• Journal of Korea Trade
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• v.23 no.2
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• pp.34-45
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• 2019

Purpose - This study investigates the lead-lag relations between the prices of major commodities imported into Korea and corresponding shipping freight rates. This paper aims to provide implications for cross-market causal relations between related economic segments. Design/Methodology - For economic long-run equilibrium between commodity prices and freights, a Johansen (1988) cointegration test is employed first. Then, Granger (1987) causality tests are performed under the vector error correction model (VECM) framework. Findings - The results indicate that the direction of causality varies by raw materials, which is attributable to different economic mechanisms in the corresponding shipping transportation sectors. In addition, the significance of causality becomes blurred during the post-2008 period. Practical Implication - Corporate managers in commodity trading, steelmaking, power generation, and oil refinery sectors can take advantage of the findings in this study as identifying leading economic indicators can be helpful for decision making in both short- and long-term strategies. Originality/value - This study is the first attempt to analyze the inter-relations between commodity prices and corresponding freight rates focusing on raw material imports of Korea.

• Asia-Pacific Journal of Business
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• v.12 no.1
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• pp.57-69
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• 2021

Purpose - The purpose of this study is to investigate the effect of macroeconomic conditions on the relationship between CSR and firm value. Design/methodology/approach - Employing KEJI index as a proxy for a firm's CSR activities, we investigate whether investors discount the value of CSR activity during the economic recession when a firm's bankruptcy risk is high and thus its future sustainability is suspected. Findings - Our empirical result represents that the value of a firm with high CSR score is undervalued during recession, reflecting investors doubt the sustainability of a firm whose CSR score is high when overall economy is exposed to high downside risk. Research implications or Originality - It implies that investors may not regard the CSR activities as an indicator of corporate sustainability. Also, the result represents that stable macroeconomic condition can be one of the important factors to make the CSR activity increase a firm's value.

• Asia-Pacific Journal of Business
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• v.11 no.1
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• pp.17-26
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• 2020

Purpose - This paper studies the welfare impacts of behavior-based price discrimination (BBPD) when firms are asymmetric in quality improvement costs. Design/methodology/approach - To this end, we consider a differentiated duopoly model with an inherited market share, where firms first make quality decisions and then compete in prices according to the pricing scheme, namely, uniform pricing or BBPD. Findings - We show that BBPD increases social welfare relative to uniform pricing if the firms' cost gap is large enough. This is because BBPD induces more consumers to buy a high-quality product than under uniform pricing, and because a low-cost firm's profit loss from BBPD decreases as the cost difference increases. Research implications or Originality - Our analysis offers policy implications for markets where BBPD raises antitrust concerns, and quality competition prevails.

• International Journal of Advanced Culture Technology
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• v.9 no.4
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• pp.385-391
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• 2021

3D modeling of the human body is an integral part of computer graphics. Among them, several studies have been conducted on hair modeling, but there are generally few studies that effectively implement hair and face modeling simultaneously. This study has the originality of providing users with customized face modeling and hair modeling that is different from previous studies. For realistic hair styling, We design and realize hair segmentation using FCN, and we select the most appropriate model through comparing PSPNet, DeepLab V3+, and MobileNet. In this study, we use the open dataset named Figaro1k. Through the analysis of iteration and epoch parameters, we reach the optimized values of them. In addition, we experiment external parameters about the location of the camera, the color of the lighting, and the presence or absence of accessories. And the environmental analysis factors of the avatar maker were set and solutions to problems derived during the analysis process were presented.

• Asia-Pacific Journal of Business
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• v.13 no.3
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• pp.135-155
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• 2022

Purpose - The purpose of this study is to examine how a broad palette of government support measures and firms' membership in government-developed clusters are related to firms' openness in innovation processes. Design/methodology/approach - Empirically, this study analyzes the Korea Innovation Survey 2018 data on the innovation activities of 1,450 Korean R&D-active manufacturing firms in a three-year period from 2015 through 2017. Findings - The results suggest that firms engage in open innovation to a greater extent--as measured by the breadth of external collaborating partners and of the utilized external sources of knowledge--when they are provided with a broader palette of government support measures and are located in government-developed clusters. However, the effect of diverse government support measures is attenuated for firms located in these clusters. Research implications or Originality - This study contributes to the innovation literature by illuminating how firms' open innovation can be understood in a national innovation system. Moreover, it provides valuable implications for firms seeking to obtain government support and collaborate with others.

• Journal of Korea Trade
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• v.24 no.5
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• pp.1-17
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• 2020

Purpose - This paper tries to estimate the effects of China's and Japan's free trade agreement (FTA) by panel generalized least squares (GLS). Design/methodology - The GLS model includes the basic gravity theory and Difference in Difference (DD) method to divide FTA conclusion countries and non-FTA conclusion countries with China and Japan. In order to empirically research the difference between Chinese and Japanese FTAs, we use the Difference in Difference in Difference (DDD) method. Findings - This paper finds the distance variable has more influence on Japanese than Chinese trade. The exchange rate indicates that Chinese trade depends on export and Japanese trade has the structure of re-import; shows that the countries that concluded FTAs with China and Japan have more positive trade effects than those that did not; finds the Chinese FTA promotion effects greater than the Japanese FTA because China had pushed ahead with trade policy since joining the WTO in 2001. Originality/value - This study shows that a single country's FTA and trade policies are an important factor concerning not just the promotion of trade but also the issue of trade conflicts.

• Journal of Korea Trade
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• v.25 no.2
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• pp.178-195
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• 2021

Purpose - This study aims to analyze consumer in the multidimensional aspect of a combination of corporate image and brand personality in order to identify the structural causal relationship between consumer choice and corporate image and brand personality. Design/methodology - This study combined theoretical literature studies with empirical field studies using questionnaire survey methods. To achieve this objective, a hypothetical causal model consisting of three potential variables and nine measurement variables was created based on prior research, and a structural equation model was used to identify the suitability of the model. Findings - The hypothetical model established by this study was judged to be generally appropriate. In particular, corporate image was shown to have significant static direct effects on consumer choice and brand personality. It was also shown that brand personality had a direct static effect on consumer choice, and that corporate image has an indirect significant impact on consumer choice by moderating brand personality. Originality/value - Previous papers have mainly focused on one-dimensional studies of various images, such as companies and brands. However, this paper used a model that analyzed consumer choice through multi-clue information rather than corporate images as the only clue to consumer choice.

• Journal of Korea Trade
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• v.23 no.2
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• pp.88-109
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• 2019

Purpose - This paper examines the effects of host country's non-economic factors on foreign affiliate's financial and operational performance. Design/Methodology - Using Korean-owned foreign affiliate-level data, we employ various measures that represent host country's non-economic factors and examine their effects on foreign affiliate's performance. We further investigate the effects of local top managers and local middle managers on the impact of country's non-economic factors on foreign affiliate's performance. Findings - We find that local top managers are effective in increasing foreign affiliate's financial performance by dealing with institutional and cultural factors, particularly in high-income countries, while local middle managers are effective in increasing affiliate's operational performance by responding to the changes in doing business factors, particularly in low-income countries. Originality/value - Considering that most of previous FDI studies focus on examining host country's economic factors on firm's FDI decision, our findings suggest that country's non-economic factors are strongly associated with actual business performance of foreign affiliates.

• Journal of Korea Trade
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• v.24 no.7
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• pp.93-106
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• 2020

Purpose - This paper aims to examine the environmental effects of South Korean foreign trade, and the changing relationship between industrial "three wastes" emissions and foreign trade. Design/methodology - Based on time series data of South Korean foreign trade and industrial "three wastes" from 2009 to 2019, a VAR model was used to analyze the long-term internal links and dynamic changes between foreign trade and environmental pollution. Findings - Variance decomposition analysis shows that for the three types of pollutants, self-impact contributes the most to the variance decomposition. It follows that South Korean foreign trade has a certain negative impact on the environment, and this impact has a certain sustainability. Originality/value - This paper contributes to the study on the relationship between foreign trade and environmental pollution. It theoretically proposes a coordinated development path for foreign trade development and green development based on the environmental impact of foreign trade, to provide a reference for the development of collaborative promotion.

• Asia-Pacific Journal of Business
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• v.12 no.1
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• pp.183-193
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• 2021

Purpose - The purpose of this study is to examine the impacts of global uncertainty on gross and net capital flows in Korea. Design/methodology/approach - We conduct an empirical analysis of the impact of global uncertainty on the net and gross capital flows in korea. To investigate the impacts, we incorporate linear and nonlinear ARDL models. Findings - We find global uncertainty has negative impacts on the gross and net capital flows. But this impact is nonlinear. The negative global uncertainty shocks are bigger than the positive global uncertainty shocks on capital flows in Korea. And we find this relationship is noticeable in gross capital inflows. We also find interest rate difference between the US and Korea is the main driving source in capital flow after the Global financial crisis. Research implications or Originality - The results of this study suggest that the negative impacts of global uncertainty are noticeable. This means that economic players in financial markets should be more concerned about the bad news.