• Journal of Korean Society on Water Environment
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• v.37 no.4
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• pp.263-274
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• 2021

This study presents the achievements and limitations of the voluntary-based Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) through statistical analysis of water quality monitoring data and performance assessments of TMDL plans implemented in the Gyeongan watershed. The results clearly showed that responsible local governments complied the allocated TMDL and the designated water quality goals were successfully achieved in the required period. This was possible because the Ministry of Environment provided innovative incentives, such as, relaxations of the existing tight land-use regulations and full-scale financial aids for constructing and operating public treatment facilities to draw local government voluntary participation. However, a couple of problems which decreased the effectiveness and efficiency of the voluntary TMDL were identified. The different TMDL implementation schedules between upstream (Yongin) and downstream (Gwangju) governments caused delay in water quality improvement and exaggerated TMDL allocation to the local development which made excessive investment in the treatment facilities. Although it is not directly related to the voluntary scheme, technical methods for establishing and assessing the water quality goals should be improved so that the effects of flow conditions on water quality are properly assessed. We expect that results of this case study contribute to developing a more effective voluntary-based scheme for the implementation of the so-called 'tributary TMDL' in the future.

• The Journal of Asian Finance, Economics and Business
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• v.7 no.12
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• pp.109-114
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• 2020

The aim of this study is to develop basic artificial neural network models in forecasting the in-sample gross domestic product (GDP) of Malaysia. GDP is one of the main indicators in presenting the macro economic condition of a country as set by the world authority bodies such as the World Bank. Hence, this study uses an artificial neural network-based approach to make predictions concerning the economic growth of Malaysia. This method has been proposed due to its ability to overcome multicollinearity among variables, as well as the ability to cope with non-linear problems in Malaysia's growth data. The selected inputs and outputs are based on the previous literatures as well as the economic growth theory. Therefore, the selected inputs are exports, imports, private consumption, government expenditure, consumer price index (CPI), inflation rate, foreign direct investment (FDI) and money supply, which includes M1 and M2. Whilst, the output is real gross domestic product growth rate. The results of this study showed that the neural network method gives the smallest value of mean error which is 0.81 percent with a total difference of 0.70 percent. This implies that the neural network model is appropriate and is a relevant method in forecasting the economic growth of Malaysia.

• The Journal of Asian Finance, Economics and Business
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• v.7 no.6
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• pp.287-296
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• 2020

The study investigates the relationship and influence between religiosity, reward, and engagement in the public administration sector, both directly and causally via moderation. This study involved one hundred and twenty-three respondents in three local government organizations in Malang City, East Java Province, Indonesia, namely, the Malang City General Hospital, the Population and Civil Registry Office, and the Investment Office. The sampling method uses stratified random sampling from the total population of civil servants in Malang in the three institutions. The data analysis model of this study uses a quantitative approach with a unit of data analysis using the path analysis method. The analytical tools used are smart-PLS and SPSS. The results reveal that the direct combined effect of reward and religiosity has a positive and significant influence on the engagement. However, moderation between reward and commitment, which is bridged by religiosity, does not show positive and significant results. The non-positive relationship shown by testing moderation concludes that there is a separation of purpose between the portion of religiosity in the world of work, where religiosity in this study is only described as part of the concept of worship, and the relationship between the person and his God.

• Korean System Dynamics Review
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• v.7 no.2
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• pp.57-80
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• 2006

Nuclear technology made a great contribution to the national economy and society by localization of nuclear power plant design, and by stabilization of electricity price, etc. It is very important to conduct the retrospective analysis for the nuclear technology contribution to the national economy and society, but it is more important to conduct prospective analysis for the nuclear technology contribution. The term "technology value" is often used in the prospective analysis to value the result of technology development. There are various definitions of technology value, but generally it means the increment of future revenue or the reduction of future cost by technology development. These technology valuation methods are widely used in various fields (information technology or energy technology, etc). The main objective of this research is to develop valuation methodology that represents unique characteristics of nuclear power technology. The valuation methodology that incorporates market share changes of generation technologies was developed. The technology valuation model which consists of five modules (electricity demand forecast module, technology development module, market share module, electricity generation module, total cost module) to incorporate market share changes of generation technologies was developed. The nuclear power technology value assessed by this technology valuation model was 3 times more than the value assessed by the conventional method. So it was confirmed that it is very important to incorporates market share changes of generation technologies. The valuation results of nuclear power technology in this study can be used as policy data for ensuring the benefits of nuclear power R&D (Research and Development) investment.

• Proceedings of the KIEE Conference
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• 2007.07a
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• pp.574-575
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• 2007

This paper proposes a method for choosing the best transmission system expansion plan using nodal/bus delivery marginal rate criterion ($BMR_k$) defined newly in this paper. The objective method minimizes a total cost which is an investment budget for constructing new transmission lines subject to the $BMR_k$ which means a nodal deterministic reliability level requirement at specified load point. The proposed method models the transmission system expansion problem as an integer programming problem. It solves for the optimal strategy using a branch and bound method that utilizes a network flow approach and the maximum flow-minimum cut set theorem. Test results on an existing 21-bus system are included in the paper. It demonstrated the suitability of the proposed method for solving the transmission system expansion planning problem in competitive electricity market environment.

• The Journal of Korean Academy of Prosthodontics
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• v.52 no.1
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• pp.18-26
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• 2014

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to estimate the cost of dental implant using the bottom-up approach with the current data from dental clinics. Materials and methods: In this study, direct and indirect costs required for each treatment were calculated using the bottom-up approach. In the bottom-up costing, the average monthly total cost of dental clinic includes labor and material costs, administrative expenses, medical malpractice costs, and opportunity costs of invested capital. For the dental implant cost components, those include direct costs (labor costs, laboratory costs, material costs, depreciation or other operating costs), indirect costs (administrative costs), and the opportunity costs of investment for dental clinic. Results: Dental implant costs of metal crown, porcelain crown and over-denture were 1,449,000 won, 1,583,000 won, and 2,471,000 won respectively. The proportion of cost components was as follows. The labor cost were 50%, and material, administrative and other cost were 33%, 15% and 2%, respectively. For direct, indirect and investment cost, the ratio were 83%, 15% and 2%, respectively. Conclusion: The labor costs were evaluated to comprise largest proportion (about 50%, 730,000 won). Dental implant cost using Bottom-up costing was 1,450,000 won for metal crown and 1,580,000 won for porcelain crown.

• Korean Chemical Engineering Research
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• v.56 no.4
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• pp.496-523
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• 2018

The objective of this study is to evaluate the economic feasibility of two fast pyrolysis and biooil upgrading (FPBU) plants including feed drying, fast pyrolysis by fluidized-bed, biooil recovery, hydro-processing for biooil upgrading, electricity generation, and wastewater treatment. The two FPBU plants are Case 1 of an FPBU plant with steam methane reforming (SMR) for $H_2$ generation (FPBU-HG, 20% yield), and Case 2 of an FPBU with external $H_2$ supply (FPBUEH, 25% yield). The process flow diagrams (PFDs) for the two plants were constructed, and the mass and energy balances were calculated, using a commercial process simulator (ASPEN Plus). A four-level economic potential approach (4-level EP) was used for techno-economic analysis (TEA) under the assumption of sawdust 100 t//d containing 40% water, 30% equity, capital expenditure equal to the equity, $H_2$ price of $1050/ton, and hydrocarbon yield from dried sawdust equal to 20 and 25 % for Case 1 and 2, respectively. TCI (total capital investment), TPC (total production cost), ASR (annual sales revenue), and MFSP (minimum fuel selling price) of Case 1 were $22.2 million, $3.98 million/yr, $4.64 million/yr, and $1.56/l, respectively. Those of Case 2 were $16.1 million, $5.20 million/yr, $5.55 million/yr, and $1.18/l, respectively. Both ROI (return on investment) and PBP (payback period) of Case 1(FPBU-HG) and Case 2(FPBU-EH) were the almost same. If the plant capacity increases into 1,500 t/d for Case 1 and Case 2, ROI would be improved into 15%/yr.

• International Area Studies Review
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• v.14 no.1
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• pp.299-319
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• 2010

This thesis analyzed that which countries won the Olympic medals more efficiently at the Olympic Games. Unlike the previous studies, I measured efficiency under the CRS, found implications for investment to improve sports skills through understanding the characteristics of sports race. A methods for research is a DEA-based approach which measures efficiency by using the data only, not assuming the parameters. The inputs are total population and GDP, the output is Olympic medals at 2004 Athens Olympic Games and 2006 Turin Winter Olympic Games. I applied different weights based on the medal colors. The results showed the tendencies that the larger the scales of total population and GDP were, the lower efficient values were. These tendencies imply that sports skills are related with the law of diminishing returns and international convergence. According to these phenomenons, surging investments for sports performance are hard to get proper justification. In the case of limited resources, investing uniformly in various sport entries is more productive than in just one or two sport entries.

• Asia-Pacific Journal of Business
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• v.11 no.3
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• pp.63-77
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• 2020

Purpose - The purpose of this study is to examine the effects of personal characteristics, loan characteristics, and interest rate characteristics of 2,653 borrowers on the delinquency possibility. In doing so, this study applies both multiple regression and logistic regression models to the data of credit unions in the city of Daegu. Design/Methodology/Approach - The major results of multiple regression analysis using SPSS are as follows. Findings - As for the results of testing the significance of the regression coefficients, it has been found that among the personal characteristics variables membership, credit rating, credit rating changes, and LTV have significant positive (+) effects on the delinquency possibility. Also it has been shown that among the loan characteristics variables loan amount, loan balance, total debt amount, collateral type, collateral amount, and repayment method have significant positive (+) effects on the delinquency possibility. Furthermore it has been found that among the interest rate characteristics variables both overdue interest rate and interest rate spread have positive (+) effects on the delinquency possibility. However, it has been shown that among the personal characteristics variables equity and membership do not have significant effects on the delinquency possibility, and that normal interest rate among the interest rate characteristics variables also do not have a significant effect on the delinquency possibility. Research Implications - By systematically analyzing the variables affecting delinquency possibility based on the results of this study, credit unions might get positive help in improving the system of managing receivables. Furthermore, the results of this study could be extended and applied to other types of financial institutions, so that financial institutions in general will also get some help to systematically manage the delinquency possibility.

• Asia-Pacific Journal of Business
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• v.12 no.1
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• pp.151-163
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• 2021

Purpose - The break-even point refers to the point where total profit and total cost coincide, and from this point on, the entrepreneur's decision-making takes a different route. Strategic decisions can be made for more efficient operation and eventually for more likelihood for growth and sustainability if a startup figures out when it recoups the investment and switches to a net profit. Design/methodology/approach - 748 creativity and skill-based sole proprietors in manufacturing industry were examined to demonstrate the effect of the entrepreneur's entrepreneurial experience and education level, the business launch preparation time, or the self-financing on the achievement of break-even point. Findings - While the business launch preparation time lowered the likelihood of reaching a break-even point, self-financing increased the likelihood. As a result of further analysis by subdividing into subgroups according to skill level, only the business launch preparation time was statistically significant in the highly skilled industries. In the low skilled industries, in addition to the business launch preparation time, the CEO's education level and the self-financing were statistically significant. Research implications or Originality - The longer the business launch preparation time, the higher the start-up cost, which increases the burden of initial cost recovery, and the agile response to market changes is thereby delayed, resulting in the business idea losing its appeal. Self-financing not only provides stability and strong motivation for the business operation but also promotes careful spending which contributes to the achievement of break-even point. In particular, it is found that practical experience is more useful than theoretical knowledge in low skilled industries. Due to the limitation of secondary data based on the recollection, the time required to reach a break-even point, percentage of financing sources, etc. may include cognitive errors. In addition, variables are not included that explain the characteristics of creativity and skill-based sole proprietorship, so it is necessary to exercise caution with the actual application.