• Journal of Digital Convergence
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• v.13 no.9
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• pp.99-104
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• 2015

The production management is one of the essential capabilities of the small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the information technology sector (IT). Therefore, this study empirically analyzed the effects of such important factors as external information network diversity and manufacturing capability on IT SMEs' production management capability. Based on the 310 data collected from Korean SMEs in the IT sector, the ordinary least squares regression results from this study by using the SPSS version 22 have empirically shown that IT SMEs' external information network diversity has a positive and significant effect on their production management capability and this effect is fully mediated by their manufacturing capability. These findings provide a meaningful implication that the positive impact of IT SMEs' external information network diversity is linked to their production management capability through their manufacturing capability.

• Journal of Digital Convergence
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• v.15 no.4
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• pp.199-204
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• 2017

Good product quality is so essential to enabling firms to succeed that how to make the product quality better through technology development is one of the most important issues that many CEOs think over. With regard to the product quality improvement from firms' technology development, this study has made an attempt to empirically investigate the effect of the external information network diversity on the product quality improvement of the small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the information technology (IT) sector, mediated by their production process improvement. This research illuminates the following two points by empirically analyzing the 310 IT SMEs through the ordinary least squares regression analysis. First, IT SMEs' external information network diversity has a positive influence on their product quality improvement from technology development. Second, IT SMEs' production process improvement partially mediates the impact of their external information network diversity on the product quality improvement.

• Journal of Service Research and Studies
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• v.8 no.3
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• pp.25-35
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• 2018

Initiatives for corporate social responsibility (CSR) have often served as sources of competitive advantage in the business world. Although the adoption of CSR practices in the hotel industry continues to increase, empirical research on the relationship between them and financial performance in the industryremains scarce. The purpose of this study was to ascertain the effects of various dimensions of CSR on the financial performance of corporations in the U.S. hotel industry. Data include Kinder, Lydenburg & Domini social performance scores and Compustat data of hotels from 1991 to 2015 identified using a Standard Industrial Classification code. Results of ordinary least squares regression using Stata revealed that efforts toward CSR have significantly affected the financial performance of numerous hotels. Such findings can initiate discussions and inspire future research on CSR in the hospitality industry.

• Journal of Korea Trade
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• v.26 no.4
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• pp.63-82
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• 2022

Purpose - Drawing on relational institutional theory, we explored how demographic similarity between board members of a firm and newly emerged political elites led to firms' increased financial resource acquisition such as leverage ratio and decreased export intensity amidst the Asian financial crisis. We also studied how a firm's leverage ratio and export intensity can further affect firm profitability and financial credit rating. Design/methodology - We revisited and explored a unique, unprecedented crisis that affected most Korean firms: the Asian financial crisis that coincided with a governmental shift from a conservative to a liberal party. We collected demographic information from 432 listed Korean firms' board members and 43 political elites of the Blue House from 1998-2000 to create a demographic similarity measurement. We collected firms' financial information, built panel data, and used ordinary least squares regression to test our theory. Findings - Our results showed that demographic similarity between a firm's directors and newly emerged politicians had a positive association with a firm's leverage ratio but a negative association with a firm's export intensity. A firm's leverage ratio had a negative relationship with firm performance measured by firm profitability and financial credit rating. A firm's export intensity showed a positive effect on firm performance. Originality/value - We highlighted that during an economic crisis that coincided with a governmental shift and change of leading political actors, firms exerted efforts to survey the environment and build new external stakeholder relationships to cope with the changing landscape. We proposed that in an emerging market like Korea where low levels of trust and favoritism are prevalent across society, one of the relational institutional strategies that firms can employ is the selection of directors with similar demographic characteristics to political elites based on factors including birthplace and school affiliations. We examined the efforts of firms to build political networks with newly empowered political elites during a financial crisis, and the consequences of establishing such networks. We highlighted that during a financial crisis, the demographic similarity between a firm's board members and newly emerged politicians can provide firms with access to financial resources but can also result in poor management and reduced effort to enhance its international competitiveness.

• Korea Trade Review
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• v.42 no.2
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• pp.227-249
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• 2017

This study investigates whether foreign equity ownership is associated with trading volume. This study establishes null hypothesis indicating that foreign equity ownership is not related to trading volume based on prior studies regarding foreign equity ownership. We measured trading volume as proxy of investors' heterogeneous beliefs. To exam The the hypothesis, we collected sample firms listed on the Korean Stock Exchange from the year of 2001 to the year of 2011 inclusively. Controlling for variables related with trading volume as reported in the previous studies, the regression coefficient for the foreign equity ownership showed statistically significant negative sign. These results indicate that the foreign equity ownership is negatively associated with investors' heterogeneous beliefs. This study contributes to extant literature on foreign equity ownership by providing evidence that foreign equity ownership affects investors' trading decisions. The results also help policy makers in their policy development.

• Journal of the Korean association of regional geographers
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• v.22 no.1
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• pp.251-266
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• 2016

Intelligent interpolation methods such as dasymetric mapping are considered to be the best way to disaggregate zone-based population data by observing and utilizing the internal variation within each source zone. This research reviews the advantages and problems of the dasymetric mapping method, and presents a geographically weighted regression (GWR) based method to take into consideration the spatial heterogeneity of population density - land cover relationship. The locally adaptive intelligent interpolation method is able to make use of readily available ancillary information in the public domain without the need for additional data processing. In the case study, we use the preclassified National Land Cover Dataset 2011 to test the performance of the proposed method (i.e. the GWR-based multi-class dasymetric method) compared to four other popular population estimation methods (i.e. areal weighting interpolation, pycnophylactic interpolation, binary dasymetric method, and globally fitted ordinary least squares (OLS) based multi-class dasymetric method). The GWR-based multi-class dasymetric method outperforms all other methods. It is attributed to the fact that spatial heterogeneity is accounted for in the process of determining density parameters for land cover classes.

• Journal of Korea Technology Innovation Society
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• v.21 no.3
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• pp.1077-1100
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• 2018

The present study analyzed the effect of firms' external research and development (R&D) on corporate productivity, while investigating the moderating effect of firm size on the external R&D-productivity nexus. In the empirical analysis, we estimated South Korean manufacturing firms' total factor productivity (TFP) using the firm level data drawn from the Survey of Business Activities (Korea National Statistical Office) for the years 2006-2015. Thereafter, focusing on the role of external R&D and its interaction with the firm size in determining firms' TFP, the productivity function was estimated as well. To this end, we used ordinary least squares (OLS) and quantile regression to highlight the heterogeneous impacts of external R&D by companies' productivity level. Empirical results confirmed that firms' external R&D significantly enhanced corporate productivity in all manufacturing industries, from high-tech to low-tech. The moderating effect of firm size in determining the productivity effect of external R&D was not as prominent as in the case for internal R&D, which exhibited some degree of the size premium in the productivity-enhancing effect. These results suggest that regardless of the firm size, external R&D can be an important channel for corporate productivity improvement, and can be a particularly effective strategy for SMEs with relatively limited internal R&D capacities.

• Journal of Korean Society of Transportation
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• v.32 no.6
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• pp.638-650
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• 2014

The objective of this study is to identify the causes of pedestrian volume path to the destination by investigating the influential levels of regional and planning features in the central area of Seoul. Regional characteristics can be classified from the result of the analysis and through the spatial characteristics of pedestrian volume. For global scale analysis, Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) regression is used for the degree of influence of each characteristics to pedestrian volume. For the local scale, Geographically Weighted Regression (GWR) is used to identify regional influential factors with consideration for spatial differences. The results of OLS indicate that boroughs with transportation facilities, commercial business districts, universities, and planning features with education research facilities and planning facilities have a positive effect on pedestrian volume path to the destination. Correspondingly, transportation hubs and congested areas, commercial and business centers, and university towns and research facilities in the Seoul central area can be identified through the results of GWR. The results of this study can provide information with relevance to existing plans and policies about the importance of regional characteristics and spatial heterogeneity effects on pedestrian volume, as well as significance in the establishment of regional development plans.

• 한국노년학
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• v.38 no.3
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• pp.481-499
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• 2018

The purpose of this study is to examine the impacts of smartphone use on structured social network types in the Korean elderly population. Data was derived from the 2014 survey of living conditions and welfare needs of Korean older persons collected by Korea Institute for Health and Social Affairs. A total of 4,180 participants were selected for the Propensity Score Matching (PSM) analysis. Based on propensity score estimates, the 491 smartphone users (treatment group) and 491 featurephone users (control group) were matched. Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) regression analysis was conducted to examine the relationship between smartphone use and structural social network types. The results showed that among retired older adults, people using smartphone had significantly better structured social networks than those using featurephone even after controlling for covariates. Smartphone users had the higher levels of social contact and social activity. These findings suggested empirical evidence that using smartphone positively affects structured social networks, which might be used as the basis for designing intervention programs to promote social networks and social engagement of retired older adults.

• Korean Journal of Agricultural and Forest Meteorology
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• v.20 no.3
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• pp.233-242
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• 2018

This study explored the richness patterns of vascular plant species and evaluated the effects of the climatic and habitat variables on the observed patterns along elevational gradients on the Mt. Baekhwa, South Korea. Plant data were recorded from 70 plots and a total of 187 plant species with 78 woody and 109 herbaceous species were recorded along two study transects, the Banyasa and Bohyunsa transects, on the Mt. Baekhwa. A total of 154 plant species with 66 woody and 88 herbaceous species and 131 plant species with 58 woody and 73 herbaceous species were recorded along the Banyasa and Bohyunsa transects, respectively. We used simple ordinary least squares regression model, multi-model inference and variation partitioning to analyze the relative contribution of climatic and habitat variables on the elevational richness patterns. Species richness pattern for vascular plants along the Banyasa transect monotonically decreased with elevation, whereas plant species richness showed reversed hump-shaped pattern along the Bohyunsa transect. Although the elevational patterns of species richness for vascular plants were different between the both transects, habitat variables are more important predictors than climatic variables for the elevational patterns of plant species richness along our study transects on the Mt. Baekhwa. These results indicate that elevational diversity patterns of vascular plants may be different even between nearby elevational transects in a mountain ecosystem but the diversity patterns may be controlled by same drivers.