• 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.

• Journal of Labour Economics
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• v.41 no.4
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• pp.63-105
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• 2018

This paper analyzes the effects of three factors on the firm-size wage premium which have not been considered in previous studies: the worker compositions within firms, the wage differentials between contractors and subcontractors, and the performance pay and rent-sharing behaviors of firms. The main results are as follows. First, even after controlling for the various worker characteristics, the differences in shares of highly educated workers, managers, and professionals between large and small firms make the size-wage premium larger. Secondly, wage differentials between contractors and subcontractors also affect the size-wage premium in the manufacturing sector. Thirdly, high performance pay and active rent-sharing behaviors of large manufacturing firms make the size-wage premium larger. These results imply that a positive matching effect among skilled workers, a structural problem between contractors and subcontractors, and differences in rent-sharing behaviors between large and small firms have affected the firm-size wage premium in the South Korean labor market.

• Korean Journal of Social Welfare
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• v.41
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• pp.119-146
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• 2000

The goals and strategies of welfare-to-work (WTW) policies have been sources of contentious political debate. In the United States, despite 20 years of welfare reform, there remain important differences of opinion regarding how best to design and deliver WTW programs. The proliferation of state and local WTW experiments has led to the identification of two ideal-types of WTW programs: the Labor Force Attachment and Human Capital Development models. Most of the recent policy debate about WTW in America has focused on the relative merits and performance of LFA and HCD. While the Primary goal of the LFA model is for welfare recipients to achieve a rapid transition into work, the HCD model seeks to improve the long-term employability of welfare dependents through education and skill development. LFA policies tend to be strongly outcome-oriented and generally can yield quick results. Their "any job is a good job" philosophy has proved attractive to policy-makers who are anxious to see concrete results in a short-term period. In contrast, the HCD policies do not simply dump welfare dependents at the bottom of the labor market, but aim to secure relatively stable and well-paid jobs. However, these strengths are offset by several practical weaknesses including high unit costs and long-term investment in human capital. In recent years, LFA policies have been increasingly favored by both policy officials and politicians in the United States. The introduction of Temporaray Assistance to Needy Families of 1996 has been accelerating the trend. What is going to happen to welfare recipients? This simple shift to the LFA model, however, will only see an alarming increase of working poor in a near future.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society for Agricultural Machinery Conference
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• 2000.11b
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• pp.480-488
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• 2000

Cabbage is the most important vegetables in korea. The cabbage production was based on arduous human labor. A comprehensive research for substituting the human work by machines has been performed at present. In general, cabbage is cultivated on hillside in korea. The harvested cabbage in a field and carrying it to a vehicle for transportation are very laborious work. Hand labor in cabbage transportation to the market damages the quality of cabbage and is also a cause to increase the cost of cabbage production. This study was to design and evaluate a prototype cabbage loader for deserving efficient and safe transportation of cabbage. The developed cabbage loader was a semi-tracked vehicle operated by a hydraulic system, allowing the safe transporting and the loading of cabbage in a steep field. The maximum loading capacity of the loader was 1.0 ton. By using safety devices attached to the loader, the static slopes were 34.0% and 37.4% for the left and the rear roll-over, respectively. The maximum field speed was about 6km/hr with two cabbage pallets of 750kg at a 25% inclined field. The field capacity was about 35 pallets/hr in case of picking up, carrying and unloading two cabbage pallets. The field efficiency of the loader was analyzed to be more than 8 times in comparison of the conventional human labor. The developed loader would be applied for loading and carrying the other vegetables due to the similarity of operations. The study suggested a standard approach to the design of field machines operated in a steep field.

• International conference on construction engineering and project management
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• 2015.10a
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• pp.742-743
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• 2015

Korean construction industry has developed with national economy growth for a couple of decades. However, because of slump of real estate, the domestic construction industry was intimidated. In this situation, many construction company has no choice but to go abroad to find construction projects. However, almost small or medium-sized construction companies are very hard to operate their business because they have small funding ability and weak labor power. Therefore, this study aims to propose an assessment tool through analyzing risk factors of overseas construction projects for small or medium-sized companies by examining preceding research and interviewing industry experts. Weights of the risk factors are determined through the surveys of the industry practitioners. All of the data is configured into the assessment tool and this converts the quantitative information which leads to the optimal of strategies choice. This paper provides a quantitative measurement of possible performance and detailed assessment of each itemized risk factors. This assessment tool is qualified for industry experts so that it can safely be applied to the future projects. Ultimately, many small or medium sized construction companies will benefit from the tool proposed in this study to examine the potential of the overseas market expansion.

• Journal of Korea Trade
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• v.25 no.3
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• pp.21-47
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• 2021

Purpose - Offshoring has emerged as one of the major trends in international trade and has become one of the strategies for achieving competitiveness in the global market. In spite of this, the expected gains of offshoring can be offset by hidden costs and risks, such as those associated with the COVID-19 pandemic, the trade war between the USA and China, and the ongoing trade dispute between Korea and Japan. To obviate such business failure and prevent critical business blunders, offshoring strategies that efficiently consider both risk elements and potential wealth creation are urgently need. The first purpose of this study is to contribute to the development of more advanced offshoring strategies to help host countries select the best locations to manage supply chain risks and create unique value. The second purpose is to specifically analyze the current status of Korea and provide Korean companies with implications to be considered when deciding whether to offshore or re-shore. Design/methodology - A Network DEA model was applied to measure the comparative location efficiency of national competencies for offshoring strategy from perspectives of wealth creation opportunities (profitability and marketability) and supply chain risk management. The location efficiencies are compared among a total 70 countries selected from the Global Competitiveness Index (GCI) and globally attractive locations outlined by Kearney (2017). For the secondary analysis of efficiency, a t-test examining the nature of competitive advantage and the level of sophistication in production processes was implemented in three divisions. We then analyzed differences in offshoring performance in terms of the identified national traits. Moreover, Tobit regression analysis is conducted to investigate the correlation between value-added business activities and each divisional efficiency, seeking to determine how each degree of value-added business activity influences the increase in offshoring productivity. Findings - Regarding overall location efficiency for offshoring performance, only the USA and Italy were identified as being efficient as host countries for offshoring, under circumstances of advanced development, such as productivity and risk management. Korea ranks 13th among 70 countries. The determinants of national competitiveness depend on national traits (the nature of competitive advantage and business sophistication). Countries with labor/resource advantages and labor-intensive industries are more competitive in terms of marketability than others. In contrast, countries with strong technology-intensive industries benefit offshoring companies, particularly in the technology sector, with the added advantage of supply chain risk management. As the perception of a value chain is broader in a country, it can achieve both production sophistication and competitive advantages such as marketability and SCRM. Originality/value - Existing studies focus on offshoring effectiveness from a company perspective. This paper contributes to comparing country efficiency in producing core competencies related to an offshoring strategy and also segments countries into three performance-based considerations associated with the global offshoring market. It also details Korea's position as an offshoring location according to national efficiency and competency.

• Korea Journal of Hospital Management
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• v.22 no.3
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• pp.46-60
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• 2017

The purpose of this study is to analyze the difference of productivity according to environmental factors among 25 Regional base public hospitals. Also this study is to propose a method to improve the productivity of Regional base public hospitals in the future by improving the public performance and stable management performance by studying the productivity variables affecting profitability. The survey period was based on the last three years, and 25 Regional base public hospitals were selected for the survey. The dependent variable is the total capital medical marginal profitability and the medical profit marginal profitability which are the indicators of profitability. The independent variable, productivity, is classified into three indicators: capital productivity, labor productivity, and value added productivity. The ANOVA analysis method was used to analyze the productivity difference according to the frequency factor and the environmental factors of the Regional base public hospitals. Finally, we conducted a hierarchical regression analysis to examine the productivity variables affecting profitability. The results of this study showed that there were differences in productivity due to environmental factors such as hospital size, competition in the local medical market, and differences in management performance. The difference in productivity and profitability depending on the environmental factors suggests that it is difficult for Regional base public hospitals in each regional base to perform a balanced public service. In order to overcome this, it is necessary to provide balanced medical services such as government financial support expansion, regional medical demand forecasting and facility infrastructure construction.

• International Journal of Advanced Culture Technology
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• v.9 no.2
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• pp.100-105
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• 2021

Contactless service is rapidly emerging as a new growth strategy due to consumers who are reluctant to the face-to-face situation in the global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), and various technologies are being developed to support the fast-growing contactless service market. In particular, the restaurant industry is one of the most desperate industrial fields requiring technologies for contactless service, and the representative technical case should be a kiosk, which has the advantage of reducing labor costs for the restaurant owners and provides psychological relaxation and satisfaction to the customer. In this paper, we propose a solution to the restaurant's store operation through the unmanned kiosk using a state-of-the-art artificial intelligence (AI) technology of image recognition. Especially, for the products that do not have barcodes in bakeries, fresh foods (fruits, vegetables, etc.), and autonomous restaurants on highways, which cause increased labor costs and many hassles, our proposed system should be very useful. The proposed system recognizes products without barcodes on the ground of image-based AI algorithm technology and makes automatic payments. To test the proposed system feasibility, we established an AI vision system using a commercial camera and conducted an image recognition test by training object detection AI models using donut images. The proposed system has a self-learning system with mismatched information in operation. The self-learning AI technology allows us to upgrade the recognition performance continuously. We proposed a fully automated payment system with AI vision technology and showed system feasibility by the performance test. The system realizes contactless service for self-checkout in the restaurant business area and improves the cost-saving in managing human resources.

• International conference on construction engineering and project management
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• 2005.10a
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• pp.1199-1202
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• 2005

Knowledge has been considered one of the important elements that determine our future. Competitive power of an enterprise has also been transformed from labor, capital, and technology-oriented to knowledge-oriented. Current construction environment is experiencing overall decrease of number of construction contracts due to opening of domestic construction market and economic slump, problems on methods of receiving orders/bidding, and change of costumers' attitude, which intensify competition, therefore many companies consider adopting knowledge management to secure their competitive power. However, there are difficulties in adopting knowledge management and increasing the use by establishing management plan, Performance Measurement, and knowledge maintenance system in reality. Therefore, this study is to provide assistance to successful realization of knowledge management by suggesting development plan of knowledge management that enables knowledge management more efficient with certain goals.

• Korean Journal of Construction Engineering and Management
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• v.11 no.1
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• pp.59-69
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• 2010

Although international construction market gradually takes a important position among the export industries, the previous studies about international construction entry strategy have just focussed on trend investigation or suggestion for revitalization. Moreover, in order to prepare the market uncertainty such as world financial crisis and to plan the long term strategy, specific strategy studies based on corporate level are required. Therefore, this study estimates the nine strategic index and four financial index of 31 companies that performed 1920 international projects from 1993 to 2007 and evaluate the performance as three periods by multi-regression analysis. Also, this study analyze dynamic correlation between these index and the performance considering times. this study verifies that market diversification, product diversification, localization and decrease of debt to asset ratio make a good effect on the international order as long term strategy and shows that collaborated entry with domestic corporations, alliance entry with host country's company, alliance entry with third country's company, portion of labor cost and portion of management expense differently make a influence on the performance as times. these results will be helpful for the construction companies to plan the international entry strategy reasonably and specifically.