• Journal of Korean society of Dental Hygiene
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• v.7 no.2
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• pp.135-151
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• 2007

The purpose of this study was to examine the work environments of dental hygienists, to find out about what problems there were with their work environments and ultimately to help improve their work environments. It's basically intended to pave the way for furthering the welfare and interests of dental hygienists. The subjects in this study were dental hygienists who were selected by random sampling from among the members of Korean Dental Hygienists Association. Approximately 20 percent of the members each were selected from every region across the nation, and their work environments were investigated in consideration of the kind of their workplaces, service area, career and field of duties. As for the demographic characteristics of the dental hygienists investigated, there were differences between those who worked in the field of health care and the clinical workers. More of the former were older and married, and the former was ahead of the latter in career and education as well. Regarding working hours and leave of absence by kind of workplace, the number of regular average holidays was different according to their place of employment. Dental hospitals(6.66 days) and dental clinics(6.81 days) gave their employees less days off on the whole, whereas public dental clinics(19.29 days) granted the dental hygienists the longest leave of absence. Also, there was a broad gap in the number of regular average holidays among different regions in the nation. The dental hygienists who worked in Gangweon province enjoyed the longest holidays(10.88 days), while those on Jeju Island took the shortest vacation(4.46 days). Concerning monthly mean pay by place of employment, those who worked in public dental clinics were paid the best, and the dental hospital employees received the smallest pay. Their monthly mean pay significantly varied with the kind of their workplaces. As to connections between service area and pay level in the event of the dental hygienists with a four-year career, those who served in Seoul were paid the best(1,820,800 won), followed by Gyeonggi province(1,795,800 won), Gyeongsang province(1,604,200 won), metropolitan cities(1,424,800), Gangweon province(1,300,000 won) and Jeolla province(1,016,700 won). In regard to the starting pay in the different areas, the starting pay was largest in Seoul(1,501,800 won) and smallest in Jeolla province(904,000 won). Concerning work environments by place of employment, the dental hygienists in public dental clinics, general hospitals and university hospitals were far older than the others, and the career of the former was much larger than that of the latter. As to the number of regular leave of absence, public dental clinics, general hospitals and university hospitals were different from dental hospitals and clinics in that regard as well. Concerning monthly pay, public dental clinics paid their employees the best, and dental hospitals and clinics were ahead in terms of pay raise. But the reason seemed that public dental clinics and general hospitals increased the pay of their employees based on a fixed wage system and according to a fixed rate at the same time. As for relations between career and work environments, the pay of the dental hygienists differed with their career. The amount and rate of pay raise were largest for those whose career was between four years and less than six years, and smallest for those whose career was between seven years and less than nine years. The above-mentioned findings of the study suggested that in order to give dental hygienists better treatment, pay and welfare benefits should urgently be improved, and that it's required to take actions to boost their job satisfaction. Besides, they should be given more chances to receive education or to take training courses in pursuit of self-development, and how to narrow gaps in work environments among different regions or fields should carefully be considered.

• Environmental and Resource Economics Review
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• v.15 no.5
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• pp.921-937
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• 2006

In this paper, we apply fuzzy theory in a discrete choice Contingent Valuation Method(CVM) in order for dealing preference uncertainty problem. Fuzzy membership function is used in an empirical analysis to estimate the willingness-to-pay(WTP) for the preservation of the endangered Asiatic Black Bear in Korea. The estimated WTP was about 9,090 Korea Won per household with 78 percent of confidence level. The advantage of applying fuzzy theory in the valuation method could be found in its ability to measure the confidence level of the estimated WTP.

• Environmental Engineering Research
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• v.15 no.1
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• pp.49-56
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• 2010

Based on a survey of citizens and data analysis on the environmental status of the Miyun Reservoir watershed, China, the environmental awareness of citizens residing in the watershed and the impacting factors are discussed. The contingent valuation method was used to evaluate the willingness of villagers to pay (WTP) for abatement of the rural domestic pollution and to assess the intensity level of the villagers' desire for improving environmental conditions in the Miyun Reservoir watershed. It was found that rural watershed residents had a fundamental cognitive understanding of the pollution status and protection measures of the Miyun Reservoir. However, based on the survey, local residents had only a small interest in their participation to improve the environmental status of the reservoir, despite their general attitude to protect the reservoir being very positive. Gender and family income were closely associated with the overall attitudes of the population. Public media are the most preferable means for conveying knowledge of environmental protection to people living in the watershed. Increasing the educational level, along with income, are the best ways to enhance the desire of the villagers to improve the environmental quality and management.

• Asia Marketing Journal
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• v.20 no.2
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• pp.65-83
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• 2018

Technological advances are bringing autonomous vehicles to the ever-evolving transportation system. Anticipating adoption of these technologies by users is essential to vehicle manufacturers for making more precise production and marketing strategies. The research investigates regulatory focus and consumer innovativeness with consumers' adoption of autonomous vehicles (AVs) and to consumers' subsequent willingness to pay for AVs. An online questionnaire was fielded to confirm predictions, and regression analysis was conducted to verify the model's validity. The results show that a promotion focus does not have a significantly positive effect on the automation level at which consumers will adopt AVs, but a prevention focus has a significantly positive effect on conditional AV adoption. Consumer innovativeness, consumers' novelty-seeking have a significantly positive relationship with high and full AV adoption, and consumers' independent decision-making has a significantly positive effect on full AV adoption. The higher the level of automation at which a consumer adopts AVs, the higher the willingness to pay for them. Finally, using a neural network and decision tree analyses, we show methods with which to describe three categories for potential adopters of AVs.

• Journal of Korea Technology Innovation Society
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• v.8 no.1
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• pp.135-153
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• 2005

With an explosive growth of internet and a change of consumer's demand, Post PC is emerging as a substitute for the existing desktop computer and laptop computer. Post PC is a new computer which is portable with wireless networking, cheaper than the existing PCs and specialized in the specific function that consumers want. Furthermore, the shape and the ability of Post PC are dependent on its specific function. The rudimentary Post PCs such as PDA, web-pad and smart-phone are already usable. And in the future, owing to the progress of technologies, the heterogeneity of relate companies and the low entry barrier, various Post PCs will be developed. In this paper, we analyze consumers' willingness-to-pay for Post PC with the attributes such as the portability, the speed of CPU, the data input method (using key board, or notepad etc), the size of monitor and price. To estimating consumers' willingness-to-pay for the attributes of Post PC, we apply a contingent ranking method, which makes the respondents rank hypothetical Post the portability, the speed of CPU, the data input method (using key board, or notepad etc),the size of monitor and price. To estimating consumers' willingness-to-pay for the attributes of Post PC, we apply a contingent ranking method, which makes the respondents rank hypothetical Post PC alternatives featuring various combinations of attributes, to a survey data collected in Korea. Using the estimated willingness-to-pay, we predict the shape and the ability of future's Post PC and draw policy implications for the national and company level R&D strategies.

• Proceedings of the IEEK Conference
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• 2001.10a
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• pp.19-23
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• 2001

In addition to landfilling and incineration, waste minimization and recycling have become priorities in Taiwan's municipal waste management strategies over the past 10 years. Major recycling initiatives being implemented in Taiwan include producer responsibility, "pay-as-you-throw, " and mandatory sorting provisions. Currently, the producer responsibility regime established under the Waste Disposal Act and administered by the Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) requires that manufacturers or importers of listed items, including containers, batteries. cars, motorcycles ("scooters"), tires, oil, televisions, refrigerators, air conditioners, washing machines, computers, and printers, pay recycling fees to government recycling funds. EPA then uses the recycling funds to subsidize collection and recycling. The 2001 recycling fund budget totals NT$57 billion (NT$35 = US$l). Under the producer responsibility regime, EPA-designated retailers ("sellers") must accept end-of-life items returned to them by the consumers. At the local level, Taipei City implements a pay-as-you-throw program, whereby citizens pay waste collection and treatment fees through the purchase of special trash bags approved by the Taipei City Government. However. recyclables that are separated by citizens are collected free-of-charge by the City. Taichung City and Kaohsiung City, on the other hand, enforce mandatory sorting schemes, whereby citizens face penalties if they don't separate recyclables from the trash before pick-up. These programs have resulted in a significant reduction in municipal waste. Per capita waste collected per day has dropped from 1.143 kg in 1997 to 0.978 kg in 2000. Targeting a 10% recycling rate for municipal waste in 2001. EPA plans to research and develop new recycling techniques, expand the scope of producer responsibilities, and strengthen existing municipal recyclable collection programs. To this end, among other initiatives, EPA has prepared a draft "Resource Recycling and Reuse Act" that would complement the existing producer responsibility programs by incorporating into the current recycling framework the concept of product life-cycle management.

• Journal of the Korean housing association
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• v.22 no.4
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• pp.43-50
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• 2011

In an aging society, as the number of people with disabilities increases concerns are raised about the quality of life of these people and their access to a safe environment becomes important. The purpose of this study is to find out the value of accessibility as an attribute of housing. To estimate the value of accessible, barrier-free housing, this study uses the Contingent Valuation Method (CVM) and analyzes the factors which affect the Willingness To Pay (WTP) of survey respondents by using Survival Analysis. In addition, the importance and satisfaction of barrier-free facilities in the dwellings of survey respondents was investigated. Since aging could be an important factor in influencing the need for accessibility, this study surveyed two age groups, one group (212 respondents) of people below the age of 65 and the other (162 respondents) of people above 65. The results of this study show that respondents would pay on average 2.67% more for being barrier-free when answering an open-ended question and 3.87% more for barrier-free housing when using the double referendum model. This is the increase in value that the respondents perceive as a consequence of removing all the architectural barriers from a dwelling. On average, elderly respondents would pay 2.99% of housing price for accessible features compared to 4.40% of the younger group. However, if the elderly who have willingness to pay for accessibility, the value the older group put on barrier-free housing was higher than the value perceived by the younger group. Factors that influence the WTP are importance of barrier-free facilities, education level and housing type. The value of dwellings without barriers estimated in this study shows the potential size and value of this kind of housing market to the housing development sector.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.15 no.13
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• pp.5469-5474
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• 2014

Background: This study aimed to examine the level of knowledge, attitude, acceptance, and willingness to pay (WTP) for HPV vaccination among female parents of girls aged 12-15 years in Thailand. Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional survey was conducted in eight schools across Bangkok. Results: Of 1,200 questionnaires sent out, a total of 861 questionnaires were received. Knowledge regarding the HPV vaccine among parents was quite low. Only half of the parents knew about the link between HPV and cervical cancer while one-third of them knew that the vaccine should be administered to the children before they become sexually active. Nevertheless, vaccine acceptance was high if it was offered for free: 76.9% for the bivalent and 74.4% for the quadrivalent vaccine. The proportion of respondents who were willing to copay for the vaccine if it was not totally free was also high, ranging from 68.9% for the bivalent to 67.3% for the quadrivalent vaccine. No significant difference between bivalent and quadrivalent vaccines in terms of prevalence of acceptance and willingness to pay was found. About one-third of the participants, who were willing to copay for the vaccine if it was not offered for free, indicated that they would copay less than 500 baht (30 baht = approx US$1) for three doses of bivalent vaccine. Conclusions: Substantial effort should be made to educate parents prior to introduction of a national HPV vaccination program. In terms of acceptance, either bivalent or quadrivalent vaccines can be recommended.

• Environmental and Resource Economics Review
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• v.14 no.2
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• pp.447-474
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• 2005

Respondents, in the willingness to pay (WTP) survey, may have preference intensity about their stated WTP values. This study elicited a post-decisional intensity measure for each observed WTP answer for gathering information on the degree of preference intensity. In order to deal with the WTP data with preference intensity, this paper considers using the Type 3 Tobit model. This is usually estimated by the parametric two-stage estimation method assuming homoskedastic and bivariate normal error structure. However, if the assumptions are not satisfied, the estimates are inconsistent. The author has tested the hypotheses of homoskedasticity and normality, and could not accept them at the 1% level. The assumptions required to estimate the parametric Type 3 model are, therefore, too strong to be satisfied. As an alternative the parametric model, this study applies a semiparametric Type 3 Tobit model. The results show that the semiparametric model significantly outperforms the parametric model, and that more importantly, the mean WTP from the parametric model is significantly different from that from the semiparametric model.

• Journal of Environmental Policy
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• v.5 no.3
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• pp.79-103
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• 2006

This paper attempts to examine household's willingness to pay (WTP) for piped water quality improvement in Wonju, where the local government are planning to implement a piped water quality improvement program. We apply a contingent valuation (CV) method to obtain at least a preliminary evaluation of the WTP. The CV survey was rigorously designed to comply with the guidelines for best-practiced CV studies. We surveyed a randomly selected sample of 250 households in Wonju and asked respondents questions in person-to-person interviews about how much they would be willing to pay for the program. Respondents overall accepted the contingent market and were willing to contribute a significant amount (1,583 to 2,776 won), on average, per household per month. This willingness varies according to individual characteristics such as sex, education level, and income. The aggregate value of the program in Wonju amounts to approximately 1.99 billion won to 3.49 billion won per year. The household values can be the benefits that ensue from the program and compared with the costs of the program to determine whether the program is economically desirable.