• Korea Trade Review
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• v.47 no.4
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• pp.53-68
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• 2022

It has great significance to estimate CIF-FOB margins of international trade. It certainly helps develop statistics on transport costs of international trade and provides basic data for econometric analysis of transport costs. It also contributes much to our standing the correlation between the margins and trade partners' geographical distance as well as one between the margins and trading products. However, the quality issue of international trade statistics renders it very difficult to derive trustworthy CIF-FOB margin estimates. Utilizing various analytical approaches, this study intended to acquire credible estimates of CIF-FOB margins for Korea's total imports and for country/product specific imports data. Major findings are as follows. First, the average of CIF-FOB margins of Korea's total imports is 7.3% and is generally declining. Second, country level analysis provides credible estimates for CIF-FOB margins of Korea's imports from four partners (Japan, the US, Australia, and Brazil). The differences in margins among these four countries are caused by geographical distance and characteristics of traded products. Third, product level analysis reveals that the margins of gold and passenger vehicles are fairly low while those of primary products tend to be high.

• Asian Journal of Innovation and Policy
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• v.11 no.1
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• pp.69-86
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• 2022

This study examines performances and varieties of export of IP sensitive products across emerging countries, namely, India and China by utilizing 6-digit disaggregated product-level export data. Further, this study constructs trade margins - extensive and intensive margins to understand trade potential and different trade patterns, specifically, exporters' productivity, product diversification, and volume of trade during 2007-2016. This study finds India's performance is comparable with China at the extensive margin though the gap between India and China is very wide in terms of the total value of exports and the intensive margin. China majorly exports more expensive electronics and manufacturing-related products as opposed to relatively cheaper medicinal and synthetic products, the total value of exports from China to the rest of the world is much higher than that of India. This study suggests that India is exporting IP-sensitive products to lower-income countries sufficiently, but the IP-sensitive exports to higher-income countries are still lagging.

• East Asian Economic Review
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• v.16 no.1
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• pp.67-96
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• 2012

Previous literature has looked merely into the effect of trade facilitation on aggregate trade, or analyzed trade growth using the extensive and intensive margins. This paper blends these two lines of research for a detailed analysis of the impact of trade facilitation on trade by using highly disaggregated trade data and a more composite index for measuring trade facilitation, also taking into account the export sectors and income levels of countries. As a result, this paper finds that developing countries with higher trade facilitation levels export a wider range of products, especially primary goods. While trade facilitation levels do not have a statistically significant association with trade at the intensive margin in general, further analysis shows that the impact of advanced trade facilitation is the largest for lower middle-income countries in primary goods trade at the intensive margin, and the largest for upper middle-income countries in manufactured goods trade at the intensive margin. More importantly, our policy simulation results suggest that trade facilitation-related policy reforms enable developing countries to benefit from increased trade in manufactured goods at the extensive margin.

• Korea Trade Review
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• v.48 no.1
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• pp.307-329
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• 2023

This paper studies how the free trade agreements (FTAs) have changed the dynamics of Korea's imports since 1996. Specifically, the dynamic regression analysis on the transition of trade liberalization discovers three main findings: (1) import values of Korea increase gradually as FTAs enter into force; (2) the extensive margins of import work as a major source of the trade effect in the transition episode of FTAs; (3) the extensive margins of import tend to increase even before FTAs enter into force. This noble forward-looking effect suggests some potential foreign exporters or exporting goods enter the Korean market, especially when FTAs negotiation starts. It supports the early entry behavior of potential exporters found in recent international trade literature.

• JSTS:Journal of Semiconductor Technology and Science
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• v.14 no.2
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• pp.184-188
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• 2014

There is a trade-off between read stability and writability under a full-/half-select condition in static random access memory (SRAM). Another trade-off in the minimum operating voltage between the read and write operation also exists. A new peripheral circuit for SRAM arrays, called a variation sensor, is demonstrated here to balance the read/write margins (i.e., to optimize the read/write trade-off) as well as to lower the minimum operation voltage for both read and write operations. A test chip is fabricated using an industrial 45-nm bulk complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) process to demonstrate the operation of the variation sensor. With the variation sensor, the word-line voltage is optimized to minimize the trade-off between read stability and writability ($V_{WL,OPT}=1.055V$) as well as to lower the minimum operating voltage for the read and write operations simultaneously ($V_{MIN,READ}=0.58V$, $V_{MIN,WRITE}=0.82V$ for supply voltage $(V_{DD})=1.1V$).

• Korea Trade Review
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• v.46 no.4
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• pp.113-130
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• 2021

This study aims to analyze the WTO-inconsistent aspects of the single rate presumption of the United States in establishing and imposing anti-dumping duties for non-market economy exporters. By examining the drafting history in the GATT/WTO negotiations and the practice of the single rate presumption for non-market economies by the United States from a comparative perspective, it critically addresses the inherent lack of pertinent disciplines under the framework of the WTO Anti-Dumping Agreement in establishing dumping margins for exporters of non-market economies. The WTO Dispute Settlement Body leaves open the possibility of allowing the investigating authority to consider multiple exporters and the exporting country as a single entity. However, the study argues that it is difficult in practice for the investigating authority to make a single-entity decision in a WTO-consistent manner. The study also finds an incompatibility in the notion between establishing dumping margins for 'individual' exporters and 'non-market economies.' A proper discipline for non-market economies under the multilateral anti-dumping norm needs to be reconsidered in the era of persistent trade conflicts between the United States and China.

• East Asian Economic Review
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• v.22 no.1
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• pp.75-114
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• 2018

A two-part model is estimated to see if increasing returns and comparative advantage are empirically equivalent in explaining intra-industry trade. The model has separate mechanisms for determining the occurrence and the extent of intra-industry trade. Estimation is based on an augmented Grubel-Lloyd index derived from the data set on SITC 7 goods at the 3-digit SITC (Revision 4) for country pairs in which Korea is fixed as a source country. Estimation results show that both increasing returns and comparative advantage can explain the occurrence and the extent of intra-industry trade.

• The Journal of Industrial Distribution & Business
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• v.11 no.2
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• pp.25-31
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• 2020

Purpose: The AEO (Authorized Economic Operator) program, created in 2001 in the United States due to 9.11 terrorist's attack, fundamentally changed the trade environment. Korea, which introduced AEO program in 2009, has become one of the world's top countries in the program by ranking 6th in the number of AEO certified companies and the world's No. 1 in MRA (Mutual Recognition Agreement) conclusions. In this paper, we examined what trade-economic and non-economic effects the AEO program and its MRA have in Korea. Research design, data and methodology: In this study we developed a model to verify the impact between utilization of AEO and trade-economic effects of the AEO and its MRA. After analyzing the validity and reliability of the model through Structural Equation Model we conducted a survey to request AEO companies to respond their experience on the effects of AEO program and MRA. As a result, 196 responses were received from 176 AEO companies and utilized in the analysis. Results: With regard to economic effects, the AEO program and the MRA have not been directly linked to financial performance, such as increased sales, increased export and import volumes, reduced management costs, and increased operating profit margins. However, it was analyzed that the positive effects of supply chain management were evident, such as strengthening self-security, monitoring and evaluating risks regularly, strengthening cooperation with trading companies, enhancing cargo tracking capabilities, and reducing the time required for export and import. Conclusions: When it comes to the trade-economic effects of AEO program and its MRA, AEO companies did not satisfy with direct effects, such as increased sales and volume of imports and exports, reduced logistics costs. However, non-economic effects, such as reduced time in customs clearance, freight tracking capability, enhanced security in supply chain are still appears to be big for them. In a rapidly changing trade environment the AEO and MRA are still useful. Therefore the government needs to encourage non-AEO companies to join the AEO program, expand MRA conclusion with AEO adopted countries especially developing ones and help AEO companies make good use of AEO and MRA.

• Journal of Korea Trade
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• v.25 no.1
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• pp.89-111
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• 2021

Purpose - The U.S. Trade Preference Expansion Act (TPEA) of 2015 enables the US Department of Commerce (DOC) to inflate dumping margin when the particular market situation (PMS) exists in the exporter's home market. DOC applied PMS provisions to the steel products from Korea. This paper analyzes whether DOC's calculation by using the regression analysis is consistent with WTO rules. Design/methodology - This paper analyzes the PMS application in law and regression analysis that extends the data period from 10 years to 18 years using the same economic model with DOC, and changes the country group according to the quantities of steelmaking capacity. Findings - Results show that DOC's argument conflating the sales-based with cost-based PMS designed to inflate dumping margins might not be consistent with WTO Antidumping Agreement Article 2.2 and 2.2.1.1 in which costs shall normally be calculated on the basis of records kept by the exporter, providing generally accepted accounting principles and reasonably reflection of the costs and PMS that exists in the Korean steel product markets. Even if it will be consistent, DOC's calculated margin by the regression analysis using a 10-year data is a big gap (5 times) compared with an 18-year data projection and different countries' data through the same methodology, which is a huge gap of regression coefficient. It means that dumping margin would be very wide range from 7.8% to 38.54% and unstable to calculate. Inflating dumping margin by DOC using regression analysis would not only be inconsistent with WTO rules, but also projection result is unreliable. Originality/value - Literature papers have mainly analyzed WTO law itself. This paper however, would be the first attempt to analyze the DOC's new way of dumping margin calculation in both manners of law and an empirical methodology perspective at the same time.

• Journal of Korea Trade
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• v.23 no.6
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• pp.131-144
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• 2019

Purpose - The purpose of this study was to investigate market power of soybeans exported by the United States to Korea. Particularly, this paper considered dichotomous characteristics of genetically modified (GM) soybeans and non-GM soybeans and conducted empirical analysis of these two segregated soybean markets to understand key tenets of market power in international soybean trade. Design/methodology - The difference in market power between GM and non-GM soybeans was analyzed using Residual Demand Elasticity (RDE) and Residual Supply Elasticity (RSE) models over the period of 2008~2018. RDE and RSE models under an imperfect competition condition were used to estimate market margins and determine whether GM and non-GM exporters or importers exercised market power in the destination market. Findings - Empirical results suggested that the U.S. had a market power on both GM and non-GM soybean exports. GM exports had greater market power than non-GM exports (14% vs. 9%). By contrast, Korea showed an inability to grab market margin or exert market power in soybean imports. Both export supply by the U.S. and import demand by Korea were found to be more responsive to price changes of GM soybeans than to prices changes of non-GM soybeans. This might be due to a self-interested, profit-seeking strategy by the exporter and many concerned consumers regarding potential adverse effects of GMOs in the importing country. Originality/value - This paper fills the literature gap by exploiting market power in both GM and non-GM markets with explicit consideration of price correlations between GM and non-GM soybeans in Korea. A number of existing studies have provided evidence for market power broadly embedded in international commodity trade. However, studies focusing on Korean markets are limited. No study has explored the country's soybean trade. Furthermore, the majority of prior studies have almost exclusively focused on the market power from a standpoint of exporting countries without discussing importers' market structure. This paper also sought to understand potentially distinguished patterns of market power between GM and non-GM markets.