among bidders.

• Korean Journal of Heritage: History & Science
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• v.52 no.4
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• pp.104-123
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• 2019

Various European countries were active rather early on in the formation and research of Korean ceramics, which are considered a representative genre of Korean art. Of these, England is especially noteworthy due to its relatively large volume of extant archival material related to the procurement of Korean ceramics in modern Britain. The material is important in that it contributes to our understanding of the formation and economic worth of these collections. Especially meaningful are the previously unknown documents dating to the period when institutions such as the British Museum and the Victoria & Albert Museum were most actively collecting Korean ceramics. These documents provide insight into the circumstances-process, prices, standards, perceptions, etc.-of procurement for the Korean ceramics now in British collections. The changes in the perception of Korean ceramics and the intention for forming such collections in modern Britain can be divided into three periods. The first, starting from the late 1870s and ending in the late 1880s, is categorized by the collectors' misguided ideal of Korean ceramics in the absence of a true understanding of the subject. During the late 1880s up until 1910, the Korean ceramics entering British collections were mostly ethnographic in nature and examples of implements used in Koreans' daily lives. Lastly, from 1910 to 1940, Korean ceramics were regarded as art objects to be collected, and Goryeo celadons formed the core of many of the British collections being assembled at the time. As for the matter of collecting standards and processes, the matter is examined through the study of three individuals who visited Korea and acquired Korean ceramics in the early 20th century. After 1910, the British started to make trips to the Far East via boat or the Trans-Siberian Express and purchase Korean ceramics during their travels. It has been confirmed that former bureaucrats were able to acquire 'good and old Goryeo ceramics' at reasonable prices from either tomb robbers or through direct visits to regions where such wares were being excavated. In addition, this study also focuses on the previously unfamiliar company Kavanaugh & Co, which made important sales and provided transport of various objects, including Korean ceramics, to its Western clients. The final part of this study examines the standards of appraisal for the Korean ceramics collected in modern Britain. The main criterion the balance between form and price of the piece. In other words, the best pieces were those that were of superior quality but acquired at the cheapest prices. British collectors particularly valued not only the Goryeo celadons favored by the Japanese but also Joseon ceramics for their innovative form, design, and technique. These standards of aesthetic and form were important factors that influenced the formation of diverse Korean ceramic collections in modern Britain.

• Journal of Plant Biotechnology
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• v.33 no.3
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• pp.153-160
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• 2006

Brassica rape is an important species used as a vegetable, oil, and fodder worldwide. It is related phylogenically to Arabidopsis thaliana, which has already been fully sequenced as a model plant. The 'Multinational Brassica Genome Project (MBGP)'was launched by the international Brassica community with the aim of sequencing the whole genome of B. rapa in 2003 on account of its value and the fact that it has the smallest genome among the diploid Brassica. The genome study was carried out not only to know the structure of genome but also to understand the function and the evolution of the genes comprehensively. There are two mapping populations, over 1,000 molecular markers and a genetic map, 2 BAC libraries, physical map, a 22 cDHA libraries as suitable genomic materials for examining the genome of B. rapa ssp. pekinensis Chinese cabbage. As the first step for whole genome analysis, 220,000 BAC-end sequences of the KBrH and KBrB BAC library are achieved by cooperation of six countries. The results of BAC-end sequence analysis will provide a clue in understanding the structure of the genome of Brassica rapa by analyzing the gene sequence, annotation and abundant repetitive DHA. The second stage involves sequencing of the genetically mapped seed BACs and identifying the overlapping BACs for complete genome sequencing. Currently, the second stage is comprises of process genetic anchoring using communal populations and maps to identify more than 1,000 seed BACs based on a BAC-to-BAC strategy. For the initial sequencing, 629 seed BACs corresponding to the minimum tiling path onto Arabidopsis genome were selected and fully sequenced. These BACs are now anchoring to the genetic map using the development of SSR markers. This information will be useful for identifying near BAC clones with the seed BAC on a genome map. From the BAC sequences, it is revealed that the Brassica rapa genome has extensive triplication of the DNA segment coupled with variable gene losses and rearrangements within the segments. This article introduces the current status and prospective of Korea Brassica Genome Project and the bioinformatics tools possessed in each national team. In the near future, data of the genome will contribute to improving Brassicas for their economic use as well as in understanding the evolutional process.

• The Korean Journal of Financial Management
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• v.26 no.3
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• pp.171-198
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• 2009

The primary purpose of this study is to examine the impact of new BIS regulation, which is the preparations to incorporate not only credit risk but also market and operation risk, on the bank behaviors. As methodology, SUR(seemingly unrelated regression) and pool unit test are used in the empirical analysis of banks survived in Korea. It is employed that quarterly data of BIS capital ratio, ratio of standard and below loans to total loans, ratio of liquid assets to liquid liabilities, allowances for credit losses, real GDP, yields of corporate bonds(3years, AA) covering the period of 2000Q1~2009Q1. As a result, it could be indicated that effectiveness and promoting improvements of BIS capital regulation policy as follows; First, it is explicitly seen that weight of lending had decreased and specific gravity of international investment had increased until before BIS regulation is built up a step for revised agreement in late 2001. Second, after more strengthening of BIS standard in late 2002, banks had a tendency to decrease the adjustment of assets weighted risk through issuing of national loan that is comparatively low profitability. Also, it is implicitly sought that BIS regulation is a bit of a factor to bring about credit crunch and then has become a bit of a factor of economic stagnation. Third, as the BIS regulation became hard, it let have a effort to raise the soundness of a credit loan because of selecting good debtor based on its credit ratings. Fourth, it should be arranged that the market disciplines, the effective superintendence system and the sound environment to be able to raise enormous bank capital easily, against the credit stringency and reinforce the soundness of banks etc. in Korea capital market.

• Journal of Korean Home Economics Education Association
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• v.31 no.4
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• pp.1-18
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• 2019

The purpose of this study was to analyze the research trend in home economics education using network text analysis method. The 586 research articles published in the Journal of Home Economics Education Association between July, 2003 and December 2018 were examined using Neckinger 4, a social network analysis software. The frequency and centrality measures(degree centrality, closeness centrality, and betweenness centrality) were calculated for the words appeared throughout the whole period, and the centrality analysis and LAD(Latent Dirichlet Allocation) were conducted for the four sub-periods. The results are as follows: first, the most frequently appeared words are parents, culture, unit, health, career, consumption, practicality, etc. The words such as parents and management scored high in degree centrality; parents and male students in closeness centrality; and male students and units in betweenness centrality. Second, when divided into four periods, the words such as education, family, purpose, class, middle school, and school appeared most frequently across the periods; but some words such as 'purpose' (in period 3 and 4), or 'process' (in period 4) were salient only in certain periods. Third, the words with high centrality were consistent regardless of the types of centrality within each period. Fourth, the topic analysis using LAD showed that curriculum, textbook, family healthiness, teaching-learning, evaluation, dietary life, appearance management, and consumption were the topics consistently appeared across all periods. The topics have become diversified and deepened. New topics such as teacher training and safety appeared in later periods, possibly due to the curriculum and national policy changes, and housing as a less represented topic is suggested as an area that needs further research attention. This study has implication in that it allows researchers to identify the major research interests and the trends in research by researchers in home economic education.

• KDI Journal of Economic Policy
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• v.30 no.2
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• pp.225-270
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• 2008

We analyze macroeconomic consequences of pay-as-you-go (PAYGO) public pension system with a simple overlapping generations model. Contrary to large body of existing literatures offering quantitative results based on simulation study, we take another route by adopting a highly simplified framework in search of qualitatively tractable analytical results. The main contribution of our results lies in providing a sound theoretical foundation that can be utilized in interpreting various quantitative results offered by simulation studies of large scale general equilibrium models. We present a simple overlapping generations model with a defined benefit(DB) PAYGO public pension system as a benchmark case and derive an analytical equilibrium solution utilizing graphical illustration. We also discuss the modifications of the benchmark model required to encompass a defined contribution(DC) public pension system into the basic framework. Comparative statics analysis provides three important implications; First, introduction and expansion of the PAYGO public pension, DB or DC, result in lower level of capital accumulation and higher expected rate of return on the risky asset. Second, it is shown that the progress of population aging is accompanied by lower capital stock due to decrease in both demand and supply of risky asset. Moreover, risk premium for risky asset increases(decreases) as the speed of population aging accelerates(decelerates) so that the possibility of so-called "the great meltdown" of asset market cannot be excluded although the odds are not high. Third, it is most likely that the switch from DB PAYGO to DC PAYGO would result in lower capital stock and higher expected return on the risky asset mainly due to the fact that the young generation regards DC PAYGO pension as another risky asset competing against the risky asset traded in the market. This theoretical prediction coincides with one of the firmly established propositions in empirical literature that the currently dominant form of public pension system has the tendency to crowd out private capital accumulation.

• KDI Journal of Economic Policy
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• v.14 no.2
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• pp.55-75
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• 1992

At the outset of import liberalization, most economists expected a significant drop in the prices of domestic goods that faced foreign competition. However, it is now generally acknowledge that a significant drop in prices of those goods has not occurred. A common claim is that the prices did not drop significantly because the major importers of many imported goods were also the domestic producers of competing goods. The objective of this paper is to analyze the welfare effect of importation by domestic firms that produce competing goods, to identify the factors that facilitate such business practices, and to formulate a policy that could improve the welfare. We proved that importation by competing domestic firms definitely raises the prices of both imported and domestic goods compared to the situation where foreign goods are imported by non-producers, ceteris paribus. The intuition behind this result is that since a producer-importer is essentially a cartel, its overall profit maximization requires reduced competition between the products that it sells. On the other hand, if a producer-importer is more efficient at distrinbution than a simple importer, the comparison between the two cases is a priori indeterminate. We also find that the industries in which domestic producers are actively involved in importing competing goods are the ones in which the distribution channels are tightly controlled by importer-producers. This finding suggests that exclusive dealing contracts, which work as an entry barrier, may be the source of importing by domestic producers. We argue that in a country such as Korea, where financial market is highly incomplete, tight control of the distribution channels by oligopolistic manufacturers is likely to be an effective entry barrier that leads to importing by domestic producers of similar goods. We further argue that seemingly superior distribution costs of importer-producers is likely to be a result of market foreclosure which would disappear once the entry barrier of exclusive dealing contracts is removed. Above findings suggest that market imperfections are the source of importation by domestic competitors, which in turn constitutes a market imperfection in itself and reduces consumer welfare. As potential remedies, we considered three alternatives; direct price control by the government over the imported goods sold by major domestic producers, regulation of trade itself between major producers, and regulation of exclusive dealing contracts. For reasons both theoretical and pratical, we find that the last alternative is the most attrative. Prohibiting exclusive contracts between manufacturers and dealers in industries where exclusive dealing contracts are a significant entry barrier is expected to break up the importer-producer cartel and improve the welfare.

• Korean Journal of Social Welfare
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• v.53
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• pp.31-49
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• 2003

Neo-liberalism, the most influential ideology in the current world, argues for the commercialization of social security programs and for the dissolution of the interventionist welfare state. From the neo-liberal viewpoint, social services become more efficient and more advantageous for recipients, when provided by the market, not by the state. It is also argued that the welfare of all social members is best secured when the market freely operates without any interference from the state. From the neo-liberal point of view, an argument was raised to commercialize the state-administered Workers' Compensation program of Korea in the mid-1990s. This argument was faced with strong resistances from labor unions and social welfare circles, and has disappeared since the economic breakdown and the restructuring of Korean society during the late 1990s. Butr, such an argument can emerge anytime as the nee-liberal ideology become more powerful. This article aims to examine the neo-liberal argument that the privatization of social security programs, through an increases in efficiency, improves the interests of the recipients as well as the whole society. For this, this article attempts to analyze the Workers' Compensation programs of the USA, which, from state to state, are administered by the state government or by private insurance companies. This study can serve as an effective critique for the neo-liberal argument, if it finds that state-administered Workers' Compensation programs are more efficient than those managed by insurance companies. This article's another aim is to assess the controversies over the privatization of the Workers' Compensation program of Korea during the mid to late 1990s. The controversies were more about which viewpoint is right and, in most cases, lacked empirical evidence. This study shall empirically criticize the argument for the privatization of the Workers' Compensation program.