• East Asian Economic Review
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• v.26 no.4
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• pp.279-304
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• 2022

This paper quantitatively analyzes the current status of North Korean consumer payment instruments through a questionnaire survey of 292 North Korean defectors. In the 2010s, it was found that the payment experience ratio of domestic currency cash and grain decreased, while the payment experience ratio of foreign currency cash increased. The use of foreign currency reached a stage where it was spread not only as a store of value but also as a medium of exchange. However, the most frequently used payment instrument by North Korean consumers was still domestic currency cash. By region, in inland urban areas both domestic currency cash and U.S. dollars are used and in the North Korea-China border region both domestic currency cash and Chinese yuan are used, while in inland rural areas dollarization does not occur because both domestic currency cash and grain are used. Meanwhile, despite the stable price trend during 2013-2019, the dollarization hysteresis effect is appearing, and both the purchasing power risk theory and the network externality theory are considered to have explanatory power for the cause. The results of this paper suggest that as dollarization is intensifying, it is expected that more costs such as shortages of commodities will be incurred than in the past if North Korea's de-dollarization policy is reimplemented. Also, in the case of domestic currency cards, which the North Korean authorities introduced in 2015 as part of a means of financial reform, this paper suggests that it may continue to be difficult for domestic currency cards to normalize official finance under the dollarization hysteresis.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Clothing and Textiles
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• v.48 no.3
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• pp.433-450
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• 2024

Through the recent pandemic, this study examined the theory of awe, which explains that external crises affect people's value systems and consequential behaviors. During the pandemic, some consumers expressed a growing interest in equity, while others pursued the consumption of materialistic items, such as luxurious fashion goods. According to the theory of awe, both of these phenomena could be coping responses to the crisis. Based on this, we attempted to understand the psychological processes behind the pandemic's effect on these two different consumers value systems thereby influencing sustainable consumption intentions: one through the new ecological paradigm (NEP) that emphasizes consumers' increased consciousness, and the other through materialism that emphasizes consumers' self-centered side. The results obtained from a survey of 382 U.S. consumers revealed that the degree of pandemic experience increased consumers' NEP and materialism, which also increased their economic and ethical CSR expectations. These CSR expectations then enhanced consumers' sustainable consumption intentions. As sustainable consumption and CSR are important agendas for the fashion industry, this study will provide useful insights for researchers and practitioners in the fashion field.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Library and Information Science
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• v.45 no.2
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• pp.415-437
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• 2011

The increased interest in consumer health information(CHI) has brought about a rapid increase in CHI resources. There are diverse means for obtaining such information, and one CHI acquisition route is the public library. In the U.S. public libraries, the demand for CHI reference services is increasing, and a variety of projects to promote these services are in progress. On the other hand, Korean public library services for CHI is at a very basic level, and thus a very small amount of such research could be found. This study drew suggestions from a literature review of research studies in the U.S. and Canada, and analyzed public library CHI services in Korea. The findings are as follows. 1) Only 17.25% of public libraries in Korea provided CHI service, and it evidences very low needs and awareness for CHI services in Korea. 2) Only three kinds of services including CHI-related websites, users training, and promotional and marketing were provided, and only 13(1.74%) of libraries surveyed offered more than two kinds of services. 3) There were no CHI librarians, nor did any librarians receive CHI-related education. 4) ILL services, outreach services, and cooperation with CHI- and medical-related institutions for CHI services were not found. Therefore, this study suggests that more research on delivery strategies for CHI services should be conducted in the future.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.21 no.12
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• pp.456-468
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• 2020

This exploratory study, related to the introduction of Western-style family doctors, was conducted based on a comparative survey of medical care satisfaction in foreign residents of the U.S. and Canada based on a consumer-centered perspective. As a result of statistical analysis based on 493 collections of empirical data from 2016 to 2018, the main conclusions of this study are as follows. First, there was no evidence that satisfaction with US and Canadian family doctors was higher than the satisfaction with Korean primary care physicians. Second, satisfaction with Korean primary care physicians was high with regard to treatment, promptness, etc., and there was no evidence that foreign family doctor systems were better in terms of sufficient counseling and explanation. Third, overseas Koreans in the United States showed less satisfaction with their family doctors than Koreans in Canada. Fourth, overseas Koreans preferred to visit a hospital directly, without a referral from the family doctor. In conclusion, there is insufficient evidence showing that satisfaction with family doctors in the U.S. and Canada is higher than satisfaction with primary care doctors in Korea. Therefore, a more in-depth, additional analysis on the Western-style family doctor is needed before introducing such a system in Korea.

• The Korean Journal of Air & Space Law and Policy
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• v.32 no.1
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• pp.139-175
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• 2017

The Assembly plenary session on December 3, 2017 passed a Product Liability Amendment bill that introduced clauses concerning consumer burden of proof and punitive damage reimbursement. More specifically, these newly approved provisions will reduce the burden of proof placed on consumers and levy triple punitive damage on suppliers. Significant increases in the number of product-liability lawsuit and the number of related insurance contracts are expected. Since military aircraft are designed for operational purpose(seeking greater combat effectiveness over greater safety) and used in high-risk environment, it is practically impossible to obtain an affordable product-liability insurance, Without having any backup plan, military aircraft manufacturers directly face all sort of liability risks under Product Liability Act, Warrant Liability Act and Non-Performance of Contract Act. The U.S. experienced similar problems when they first implemented their product-liability law in 1970s. There had been a big dispute among legal practitioner, insurance professionals and scholars concerning military aircraft manufacturer's liability. In order to settle the issue, the U.S. Supreme Court has established a new precedent of Government Contractor Defense(GCD). The U.S. government also included an indemnity clause for military aircraft manufacturers in their FMS Contract with the Korean government. Likewise, Korean military aircraft manufacturers should 1) clearly understand their current position that they cannot afford expensive product-liability insurance and the cost is not accounted in the military procurement calculation, 2) estimate potential liability risks with the ongoing overseas export expansion in mind, 3) set up appropriate risk management measures through regulatory reform and policy development.

• Asia Marketing Journal
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• v.16 no.1
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• pp.35-69
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• 2014

The impact of competition on pricing has been studied in the context of counterfactual merger analyses where expected optimal prices in a hypothetical monopoly are compared with observed prices in an oligopolistic market. Such analyses would typically assume static decision making by consumers and firms and thus have been applied mostly to data obtained from consumer packed goods such as cereal and soft drinks. However such static modeling approach is not suitable when decision makers are forward looking. When it comes to the markets for durable products with indirect network effects, consumer purchase decisions and firm pricing decisions are inherently dynamic as they take into account future states when making purchase and pricing decisions. Researchers need to take into account the dynamic aspects of decision making both in the consumer side and in the supplier side for such markets. Firms in a two-sided market typically subsidize one side of the market to exploit the indirect network effect. Such pricing behaviors would be more prevalent in competitive markets where firms would try to win over the battle for standard. While such qualitative expectation on the relationship between pricing behaviors and competitive structures could be easily formed, little empirical studies have measured the extent to which the distinct pricing structure in two-sided markets depends on the competitive structure of the market. This paper develops an empirical model to measure the impact of competition on optimal pricing of durable products under indirect network effects. In order to measure the impact of exogenously determined competition among firms on pricing, we compare the equilibrium prices in the observed oligopoly market to those in a hypothetical monopoly market. In computing the equilibrium prices, we account for the forward looking behaviors of consumers and supplier. We first estimate a demand function that accounts for consumers' forward-looking behaviors and indirect network effects. And then, for the supply side, the pricing equation is obtained as an outcome of the Markov Perfect Nash Equilibrium in pricing. In doing so, we utilize numerical dynamic programming techniques. We apply our model to a data set obtained from the U.S. video game console market. The video game console market is considered a prototypical case of two-sided markets in which the platform typically subsidizes one side of market to expand the installed base anticipating larger revenues in the other side of market resulting from the expanded installed base. The data consist of monthly observations of price, hardware unit sales and the number of compatible software titles for Sony PlayStation and Nintendo 64 from September 1996 to August 2002. Sony PlayStation was released to the market a year before Nintendo 64 was launched. We compute the expected equilibrium price path for Nintendo 64 and Playstation for both oligopoly and for monopoly. Our analysis reveals that the price level differs significantly between two competition structures. The merged monopoly is expected to set prices higher by 14.8% for Sony PlayStation and 21.8% for Nintendo 64 on average than the independent firms in an oligopoly would do. And such removal of competition would result in a reduction in consumer value by 43.1%. Higher prices are expected for the hypothetical monopoly because the merged firm does not need to engage in the battle for industry standard. This result is attributed to the distinct property of a two-sided market that competing firms tend to set low prices particularly at the initial period to attract consumers at the introductory stage and to reinforce their own networks and eventually finally to dominate the market.

• Proceedings of the Technology Innovation Conference
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• 1996.12a
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• pp.196-238
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• 1996

Because global innovation-based competition is increasing and the amount of R&D expenditures becomes severely large, it is more likely that mergers and collaborative ventures tend to affect adversely to R&D competition Against this trend, enforcing agency of advanced countries including U.S.A are reassessing certain aspects of competition policy toward mergers and acquisition to ensure that procompetitive, efficiency-enhancing transactions are permitted. The role of competition policy is developing and appropriating new technology and protects the risks involved in the licensing contract of technologies. The role of intellectual property rights is also contrived to promote technological innovation and to increase consumer welfare. That is to say, dynamic efficiency of intellectual property rights includes (l) increase in social welfare and (2) promotion of growth by improvement of quality through invention and commercialization of new product as well as enhanced productive efficiency thorough appropriating new process. Because intellectual property rights are licensed to make use of complementary inputs, the rule of reason approach seems proper when applying antitrust law. To analyze the "Antitrust Guidelines for the Licensing and Acquisition of Intellectual Property"by DOJ and FTC in U.S.A, the author surveyed pros and cons on innovation market approach. This approach will only be used in a narrow range of situations when the evidence is solid, concentration numbers are extremely high, and the agencies can predict with a high degree of certainty that the merger will likely lead either to a slowing in the pace of innovation or the loss of an alternative research track that is likely to lead to a product beneficial to consumers. The author introduces the studies on licensing contract of intellectual property rights and competition polices on behalf of potential inquirers. Also the author invites the interdisciplinary researchers to analyze further with a model on the aspects of the "Notice 1995-10 for Types and Criteria on Unfair Transaction Behavior in International Contracts" by Fair Trade Committee of Korea.

• Korean Business Review
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• v.13
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• pp.207-221
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• 2000

In this era of changing system, we may learn lesson from newly developed Uniform Electronic Transation Act(UETA) in 1999. Korea has its counterpart as the Basic Electronic Transaction Act and Electronic Signature Act made by 1999. While UETA stresses on transaction law between individuals, that of Korean stresses on the role of government in electronic transaction. Both laws have the common definitions as electronic record, electronic signature, however, UETA has its own definitions such as automated transaction, computer program, electronic agent, information, information processing system, and security procedure. Especially, transferable record in section 16 is one of the most unique concept which Korean law does not provide. Korean government is planning to introduce electronic note in the near future, which will make unprecedented reform in Korean financial industry. Since Korean law does not have such a concept as electronic note, revision of the law is expected soon. Korean law has its specialty which puts stress on cyber mall, authentication agency, and consumer protection. In U.S., the interpretation of law by court is important when they have disputes according to common law traditon. Studies on cases on disputes in U.S. is needed most for Korean application.

• Food Science and Industry
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• v.49 no.3
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• pp.55-61
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• 2016

Even though the food safety system in the United States is one of the best in the world, many millions of people become sick and thousands die from foodborne illnesses caused by any of a number of microbial pathogens and other contaminants. Large recalls of United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the Food Drug and Administration (US FDA)-regulated food products due to findings of E. coli O157:H7, Listeria, Salmonella, and other problems occur each year. As the US FDA Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) passed in 2011, FSMA will require food processing, manufacturing, shipping, and other regulated entities to conduct an analysis of the most likely safety hazards and to design and implement risk-based controls to reduce or eliminate these hazards. FSMA also mandates increased scrutiny of food imports, which account for a growing share of U.S. food consumption; food import shipments will have to be accompanied by documentation showing that they can meet safety standards that are at least equivalent to those in the U.S. On September 17, 2015, the US FDA published final rules for Preventive Controls for Human and Animal Food and, continuing into 2016, the US FDA intends to finalize the remaining five rules it has proposed to implement FSMA. Among these rules, this article will review and discuss Preventive Controls for Human Food Rule and its components, and suggest how to comply with these FSMA rules as foreign human food and ingredients suppliers to the US.

• Korean Journal of Human Ecology
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• v.21 no.2
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• pp.349-362
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• 2012

This paper explores differences demonstrated by changes of consumers' clothing expenditure in Korea and the United States since the mid-1990s. Evidence for this study was extrapolated from annual data provided by the Household Expenditure Survey, which was carried out in Korea between 1996 and 2008, and the Consumer Expenditure Survey, which was carried out in the United States during the same time period. The results include: (1) The proportion of the clothing expenditure decreased during the subject period in both Korea and the United States; (2) The decrease in proportional clothing expenditure was greater in Korea than in the United States; (3) Although the relative prices of clothes decreased greatly during this period in both countries, it was determined that the decrease in clothing prices in the United States was greater when compared to those in Korea; and (4) By using the DID(Difference in difference) model, the author contends that a decrease in clothing purchases contributed to the decrease of prices for clothing in the United States, while in Korea, the decrease in prices for clothing was also impacted by other factors including changes in household expenditures for education and communication.