• KDI Journal of Economic Policy
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• v.12 no.1
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• pp.31-68
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• 1990

The concentration of economic power takes the form of one or a few firms controlling a substantial portion of the economic resources and means in a certain economic area. At the same time, to the extent that these firms are owned by a few individuals, resource allocation can be manipulated by them rather than by the impersonal market mechanism. This will impair allocative efficiency, run counter to a decentralized market system and hamper the equitable distribution of wealth. Viewed from the historical evolution of Western capitalism in general, the concentration of economic power is a paradox in that it is a product of the free market system itself. The economic principle of natural discrimination works so that a few big firms preempt scarce resources and market opportunities. Prominent historical examples include trusts in America, Konzern in Germany and Zaibatsu in Japan in the early twentieth century. In other words, the concentration of economic power is the outcome as well as the antithesis of free competition. As long as judgment of the economic system at large depends upon the value systems of individuals, therefore, the issue of how to evaluate the concentration of economic power will inevitably be tinged with ideology. We have witnessed several different approaches to this problem such as communism, fascism and revised capitalism, and the last one seems to be the only surviving alternative. The concentration of economic power in Korea can be summarily represented by the "jaebol," namely, the conglomerate business group, the majority of whose member firms are monopolistic or oligopolistic in their respective markets and are owned by particular individuals. The jaebol has many dimensions in its size, but to sketch its magnitude, the share of the jaebol in the manufacturing sector reached 37.3% in shipment and 17.6% in employment as of 1989. The concentration of economic power can be ascribed to a number of causes. In the early stages of economic development, when the market system is immature, entrepreneurship must fill the gap inherent in the market in addition to performing its customary managerial function. Entrepreneurship of this sort is a scarce resource and becomes even more valuable as the target rate of economic growth gets higher. Entrepreneurship can neither be readily obtained in the market nor exhausted despite repeated use. Because of these peculiarities, economic power is bound to be concentrated in the hands of a few entrepreneurs and their business groups. It goes without saying, however, that the issue of whether the full exercise of money-making entrepreneurship is compatible with social mores is a different matter entirely. The rapidity of the concentration of economic power can also be traced to the diversification of business groups. The transplantation of advanced technology oriented toward mass production tends to saturate the small domestic market quite early and allows a firm to expand into new markets by making use of excess capacity and of monopoly profits. One of the reasons why the jaebol issue has become so acute in Korea lies in the nature of the government-business relationship. The Korean government has set economic development as its foremost national goal and, since then, has intervened profoundly in the private sector. Since most strategic industries promoted by the government required a huge capacity in technology, capital and manpower, big firms were favored over smaller firms, and the benefits of industrial policy naturally accrued to large business groups. The concentration of economic power which occured along the way was, therefore, not necessarily a product of the market system. At the same time, the concentration of ownership in business groups has been left largely intact as they have customarily met capital requirements by means of debt. The real advantage enjoyed by large business groups lies in synergy due to multiplant and multiproduct production. Even these effects, however, cannot always be considered socially optimal, as they offer disadvantages to other independent firms-for example, by foreclosing their markets. Moreover their fictitious or artificial advantages only aggravate the popular perception that most business groups have accumulated their wealth at the expense of the general public and under the behest of the government. Since Korea stands now at the threshold of establishing a full-fledged market economy along with political democracy, the phenomenon called the concentration of economic power must be correctly understood and the roles of business groups must be accordingly redefined. In doing so, we would do better to take a closer look at Japan which has experienced a demise of family-controlled Zaibatsu and a success with business groups(Kigyoshudan) whose ownership is dispersed among many firms and ultimately among the general public. The Japanese case cannot be an ideal model, but at least it gives us a good point of departure in that the issue of ownership is at the heart of the matter. In setting the basic direction of public policy aimed at controlling the concentration of economic power, one must harmonize efficiency and equity. Firm size in itself is not a problem, if it is dictated by efficiency considerations and if the firm behaves competitively in the market. As long as entrepreneurship is required for continuous economic growth and there is a discrepancy in entrepreneurial capacity among individuals, a concentration of economic power is bound to take place to some degree. Hence, the most effective way of reducing the inefficiency of business groups may be to impose competitive pressure on their activities. Concurrently, unless the concentration of ownership in business groups is scaled down, the seed of social discontent will still remain. Nevertheless, the dispersion of ownership requires a number of preconditions and, consequently, we must make consistent, long-term efforts on many fronts. We can suggest a long list of policy measures specifically designed to control the concentration of economic power. Whatever the policy may be, however, its intended effects will not be fully realized unless business groups abide by the moral code expected of socially responsible entrepreneurs. This is especially true, since the root of the problem of the excessive concentration of economic power lies outside the issue of efficiency, in problems concerning distribution, equity, and social justice.

• KDI Journal of Economic Policy
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• v.13 no.1
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• pp.115-134
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• 1991

The role of pension plans in the macroeconomy has been a subject of much interest for some years. It has come to be recognized that pension plans may alter basic macroeconomic behavior patterns. The net effects on both savings and labor supply are thus matters for speculation. The aim of the present paper is to provide quantitative results which may be helpful in attaching orders of magnitude to some of the possible effects. We are not concerned with the providing empirical evidence relating to actual behavior, but rather with deriving the macroeconomic implications for a alternative possibilities. The pension plan interacts with the economy and the population in a number of ways. Demographic variables may thus affect both the economic burden of a national pension plan and the ability of the economy to sustain the burden. The tax transfer process associated with the pension plan may have implications for national patterns of saving and consumption. The existence of a pension plan may have implications also for the size of the labor force, inasmuch as labor force participation rates may be affected. Changes in technology and the associated changes in average productivity levels bear directly on the size of the national income, and hence on the pension contribution base. The vehicle for the analysis is a hypothetical but broadly realistic simulation model of an economic- demographic system into which is inserted a national pension plan. All income, expenditure, and related aggregates are in real terms. The economy is basically neoclassical; full employment is assumed, output is generated by a Cobb-Douglas production process, and factors receive their marginal products. The model was designed for use in computer simulation experiments. The simulation results suggest a number of general conclusions. These may be summarized as follows; - The introduction of a national pension plan (funded system) tends to increase the rate of economic growth until cost exceeds revenue. - A scheme with full wage indexing is more expensive than one in which pensions are merely price indexed. - The rate of technical progress is not a critical element in determining the economic burden of the pension scheme. - Raising the rate of benefits affects its economic burden, and raising the age of eligibility may decrease the burden substantially. - The level of fertility is an element in determining the long-run burden. A sustained low fertility rate increases the proportion of the aged in total population and increases the burden of the pension plan. High fertility has inverse effects.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Postharvest Science and Technology of Agricultural Products Conference
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• 2004.10a
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• pp.67-72
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• 2004

Quality of fresh-cut tomato slices was compared during cold storage under various modified atmosphere packaging conditions. Chilling injury of slices in containers sealed with Film A was higher than with Film B; these films had oxygen transmission rates of 87.4 and 60.0 ml $h^{-1}\;m^{-2}\;atm^{-1}$ at $5^{\circ}C\;and\;99\%$ RH, respectively. While slices in containers with an initial atmospheric composition of air, $4\%\;CO_2+1\;or\;20\%\;O_2,\;8\%\;CO_2+1\;or\;20\%\;O_2,\;or\;12\%\;CO_2+20\%\;O_2$ showed fungal growth, slices in containers with $12\%\;CO_2+1\%\;O_2$ did not. Low ethylene in containers enhanced chilling injury. Modified atmosphere packaging provided good quality tomato slices with a shelf-life of 2 weeks or more at $5^{\circ}C$. Experiments were conducted to compare changes in quality of slices of red tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum Mill. 'Sunbeam') fruit from plants grown using black polyethylene or hairy vetch mulches under various foliar disease management systems including: no fungicide applications (NF), a disease forecasting model (Tom-Cast), and weekly fungicide applications (WF), during storage at $5^{\circ}C$ under a modified atmosphere. Slices were analyzed for firmness, soluble solids content (SSC), titratable acidity (TA), pH, electrolyte leakage, fungi, yeasts, and chilling injury. With both NF and Tom-Cast fungicide treatments, slices from tomato fruit grown with hairy vetch (Vicia villosa Roth) mulch were firmer than those from tomato fruit grown with black polyethylene mulch after 12 days storage. Ethylene production of slices from fruit grown using hairy vetch mulch under Tom-Cast was about 1.5- and 5-fold higher than that of slices from WF and NF fungicide treatments after 12 days, respectively. The percentage of water-soaked areas (chilling injury) for slices from tomato fruit grown using black polyethylene mulch under NF was over 7-fold that of slices from tomato fruit grown using hairy vetch under Tom-Cast. When stored at $20^{\circ}C$, slices from light-red tomato fruit grown with black polyethylene or hairy vetch mulches both showed a rapid increase in electrolyte leakage beginning 6 hours after slicing. However, slices from tomato fruit grown using the hairy vetch mulch tended to have lower electrolyte leakage than those grown with black polyethylene mulch. These results suggest that tomato fruit from plants grown using hairy vetch mulch may be more suitable for fresh-cut slices than those grown using black polyethylene mulch. Also, use of the disease forecasting model Tom-Cast, which can result in lower fungicide application than is currently used commercially, resulted in high quality fruit for fresh-cut processing. Experiments were conducted to determine if ethylene influences chilling injury, as measured by percentage of slices exhibiting water-soaked areas in fresh-cut tomato slices of 'Mountain Pride' and 'Sunbeam' tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum Mill.). Ethylene concentration in containers without ventilation significantly increased during storage at $5^{\circ}C$, whereas little or no accumulation of ethylene occurred in containers with one or six perforations. Chilling injury was greatest for slices in containers with six perforations, compared to slices in containers with one perforation, and was over 13-fold greater than that of slices in control containers with no perforations. An experiment was also performed to investigate the effectiveness of including an ethylene absorbent pad in containers on subsequent ethylene accumulation and chilling injury. While ethylene in the no-pad controls increased continually during storage of both 'Mountain Pride' and 'Sunbeam' tomatoes at $5^{\circ}C$ under modified atmosphere conditions, no increase in accumulation of ethylene was observed in containers containing ethylene absorbent pads throughout storage. The ethylene absorbent pad treatment resulted in a significantly higher percentage of chilling injury compared with the no-pad control. In studies aimed at inhibiting ethylene production using AVG during storage of slices, the concentration of ethylene in control containers (no AVG) remained at elevated levels throughout storage, compared to containers with slices treated with AVG. Chilling injury in slices treated with AVG was 5-fold greater than that of controls. Further, we tested the effect of ethylene pretreatment of slices on subsequent slice shelf-life and quality. In slices treated with ethylene (0, 0.1, 1, or $10\;{mu}L\;L^{-1}$) immediately after slicing, ethylene production in non-treated controls was greater than that of all other ethylene pre-treatments. However, pretreatment of slices 3 days after slicing resulted in a different pattern of ethylene production during storage. Ihe rate of ethylene production by slices treated with 1 L $L^{-1}$ ethylene 3 days after slicing was greater during storage than any of the other ethylene treatments. With slices pre-treated with ethylene, both immediately and 3 days after slicing, the rate of ethylene production tended to show an negative correlation with chilling injury. Chemical name used: 1-aminoethoxyvinylglycine (AVG).

• KOREAN JOURNAL OF CROP SCIENCE
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• v.62 no.4
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• pp.333-345
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• 2017

The potato tuber is known as a rich source of essential nutrients, used throughout the world. Although potato-breeding programs share some priorities, the major objective is to increase the genetic potential for yield through breeding or to eliminate hazards that reduce yield. Glycoalkaloids, which are considered a serious hazard to human health, accumulate naturally in potatoes during growth, harvesting, transportation, and storage. Here, we used the AMMI (additive main effects and multiplicative interaction) and GGE (Genotype main effect and genotype by environment interaction) biplot model, to evaluate tuber yield stability and glycoalkaloid content in six potato cultivars across three locations during 2012/2013. The environment on tuber yield had the greatest effect and accounted for 33.0% of the total sum squares; genotypes accounted for 3.8% and $G{\times}E$ interaction accounted for 11.1% which is the nest highest contribution. Conversely, the genotype on glycoalkaloid had the greatest effect and accounted for 82.4% of the total sum squares), whereas environment and $G{\times}E$ effects on this trait accounted for only 0.4% and 3.7%, respectively. Furthermore, potato genotype 'Superior', which covers most of the cultivated area, exhibited high yield performance with stability. 'Goun', which showed lower glycoalkaloid content, was the most suitable and desirable genotype. Results showed that, while tuber yield was more affected by the environment, glycoalkaloid content was more dependent on genotype. Further, the use of the AMMI and GGE biplot model generated more interactive visuals, facilitated the identification of superior genotypes, and suggested decisions on a variety of recommendations for specific environments.

• Korean Journal of Agricultural and Forest Meteorology
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• v.21 no.3
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• pp.208-220
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• 2019

The seasonality of leaf fall has important implications for understanding the response of trees' phenology to climate change. In this study, we quantified the leaf fall pattern with a model to estimate the timing and speed of leaf litter according to species and considered the nutrient use strategy of canopy species. In the autumns of 2015 and 2016, leaf litter was collected periodically using 36 litter-traps from the deciduous forests in Gwangneung and sorted by species. The seasonal leaf fall pattern was estimated using the non-linear regression model of Dixon. Additionally, the resorption rate was calculated by analyzing the nitrogen concentration of the leaf litter at each collection time. The leaf litter generally began in early October and ended in mid-November depending on the species. At the peak time (T50) of leaf fall, on average, Carpinus laxiflora was first, and Quercus serrata was last. The rate of leaf fall was fastest (18.6 days) for Sorbus alnifolia in 2016 and slowest (40.8 days) for C. cordata in 2015. The nitrogen resorption rates at T50 were 0.45% for Q. serrata and 0.48% for C. laxiflora, and the resorption rate in 2015 with less precipitation was higher than in 2016. Since falling of leaf litter is affected by environmental factors such as temperature, precipitation, photoperiod, and $CO_2$ during the period attached foliage, the leaf fall pattern and nitrogen resorption differed year by year depending on the species. If we quantify the fall phenomena of deciduous trees and analyze them according to various conditions, we can predict whether the changes in leaf fall timing and speed due to climate change will prolong or shorten the growth period of trees. In addition, it may be possible to consider how this affects their nutrient use strategy.

• Korean small business review
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• v.42 no.4
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• pp.69-102
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• 2020

Shedding new light on the research trend on entrepreneurial ecosystems in the 40-year history of the Asia Pacific Journal of Small Business, this study aims at exploring a potential measurement framework of ecological inputs and outputs in an entrepreneurial ecosystem that promotes entrepreneurship at geographical and spatial levels. As a result of the analysis of research on the entrepreneurial ecosystem in the journal, we found that prior studies emphasized the managerial importance of various ecological factors on the premise of possible causalities between the factors and entrepreneurship. However, empirical research to verify the premised causality has been underexplored yet. This literature gap may lead to unbalanced development of conceptual and case studies that identify requirements for successful entrepreneurial ecosystems based on experiential facts, thereby hindering the generalization of the research results for practical implications. In that there is a growing interest in creating and operating productive entrepreneurial ecosystems as an innovation engine that drives national and regional economic growth, it is necessary to explore and develop the measurement framework for ecological factors that can be used in future empirical research. Hereupon, we apply a conceptual model of 'input-output-outcome-impact' to categorize individual environmental factors identified in prior studies. Based on the model. We operationalize ecological input factors as the financial, intellectual, institutional, and social capitals, and ecological output factors as the establishment-based, innovation-based, and performance-based entrepreneurship. Also, we propose several longitudinal databases that future empirical research can use in analyzing the potential causality between the ecological input and output factors. The proposed framework of entrepreneurial ecosystems, which focuses on measuring ecological input and output factors, has a high application value for future research that analyzes the causality.

• Journal of Science and Technology Studies
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• v.6 no.1 s.11
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• pp.119-152
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• 2006

This paper deals with the historical development of research community in Korea. As the former studies of the korean scientific community show, the government supported institutes played an important role in the formation of research community. Therefore the theme of this study is concerned with the historical development of the government supported institutes and the features of their researcher group. In this paper following questions will be answered: How the social status of these researcher group is changed, what kind of response on social problems or national politics they had, and which characteristic they showed with regards to the identity problem. After the korean liberation the government institutes, such as the Chungang Kongop Yonguso(industrial research center)and the Korean Atomic Energy Research Institute, contributed to the development of the first generation of research group. However this research group could hardly identify themselves as researcher, because they spent much time on testing, evaluation or education. The identity problem is also resulted from the deficiency of authority as research institute. The status of researcher had no difference from that of civil servant. With the establishment of KIST the korean research community came into blossom. The government supported institutes, which were founded after the model of KIST, allowed quantitative and qualitative growth of research community. Thanks to the guarantee of institutional authority and the new reward system, the researcher could get respect and improve its social status. During this period the researcher volunteered to help the government policies. We can find often the nationalistic statements in the research community. During 1990s the research group demonstrated different behaviors and attitude toward the government. The nationalistic ideology disappeared. Instead of that, the research group criticized the government policies and took actions against the government. Those changes are related with the lowered position of government supported institutes.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.26 no.11
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• pp.1313-1319
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• 2016

Cancer is a complex disease heterogeneously composed of various types of cells including cancer stem-like cells responsible for relapse and chemoresistance in the tumor microenvironment. The conventional two-dimensional cell culture-based platform has critical limitations for representing the heterogeneity of cancer cells in the three-dimensional tumor niche in vivo. To overcome this insufficiency, three-dimensional cell culture methods in a scaffold-dependent or -free physical environment have been developed. In this study, we improved and simplified the HCT-8 colon cancer cell-based spheroid culture protocol and evaluated the relationship between cancer stemness and responses of chemosensitivity to 5- Fluorouracil (5-FU), a representative anticancer agent against colon cancer. Supplementation with defined growth factors in the medium and the culture dish of the regular surface with low attachment were required for the formation of constant-sized spheroids containing $CD44^+$ and $CD133^+$ colon cancer stem cells. The chemo-sensitivities of $CD44^+$ cancer stem cells in the spheroids were much lower than those of $CD44^-$ non-stem-like cancer cells, indicating that the chemoresistance to 5-FU is due to the stemness of colon cancer cells. Taken together, the inflammation and oncogenic gut environment-sensitive HCT-8 cell-based colon cancer spheroid culture and comparative evaluation using the simplified model would be an efficient and applicable way to estimate colon cancer stemness and pharmaceutical response to anticancer drugs in the realistic tumor niche.

• The Korean Journal of Food And Nutrition
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• v.15 no.2
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• pp.112-118
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• 2002

Sporulation in the fission yeast Schizosaccharomyces pombe has been regarded as an important model of cellular development and differentiation. S. pombe cells proliferate by mitosis and binary fission on growth medium. Deprivation of nutrients especially nitrogen sources, causes the cessation of mitosis and initiates sexual reproduction by matting between two sexually compatible cell types. Meiosis is then followed in a diploid cell in the absence of nitrogen source. DNA fragment complemented with the mutations of sporulation gene was isolated from the S. pombe gene library constructed in the vector, pDB 248' and designated as pDB(spo5)1. We futher analyzed six recombinant plasmids, pDB(spo5)2, pDB(spo5)3, pDB(spo5)4, pDB(spo5)5, pDB (spo5)6, pDB(spo5)7 and found each of these plasmids is able to rescue the spo5-2, spo5-3, spo5-4, spo5-5, spo5-6, spo5-7 mutations, respectively. Mapping of the integrated plasmid into the homologous site of the S. pombe chromosomes demonstrated that pDB(spo5)1, and pDB(spu5)Rl contained the spo5 gene. Transcripts of spo5 gene were analyzed by Northern hybridization. Two transcripts of 3.2 kb and 2.5kb were detected with 5kb Hind Ⅲ fragment containing a part of the spo5 gene as a probe. The small mRNA(2.5kb) appeared only when a wild-type strain was cultured in the absence of nitrogen source in which condition the large mRNA (3.2kb) was produced constitutively. Appearance of a 2.5kb spo5-mRNA depends upon the function of the meil, mei2 and mei3 genes.

• Asia-Pacific Journal of Business Venturing and Entrepreneurship
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• v.15 no.5
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• pp.245-259
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• 2020

The development of technology and the advent of a non-face-to-face society are expected to have a direct impact on job problems. In line with this phenomenon, the government and education and training institutions are coping with job problems through the start-up support policy while at the same time inducing the creation of innovative companies. In particular, youth start-up support can be expected not only to compensate for market failures, but also to promote high-growth start-ups. Based on this background of research, this study examined the competency of young entrepreneurs to start their own businesses, their entrepreneurial self-efficacy, and their impact on success and satisfaction of start-ups. Based on the theoretical research, the research theory and research model were derived by setting entrepreneurial self-efficacy as a mediating variable after reviewing the relation between the main elements of start-up competency of young start-up entrepreneurs and start-up performance. The Youth Entrepreneurship Competency was divided into four categories: Entrepreneurial Competencies, Technical Competencies, Management Competencies, and Creative Competencies, and the hypothesis was that each had a significant impact on the start-up performance through the mediating effect of entrepreneurial self-efficacy. A survey was conducted on young entrepreneurs in their 20s and 30s in Korea for empirical research, and the analysis results were as follows. First of all, the competency of young entrepreneurs to start their own businesses affects the success of start-ups and the satisfaction of start-ups. There are differences in the competencies, and both technical and management competencies can be seen through the entrepreneurial self-efficacy to enhance the success of start-ups and the satisfaction of start-ups. Entrepreneurial competency was fully mediated to start-up success and partially mediated to start-up satisfaction. In the case of creative competency, there were only direct effects on successful start-ups, and the satisfaction of start-ups showed partial mediating effects. Thus, seven of the eight detailed hypotheses were supported and one was rejected. Based on the above findings, the implications were presented.