• Asia Marketing Journal
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• v.17 no.4
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• pp.89-104
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• 2016

Based on the observation that insurance companies in Korea, unlike those in other financial sectors and those in other countries, dominantly use the agent-based push-type marketing strategy, this paper hypothesizes that difference in distribution systems originating from characteristics of financial products can lead to welfare asymmetry between financial institutions and customers, merely due to their financial matching. For this analysis, we employ a simple matching theoretic model, try to understand the welfare implications of distribution systems from a matching theoretic perspective, and analyze the bottom of negative perceptions of insurance industry. The proposed model suggests that this welfare asymmetry derives mainly from financial matching through the distribution systems, which implies that any efforts to improve the insurance industry must consider changes in the matching process, namely the distribution system. We hope that this paper complements and extends the existing literature on insurance distribution systems in terms of methodologies and research subjects.

• Asia-Pacific Journal of Business
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• v.11 no.4
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• pp.21-36
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• 2020

Purpose - This study analyzes the effect of sellers' dishonesty on various market outcomes such as seller profit, buyer profit, and market welfare, through precisely measuring the level of sellers' information disclosure and its economic impacts. As an explicit observation of sellers' dishonesty is not easy in most other settings, this study is expected to suggest unique and meaningful implications on the effect of sellers' incomplete information disclosure to researchers, managers, and policy makers. Design/methodology/approach - In order to precisely measure the level of sellers' dishonesty under information asymmetry, this study analyzes the data from an incentive-based economic experiment using z-Tree software. This experimental method enables us to focus on the strategic interactions among participants, observe the integrity of seller's information disclosure, and reproduce real market situations. Findings - The analysis of sellers' dishonesty has provided the following important and counterintuitive findings about the reality of buyer-seller interactions under information asymmetry. First, sellers' lies do not affect seller profit even when they are very intensive. Second, sellers' dishonesty negatively affects buyer profit and the entire market welfare. Third, a seller's quality claim has a positive effect on the seller profit only when a seller is being honest. Research implications or Originality - This study analyzes sellers' dishonesty using incentive-based economic experiment using z-Tree software which provides a straightforward examination on dishonest behavior of sellers, that is not readily available with other types of observational or experimental data.

• Journal of the Korea Institute of Information and Communication Engineering
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• v.13 no.10
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• pp.2030-2038
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• 2009

We analyze the economic effects of mobile termination rate asymmetry by simulation model. The asymmetry allows the mobile operator to get access profits at the expense of the incumbent and induces negative effects such as the entry of inefficient operator and allocative efficiency as well as productive efficiency. We use simulation model to investigate the effect on social welfare of asymmetric regulation. If the brand loyalty is high, social welfare increase as the termination charge of entrant increases. The extension of the basic model shows that the degree of social welfare increase becomes higher as the brand loyalty increases when the cost of entrant is smaller than that of incumbent. But, the degree of social welfare decrease becomes lower as the substitution effects increase.

• Journal of Korea Trade
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• v.25 no.3
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• pp.1-20
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• 2021

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to examine the welfare effects of standards harmonization between technologically asymmetric countries, and to determine optimal harmonization strategies for a country with mid-level technological advancement. Design/methodology - Following Salop's circular city model (Salop, 1979), this study constructs a simple, horizontally-differentiated oligopoly model in which three firms and three countries exist. Each country adopts different compatibility standards and each firm incurs conversion costs for foreign market access due to differences in standards. The conversion costs are related to technology; standards harmonization removes these costs between participating countries. The paper considers three cases: i) no harmonization; ii) harmonization with the more technologically-advanced country and iii) harmonization with the less technologically-advanced country. Findings - The paper first considers a scenario in which all three firms occupy some share of the market in each country. It shows that standards harmonization with both the technologically moreor less-advanced country always increases consumer surplus and social welfare. In addition, the producer surplus will increase if the harmonization partner has a higher technology level, whereas it may decrease if the partner has a lower technology level. It also shows that if most domestic export goods are in sectors with conversion costs above a certain level, harmonizing standards with a technologically more-advanced country should be prioritized. Such strategies, moreover, should be emphasized when there exists a large technology gap among countries. Lastly, the paper considers another scenario, in which harmonization leads to the foreclosure of the non-member firm from the member countries' markets. It shows that harmonization improves the social welfare of a mid-level technology country regardless of its partner's technology. It also shows that the country should prioritize harmonization with the technologically less-advanced country. Originality/value - Though some of the existing studies consider the welfare effects of harmonization, their main assumption is that firms have the same conversion technology. Since complying with standards often requires substantial technological advancement and technical expertise, harmonization of compatibility standards between countries with gaps in technological ability carries different implications. This paper investigates the welfare effects of this harmonization and determines an optimal harmonization strategy while considering technological asymmetry among countries in standards compliance.

• ETRI Journal
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• v.32 no.3
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• pp.447-456
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• 2010

Asymmetric regulation as applied to mobile termination rates refers to regulatory arrangements in which different mobile operators charge different termination rates, even though the services provided are essentially identical. The asymmetric regulation has been frequently used as a regulatory tool to support new entrants to a mobile market. This paper examines the economic effects of asymmetric regulation of mobile termination rates using a theoretical model and its simulation. The result shows that when there is no noticeable difference in brand loyalty between mobile operators with the high degree of substitutability between services provided by mobile operators, and the costs of new entrants are low, a reduction in the asymmetry of mobile access prices results in an enhancement of consumer welfare. These findings provide positive evidence for the argument that in certain situations asymmetric pricing of mobile access services may be counterproductive for consumer welfare.

• Physical Therapy Rehabilitation Science
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• v.10 no.3
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• pp.374-378
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• 2021

Objective: Bilateral movement training is an effective method for upper extremity rehabilitation of stroke. An approach to induce bilateral movement through functional electrical stimulation is attempted. The purpose of this study is to develop an EMG-triggered functional electrical stimulation device for upper extremity bilateral movement training in stroke patients and test its feasibility. Design: Feasibility and Pilot study design. Methods: We assessed muscle activation and kinematic data of the affected and unaffected upper extremities of a stroke patient during wrist flexion and extension with and without the device. Wireless EMG was used to evaluate muscle activity, and 12 3D infrared cameras were used to evaluate kinematic data. Results: We developed an EMG-triggered functional electrical stimulation device to enable bilateral arm training in stroke patients. A system for controlling functional electrical stimulation with signals received through a 2-channel EMG sensor was developed. The device consists of an EMG sensing unit, a functional electrical stimulation unit, and a control unit. There was asymmetry of movement between the two sides during wrist flexion and extension. With the device, the asymmetry was lowest at 60% of the threshold of the unaffected side. Conclusions: In this study, we developed an EMG-triggered FES device, and the pilot study result showed that the device reduces asymmetry.

• Journal of rehabilitation welfare engineering & assistive technology
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• v.11 no.2
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• pp.179-186
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• 2017

Because facial asymmetry is caused by various causes, the cause analysis is important and quantitative index is needed to the evaluation. In this study, we applied the Nottingham Grading System that was used as a quantitative index to evaluate the facial paralysis by tracking the markers through the image processing and calculating the distance between the markers with images obtained by using the webcam, to evaluate facial asymmetry. The existing Nottingham Grading System has a problem of causing a measurement error in the specific case because the left and right are compared by summing the distance change between the feature points of the face part according to the change of the facial expression. We compared the case of the facial asymmetry and case of normal subject by using the existing Nottingham Grading System and the improved Nottingham grading system. In the existing Nottingham Grading System, case of facial asymmetry and case of facial symmetry were 99.0% and 95.0% respectively in the normal range, but the improved Nottingham Grading System showed facial asymmetry case was 74.0% and facial symmetrical case was 93.2%. The results of experiment show that the improved Nottingham Grading System allows detailed evaluation of each site and improved the problem of the Nottingham Grading System for specific cases.

• Journal of Family Resource Management and Policy Review
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• v.17 no.1
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• pp.81-102
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• 2013

The purpose of this study was to investigate the work-family reconciliation level of married women in double-income households. Specifically, the study aimed to test the positive spillover effects, asymmetry, and differential functions of work-family reconciliation. The study thus analyzed 1,114 married women in double-income households in the third-year data of the Korean Longitudinal Survey of Women and Families (KLoWF) done by Korean Women's Development Institute (KWDI), with the exception of those who were separated, divorced, or widowed from their husbands. The data were put to descriptive statistics, frequency analysis, and exploratory factor analysis using SPSS 20.0 for Windows. AMOS 20.0 was used to test the hypothesis on positive spillover effects, asymmetry, and differential functions. The analysis results confirm that work-family conflict, family-work conflict, work-family facilitation, and family-work facilitation are different concepts, thus supporting the hypothesis on positive spillover effects. Secondly, the negative effects of family on work were greater than those of work on family, whereas the positive effects of family on work were greater than those of work on family, which finding partially supported the hypothesis on asymmetry among the components of work-family reconciliation. Finally, the married women in double-income households with preschool children experienced more work-family conflict and family-work conflict than those with no preschool children, which result supported the hypothesis on differential functions between the two groups of women. The findings were combined to provide implications for the utilization of family resources, policies for work-family reconciliation, and plans for institutional supports to promote the work-family reconciliation of married women in double-income households.

• Environmental and Resource Economics Review
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• v.29 no.1
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• pp.47-89
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• 2020

We introduce a simple theoretical model to analyze the welfare impact of a competition policy in the natural gas market in South Korea. An incumbent monopolistic firm currently owns essential facilities, but the competition policy mandates that the firm provide open access to any entrant firm, charging an access fee. When no regulation is imposed on the fee pricing, this policy increases social welfare as well as the profit of the incumbent firm. When the pricing is regulated, however, social welfare depends on whether there is information asymmetry between the government and the firm regarding the operating cost of the facilities. If the government has complete information, social welfare can be maximized by choosing the optimal prices. Otherwise, the government has to set the prices based on the information that the firm delivers. We formulate a Bayesian game to analyze this case and identify a set of perfect Bayesian equilibria to compare social welfare.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.27 no.1
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• pp.140-146
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• 2014

This experiment aimed to evaluate the effects of different housing systems on behavioral activities, welfare and meat quality of fast-growing broilers. Two hundred broilers were allocated into two housing systems: indoor housing vs indoor with outdoor access. Their general behavior (feeding, drinking, fighting, standing, lying, walking, investigating, dust-bathing and preening) was observed, and tonic immobility, fluctuating asymmetry of legs and wings were measured, and meat quality was analyzed. The results showed that the indoor-housed broilers with outdoor access had significant higher standing, walking, investigating, dust-bathing and preening than those indoor only. However, farming system was not found to significantly affect their feeding, drinking and fighting activities (p>0.05). The value of FA of tibia length of the broilers with outdoor access was significantly lower than that of the indoor-housed birds ($1.57{\pm}1.30$ vs $2.76{\pm}1.40$, p<0.05), while no difference was found for the value of FA in tibia diameter and wing length (p>0.05). TI of the broilers with outdoor access was 165.5 that was significantly higher than that (147.2) of the indoor birds (p<0.05). However, death rate in the outdoor run groups was significantly higher than that of the indoor ones ($2.0{\pm}0.81$ vs $4.0{\pm}0.82$, p<0.05). Meat quality was not affected by the two farming systems. It can be concluded that the results of this study may suggest that the indoor housing with outdoor access provides enriched environment for broilers and facilitates the expression of natural behaviors of the broilers but resulted in poorer performance and higher death rate.