• Title/Summary/Keyword: Structure Stability

Search Result 4,017, Processing Time 0.036 seconds

Highly Doped Nano-crystal Embedded Polymorphous Silicon Thin Film Deposited by Using Neutral Beam Assisted CVD at Room Temperature

  • Jang, Jin-Nyeong;Lee, Dong-Hyeok;So, Hyeon-Uk;Hong, Mun-Pyo
    • Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
    • /
    • 2012.08a
    • /
    • pp.154-155
    • /
    • 2012
  • The promise of nano-crystalites (nc) as a technological material, for applications including display backplane, and solar cells, may ultimately depend on tailoring their behavior through doping and crystallinity. Impurities can strongly modify electronic and optical properties of bulk and nc semiconductors. Highly doped dopant also effect structural properties (both grain size, crystal fraction) of nc-Si thin film. As discussed in several literatures, P atoms or radicals have the tendency to reside on the surface of nc. The P-radical segregation on the nano-grain surfaces that called self-purification may reduce the possibility of new nucleation because of the five-coordination of P. In addition, the P doping levels of ${\sim}2{\times}10^{21}\;at/cm^3$ is the solubility limitation of P in Si; the solubility of nc thin film should be smaller. Therefore, the non-activated P tends to segregate on the grain boundaries and the surface of nc. These mechanisms could prevent new nucleation on the existing grain surface. Therefore, most researches shown that highly doped nc-thin film by using conventional PECVD deposition system tended to have low crystallinity, where the formation energy of nucleation should be higher than the nc surface in the intrinsic materials. If the deposition technology that can make highly doped and simultaneously highly crystallized nc at low temperature, it can lead processes of next generation flexible devices. Recently, we are developing a novel CVD technology with a neutral particle beam (NPB) source, named as neutral beam assisted CVD (NBaCVD), which controls the energy of incident neutral particles in the range of 1~300eV in order to enhance the atomic activation and crystalline of thin films at low temperatures. During the formation of the nc-/pm-Si thin films by the NBaCVD with various process conditions, NPB energy directly controlled by the reflector bias and effectively increased crystal fraction (~80%) by uniformly distributed nc grains with 3~10 nm size. In the case of phosphorous doped Si thin films, the doping efficiency also increased as increasing the reflector bias (i.e. increasing NPB energy). At 330V of reflector bias, activation energy of the doped nc-Si thin film reduced as low as 0.001 eV. This means dopants are fully occupied as substitutional site, even though the Si thin film has nano-sized grain structure. And activated dopant concentration is recorded as high as up to 1020 #/$cm^3$ at very low process temperature (< $80^{\circ}C$) process without any post annealing. Theoretical solubility for the higher dopant concentration in Si thin film for order of 1020 #/$cm^3$ can be done only high temperature process or post annealing over $650^{\circ}C$. In general, as decreasing the grain size, the dopant binding energy increases as ratio of 1 of diameter of grain and the dopant hardly be activated. The highly doped nc-Si thin film by low-temperature NBaCVD process had smaller average grain size under 10 nm (measured by GIWAXS, GISAXS and TEM analysis), but achieved very higher activation of phosphorous dopant; NB energy sufficiently transports its energy to doping and crystallization even though without supplying additional thermal energy. TEM image shows that incubation layer does not formed between nc-Si film and SiO2 under later and highly crystallized nc-Si film is constructed with uniformly distributed nano-grains in polymorphous tissues. The nucleation should be start at the first layer on the SiO2 later, but it hardly growth to be cone-shaped micro-size grains. The nc-grain evenly embedded pm-Si thin film can be formatted by competition of the nucleation and the crystal growing, which depend on the NPB energies. In the evaluation of the light soaking degradation of photoconductivity, while conventional intrinsic and n-type doped a-Si thin films appeared typical degradation of photoconductivity, all of the nc-Si thin films processed by the NBaCVD show only a few % of degradation of it. From FTIR and RAMAN spectra, the energetic hydrogen NB atoms passivate nano-grain boundaries during the NBaCVD process because of the high diffusivity and chemical potential of hydrogen atoms.

  • PDF

Community Characteristics and Biological Quality Assessment on Benthic Macroinvertebrates of Bongseonsa Stream in Gwangneung Forest, South Korea (광릉숲 내 봉선사천의 저서성 대형무척추동물의 군집 특성 및 생물학적 하천평가)

  • Jung, Sang-Woo;Cho, Yong-Chan;Lee, Hwang-Goo
    • Korean Journal of Environment and Ecology
    • /
    • v.31 no.6
    • /
    • pp.508-519
    • /
    • 2017
  • There have been many studies on monitoring of biodiversity changes and preservation of Gwangneung Forest Biosphere Reserve (GFBR) in South Korea in recognition of the rare ecosystem that has been preserved for a long period. However, there are few studies on diversity and community characteristics of benthic macroinvertebrates as an indicator of stream health of GFBR. The purpose of this study was to assess the water quality of Bongseonsa Stream that penetrated through Gwangneung Forest and the nearby torrents by analyzing the benthic macroinvertebrates community during April to September 2016. The investigation collected a total of 114 species of benthic macroinvertebrates belonging to 56 families, 17 orders, 8 classes, and 5 phyla from the Bongseonsa Stream and Kwangneung Stream. Ephemeroptera and Trichoptera were the largest groups in species diversity with 30 species (32.3%) and 16 species (17.2%), respectively, and Tubificidae sp., Baetis fuscatus, Antocha KUa, and Cheumatopsyche brevilineata, which usually habit in contaminated streams, appeared frequently. Among the feeding function groups, the gatherers and hunters appeared relatively frequently, and the shredders and scrapers appeared frequently in the torrents. Among the habitat oriented groups, the clingers and burrower appeared more frequently and represented the microhabitats in the shallow areas. The result of the analysis of benthic macroinvertebrates community showed that the dominant index was $0.48{\pm}0.10$ in average while it was lowest with 0.33 in GS 8 of the Gwangneung Forest torrent and highest in BS 1 of Bongseonsa Stream. The diversity and richness indices were inversely proportional to the dominant index and were 2.53 and 4.22, respectively, in GS 8 where the dominant index was low. The result of the analysis of community stability showed that area I, which had high resistance and restoration, was high in Bongseonsa Stream while the area III, which had low resistance and restoration, was high in Gwangneung Forest, indicating that the water system in Gwangneung Forest had a wider distribution of specifies sensitive to agitation. The biological water quality assessment showed ESB of $50.88{\pm}17.69$, KSI of $1.11{\pm}0.57$, and BMI of $78.55{\pm}11.05$. GS 8 of Gwangneung Forest torrent was judged to be the highest priority protective water area with the best water environment and I class water quality with ESB of 63, KSI of 0.55, and BMI of 89.9. On the contrary, BS 1 of Bongseonsa Stream was judged to be the high priority improvement area that had the lowest water quality rating of III with ESB of 25, KSI of 2.13, and BMI of 62.7. Although the diversity of water beetle was higher in the water system of nearby Bongseonsa Stream than the water system inside the Gwangneung Forest, the annual community structure appeared to have distinct differences.

Transition Metal Dichalcogenide Nanocatalyst for Solar-Driven Photoelectrochemical Water Splitting (전이금속 디칼코제나이드 나노촉매를 이용한 태양광 흡수 광화학적 물분해 연구)

  • Yoo, Jisun;Cha, Eunhee;Park, Jeunghee;Lim, Soo A
    • Journal of the Korean Electrochemical Society
    • /
    • v.23 no.2
    • /
    • pp.25-38
    • /
    • 2020
  • Photoelectrochemical water splitting has been considered as the most promising technology for generating hydrogen energy. Transition metal dichalcogenide (TMD) compounds have currently attracted tremendous attention due to their outstanding ability towards the catalytic water-splitting hydrogen evolution reaction (HER). Herein, we report the synthesis method of various transition metal dichalcogenide including MoS2, MoSe2, WS2, and WSe2 nanosheets as excellent catalysts for solar-driven photoelectrochemical (PEC) hydrogen evolution. Photocathodes were fabricated by growing the nanosheets directly onto Si nanowire (NW) arrays, with a thickness of 20 nm. The metal ion layers were formed by soaking the metal chloride ethanol solution and subsequent sulfurization or selenization produced the transition metal chalcogenide. They all exhibit excellent PEC performance in 0.5 M H2SO4; the photocurrent reaches to 20 mA cm-2 (at 0 V vs. RHE) and the onset potential is 0.2 V under AM1.5 condition. The quantum efficiency of hydrogen generation is avg. 90%. The stability of MoS2 and MoSe2 is 90% for 3h, which is higher than that (80%) of WS2 and WSe2. Detailed structure analysis using X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy for before/after HER reveals that the Si-WS2 and Si-WSe2 experience more oxidation of Si NWs than Si-MoS2 and Si-MoSe2. This can be explained by the less protection of Si NW surface by their flake shape morphology. The high catalytic activity of TMDs should be the main cause of this enhanced PEC performance, promising efficient water-splitting Si-based PEC cells.

Studies on the Micelle Formation of Nonionic Surfactant(1) -1NMR Self-Diffusion and Proton Relaxation of Polyoxyethylene Alkyl Ether- (계면활성제 수용액의 미셀형성(제1보) - Polyoxyethylene Alkyl Ether의 자기확산과 프로톤 이완 -)

  • Choi, Seung-Ok;Jeong, Hwan-Kyeong;Lee, Jin-Hee;Nam, Ki-Dae
    • Applied Chemistry for Engineering
    • /
    • v.9 no.6
    • /
    • pp.822-828
    • /
    • 1998
  • Binary system of water and polyoxyethylene dodecyl ether, $C_{12}H_{25}(OCH_2CH_2)nOH$, have been studied by $^1H$ NMR techniques. For n=5($C_{12}EO_5$) and n=8($C_{12}EO_8$), the self-diffusion coefficients of nonionic surfactants in the isotropic phase($L_1$) have been measured by using pulsed field gradient technique for a range of temperature and concentrations. In addition the line widths of the different proton signals have been monitored, and samples of some liquid crystalline characteristic were also studied. Dramatic Broadening of the methylene signals of the alkyl($C_{12}H_{25}$) chain is observed as the hexagonal liquid crystalline phase is approached in the $C_{12}EO_5-$water system, while only small broadening is observed in the $C_{12}EO_8-$water system. It was shown that there was a growth of $C_{12}EO_5$ micelles to rods with increasing concentrations, while the $C_{12}EO_8-$ micelles at low temperature remain small in the concentration range. The self-diffusion coefficients of the surfactants decrease rapidly with increasing concentration until a minimum is reached after which there is slow increase. The location of the minimum point occurs at lower concentrations the temperature is close to the cloud point, where the system separate into two isotropic phase. In the line width studies, broadening is found at a certain temperature interval when the concentration is increased in the $C_{12}EO_5$ system. The results indicate that the surfactant aggregates grow in size at the cloud point is approached. The aggregates seem to be flexible and probably not to be of a definite shape close to the cloud point. In the $C_{12}EO_8$ system, the micelles are much less affected by an increase in temperature and micellar growth can't be unambiguously established. The methylene signals of the ethylene oxide moieties consistantly show narrower $^1H$ signals, showing that in the aggregates they are less ordered than the chain methylenes. The various changes in aggregate size and shape are correlated with the stability ranges of the isotropic and liquid crystalline phases according to phase diagrams from the literature. Both aggregate size and phase structure are in qualitative agreement with concentration based on the effective shape of the molecules at different temperature and concentration.

  • PDF

On the manufacturing of WPC (Wood Plastic Composites) with Heat-Catalyst Polymerization (I) - On the characteristics of composites made from monomer Methyl MethacryIate and several commercial woods in Korea (가열(加熱)·촉매중합법(觸媒重合法)에 의한 목재(木材)·고분자복합체(高分子複合體) 제조(製造)(I) - MMA에 의한 한국산(韓國産) 주요목재(主要木材)의 복합체특성(複合體特性))

  • Cho, Nam-Seok;Jo, Jae-Myeong;Ahn, Won-Yong
    • Journal of the Korean Wood Science and Technology
    • /
    • v.2 no.3
    • /
    • pp.3-16
    • /
    • 1974
  • One of the disadvantages of. wood and wood products is their hydroscopicity or dimensional instability. This is responsible for the loss of green volume of lumber as seasoning degrade. Dimensional stabilization is needed to substantially reduce seasoning defects and degrades and for increasing the serviceability of wood products. Recently, considerable world-wide attention has been drawn to the so-called Wood-Plastic Composites by irradiation-and heat-catalyst-polymerization methods and many research and developmental works have been reported. Wood-Plastic Composites are the new products having the superior mechanical and physical properties and the combinated characteristics of wood and plastic. The purpose of this experiment was to obtain the basic data for the improvement of wooden materials by manufacturing WPC. The species examined were Mulpurae-Namoo (Fraxinus, rhynchophylla), Sea-Namoo (Carpinus laxiflora), Cheungcheung-Namoo (Cornus controversa), Gorosae-Namoo (Acermono), Karae-Namoo(Juglans mandshurica) and Sanbud-Namoo (Prunus sargentii), used as blocks of type A ($3{\times}3{\times}40cm$) and type B ($5{\times}5{\times}60cm$), and were conditioned to about 10~11% moisture content before impregnation in materials humidity control room. Methyl methacrylate (MMA) as monomer and benzoyl peroxide (BPO) as initiator are used. The monomer containing BPO was impregnated into wood pieces in the vacuum system. After impregnation, the treated samples were polymerized with heat-catalyst methods. The immersed weights of monomer in woods are directly proportionated to the impregnation times. Monomer impregnation properties of Cheungcheung-Namoo, Mulpurae-Namoo and Seo-Namoo are relatively good, but in Karae-Namoo, it is very difficult to impregnate the monomer MMA. Fig. 3 shows the linear relation between polymer retentions in wood and polymerization times; that is, the polymer loadings are increasing with polymerization times. Furthermore species, moisture content, specific gravity and anatomical or conductible structure of wood, bulking solvents and monomers etc have effects on both of impregnation of monomer and polymer retention. Physical properties of treated materials are shown in table 3. Increasing rates of specific gravity are ranged 3 to 24% and volume swelling 3 to 10%. ASE is 20 to 46%, AE 14 to 50% and RWA 18 to 40%. Especially, the ASE in relation to absorption of liquid water increases approximately with increase of polymer content, although the bulking effect of the polymerization of monomer may also be influential. WPCs from Mulpurae-Namoo and Cheungcheung-Namoo have high dimensional stability, while its of Karae-Namoo and Seo-Namoo are-very low. Table 4 shows the mechanical properties of WPCs from 6 species. With its specific gravity and polymer loading increase, all mechanical properties are on the increase. Increasing rate of bending strength is 10 to 40%, compression strength 25 to 70%, ;impact bending absorbed energy 4 to 74% and tensile strength 18 to 56%. Mulpurae-Namoo and Cheungcheung-Namoo with high polymer content have considerable high increasing rate of strengths. But incase of Karae-Namoo with inferior monomer impregnation it is very low. Polymer retention in cell wall is 0.32 to 0.70%. Most of the polymer is accumulated in cell lumen. Effective. of polymer retention is 58.59% for Mulpurae-Namoo, 26.27% for Seo-Namoo, 47.98% for Cheungcheung-Namoo, 25.64% for Korosae-Namoo, 9.96% for Karae-Namoo and 25.84% for Sanbud-Namoo.

  • PDF

A Study of The Regulations on The Use of University Royalties using Delphi Technique (델파이 기법을 활용한 대학의 기술료 사용제도 개선방안 연구)

  • Lee, Jae-Heung;Shin, Jun-Woo
    • Journal of Korea Technology Innovation Society
    • /
    • v.16 no.1
    • /
    • pp.323-345
    • /
    • 2013
  • In this paper, problems with the Korean system regulating the use of university royalties are identified and investigated in order to suggest measures to improve the system in a way that provides a better R&D environment at universities. The Delphi technique was used to gather data from royalty specialists at universities and government ministries. The first Delphi survey conducted used open questions to identify problems in the use of university royalties. Then, closed questions were used for the second Delphi survey. The number of responses and the frequency of answers were analyzed after the first survey, and validity, stability, and reliability analyses were conducted for the second survey. The measures suggested to improve the system regulating the use of university royalties are as follows: First, bonuses for researchers, which are currently 50% or more of collected royalties, need to be decreased, as they are rather high compared to similar bonuses in developed countries, which are around 30% of collected royalties. The guideline for limiting the bonuses, which is explained as XX% or less of collected royalties, is suggested to prevent the excessive use of royalties. Second, rewards for those who contribute to technology transfer and commercialization should be increased. It is also important to build a consensus around the need to reward those who contribute to technology transfer and commercialization. Third, the scale of re-investment into R&D needs to increase. Regulations on royalties should be meaningfully applied to create a positive feedback structure for R&D, which can be described as the process of research, R&D outcomes, technology transfer, collecting royalties, rewarding researchers, and re-investing in R&D. To build a university's R&D capability, re-investment into R&D needs to be regularized as XX% or more of royalties. Fourth, regulations on the royalties of ministries and universities need to be unified. Each category for using royalties needs to be regularized, with detailed matters such as the guideline, process and method for using royalties specified. Also, universities need to make their own specific regulations. Fifth, specific priorities on the use of royalties need to be suggested. Regulation is necessary for the categories that do not have guideline and priorities for the use of royalties. It is hoped that the findings of this research will contribute to reinforcing the R&D capability of universities.

  • PDF

International Success the Second Time Around: A Case Study (제이륜국제성공(第二轮国际成功): 일개안례연구(一个案例研究))

  • Colley, Mary Catherine;Gatlin, Brandie
    • Journal of Global Scholars of Marketing Science
    • /
    • v.20 no.2
    • /
    • pp.173-178
    • /
    • 2010
  • A privately held, third generation family owned company, Boom Technologies, Inc. (BTI), a provider of products and services to the electric utility, telecommunications and contractor markets, continues to make progress in exporting. Although export sales only equaled 5% of total revenue in 2008, BTI has an entire export division. Their export division's Managing Director reveals the trial and errors of a privately held company and their quest for success overseas. From its inception, BTI has always believed its greatest asset is its employees. When export sales struggled due to lack of strategy and direction, BTI hired a Managing Director for its export division. With leadership and guidance from BTI's president and from the Managing Director, they utilized the department's skills and knowledge. Structural changes were made to expand their market presence abroad and increase export sales. As a result, export sales increased four-fold, area managers in new countries were added and distribution networks were successfully cultivated. At times, revenue generation was difficult to determine due to the structure of the company. Therefore, in 1996, the export division was restructured as a limited liability company. This allowed the company to improve the tracking of revenue and expenses. Originally, 80% of BTI's export sales came from two countries; therefore, the initial approach to selling overseas was not reaching their anticipated goals of expanding their foreign market presence. However, changes were made and now the company manages the details of selling to over 80 countries. There were three major export expansion challenges noted by the Managing Director: 1. Product and Shipping - The major obstacle for BTI was product assembly. Originally, the majority of the product was assembled in the United States, which increased shipping and packaging costs. With so many parts specified in the order, many times the order would arrive with parts missing. The missing parts could equate to tens of thousands of dollars. Shipping these missing parts separately in another shipment also cost tens of thousands of dollar, plus a delivery delay time of six to eight weeks; all of which came out of the BTI's pockets. 2. Product Adaptation - Safety and product standards varied widely for each of the 80 countries to which BTI exported. Weights, special licenses, product specification requirements, measurement systems, and truck stability can all differ from country to country and can serve as a type of barrier to entry, making it difficult to adapt products accordingly. Technical and safety standards are barriers that serve as a type of protection for the local industry and can stand in the way of successfully pursuing foreign markets. 3. Marketing Challenges - The importance of distribution creates many challenges for BTI as they attempt to determine how each country prefers to operate with regard to their distribution systems. Some countries have competition from a small competitor that only produces one competing product; whereas BTI manufactures over 100 products. Marketing material is another concern for BTI as they attempt to push marketing costs to the distributors. Adapting the marketing material can be costly in terms of translation and cultural differences. In addition, the size of paper in the United States differs from those in some countries, causing many problems when attempting to copy the same layout and With distribution being one of several challenges for BTI, the company claims their distribution network is one of their competitive advantages, as the location and names of their distributors are not revealed. In addition, BTI rotates two offerings yearly: training to their distributors one year and then the next is a distributor's meeting. With a focus on product and shipping, product adaptation, and marketing challenges, the intricacies of selling overseas takes time and patience. Another competitive advantage noted is BTI's cradle to grave strategy, where they follow the product from sale to its final resting place, whether the truck is leased or purchased new or used. They also offer service and maintenance plans with a detailed cost analysis provided to the company prior to purchasing or leasing the product. Expanding abroad will always create challenges for a company. As the Managing Director stated, "If you don't have patience (in the export business), you better do something else." Knowing how to adapt quickly provides BTI with the skills necessary to adjust to the changing needs of each country and its own unique challenges, allowing them to remain competitive.

Identification of the Pig β-1,3-N-acetylglucosaminyltransferase 1 (pB3GNT1) that is Involved in Poly-N-acetyllactosamine (poly-LacNAc) Synthesis (Poly-N-acetyllactosamine (poly-LacNAc) 합성에 관여하는 돼지 β-1,3-N-acetylglucosaminyltransferase I (pB3GNT1) 유전자 동정)

  • Kim, Ji-Youn;Hwang, Hwan-Jin;Chung, Hak-Jae;Hochi, Shinichi;Park, Mi-Ryung;Byun, Sung June;Oh, Keon Bong;Yang, Hyeon;Kim, Kyung-Woon
    • Journal of Life Science
    • /
    • v.28 no.4
    • /
    • pp.389-397
    • /
    • 2018
  • The structure of glycan residues attached to glycoproteins can influence the biological activity, stability, and safety of pharmaceutical proteins delivered from transgenic pig milk. The production of therapeutic glycoprotein in transgenic livestock animals is limited, as the glycosylation of mammary gland cells and the production of glycoproteins with the desired homogeneous glycoform remain a challenge. The ${\beta}$-1,3-N-acetylglucosaminylatransferase1 (B3GNT1) gene is an important enzyme that attaches N-acetylglucosamine (GlcNAc) to galactose (Gal) residues for protein glycosylation; however, there is limited information about pig glycosyltransferases. Therefore, we cloned the pig B3GNT1 (pB3GNT1) and investigated its functional properties that could attach N-acetylglucosamine to galactose residue. Using several different primers, a partial pB3GNT1 mRNA sequence containing the full open reading frame (ORF) was isolated from liver tissue. The ORF of pB3GNT1 contained 1,248 nucleotides and encoded 415 amino acid residues. Organ-dependent expression of the pB3GNT1 gene was confirmed in various organs from adult and juvenile pigs. The pB3GNT1 mRNA expression level was high in the muscles of the heart and small intestine but was lower in the lungs. For functional characterization of pB3GNT1, we established a stable expression of the pB3GNT1 gene in the porcine kidney cell line (PK-15). As a result, it was suggested that the glycosylation pattern of pB3GNT1 expression in PK-15 cells did not affect the total sialic acid level but increased the poly N-acetyllactosamine level. The results of this study can be used to produce glycoproteins with improved properties and therapeutic potential for the generation of desired glycosylation using transgenic pigs as bioreactors.

Traffic Forecasting Model Selection of Artificial Neural Network Using Akaike's Information Criterion (AIC(AKaike's Information Criterion)을 이용한 교통량 예측 모형)

  • Kang, Weon-Eui;Baik, Nam-Cheol;Yoon, Hye-Kyung
    • Journal of Korean Society of Transportation
    • /
    • v.22 no.7 s.78
    • /
    • pp.155-159
    • /
    • 2004
  • Recently, there are many trials about Artificial neural networks : ANNs structure and studying method of researches for forecasting traffic volume. ANNs have a powerful capabilities of recognizing pattern with a flexible non-linear model. However, ANNs have some overfitting problems in dealing with a lot of parameters because of its non-linear problems. This research deals with the application of a variety of model selection criterion for cancellation of the overfitting problems. Especially, this aims at analyzing which the selecting model cancels the overfitting problems and guarantees the transferability from time measure. Results in this study are as follow. First, the model which is selecting in sample does not guarantees the best capabilities of out-of-sample. So to speak, the best model in sample is no relationship with the capabilities of out-of-sample like many existing researches. Second, in stability of model selecting criterion, AIC3, AICC, BIC are available but AIC4 has a large variation comparing with the best model. In time-series analysis and forecasting, we need more quantitable data analysis and another time-series analysis because uncertainty of a model can have an effect on correlation between in-sample and out-of-sample.

International Monetary System Reform and the G20 (국제통화제도의 개혁과 G20)

  • Cho, Yoon Je
    • KDI Journal of Economic Policy
    • /
    • v.32 no.4
    • /
    • pp.153-195
    • /
    • 2010
  • The recent global financial crisis has been the outcome of, among other things, the mismatch between institutions and the reality of the market in the current global financial system. The International financial institutions (IFIs) that were designed more than 60 years ago can no longer effectively meet the challenges posed by the current global economy. While the global financial market has become integrated like a single market, there is no international lender of last resort or global regulatory body. There also has been a rapid shift in the weight of economic power. The share of the Group of 7 (G7) countries in global gross domestic product (GDP) fell and the share of emerging market economies increased rapidly. Therefore, the tasks facing us today are: (i) to reform the IFIs -mandate, resources, management, and governance structure; (ii) to reform the system such as the international monetary system (IMS), and regulatory framework of the global financial system; and (iii) to reform global economic governance. The main focus of this paper will be the IMS reform and the role of the Group of Twenty (G20) summit meetings. The current IMS problems can be summarized as follows. First, the demand for foreign reserve accumulation has been increasing despite the movement from fixed exchange rate regimes to floating rate regimes some 40 years ago. Second, this increasing demand for foreign reserves has been concentrated in US dollar assets, especially public securities. Third, as the IMS relies too heavily on the supply of currency issued by a center country (the US), it gives an exorbitant privilege to this country, which can issue Treasury bills at the lowest possible interest rate in the international capital market. Fourth, as a related problem, the global financial system depends too heavily on the center country's ability to maintain the stability of the value of its currency and strength of its own financial system. Fifth, international capital flows have been distorted in the current IMS, from EMEs and developing countries where the productivity of capital investment is higher, to advanced economies, especially the US, where the return to capital investment is lower. Given these problems, there have been various proposals to reform the current IMS. They can be grouped into two: demand-side and supply-side reform. The key in the former is how to reduce the widespread strong demand for foreign reserve holdings among EMEs. There have been several proposals to reduce the self-insurance motivation. They include third-party insurance and the expansion of the opportunity to borrow from a global and regional reserve pool, or access to global lender of last resort (or something similar). However, the first option would be too costly. That leads us to the second option - building a stronger globalfinancial safety net. Discussions on supply-side reform of the IMS focus on how to diversify the supply of international reserve currency. The proposals include moving to a multiple currency system; increased allocation and wider use of special drawing rights (SDR); and creating a new global reserve currency. A key question is whether diversification should be encouraged among suitable existing currencies, or if it should be sought more with global reserve assets, acting as a complement or even substitute to existing ones. Each proposal has its pros and cons; they also face trade-offs between desirability and political feasibility. The transition would require close collaboration among the major players. This should include efforts at the least to strengthen policy coordination and collaboration among the major economies, and to reform the IMF to make it a more effective institution for bilateral and multilateral surveillance and as an international lender of last resort. The success on both fronts depends heavily on global economic governance reform and the role of the G20. The challenge is how to make the G20 effective. Without institutional innovations within the G20, there is a high risk that its summits will follow the path of previous summit meetings, such as G7/G8.

  • PDF