• East Asian Economic Review
• /
• v.24 no.4
• /
• pp.313-336
• /
• 2020

In this paper, I review evidence on changing global specialization in labor-intensive exporting. Production of apparel, footwear, furniture, and related products are how many low-income countries first enter export manufacturing. Just as China's rise as a powerhouse in these goods supplanted a role previously occupied by the East Asian Tigers, the world may again be on the cusp of significant change in where labor-intensive goods are produced. China's prowess in these sectors peaked in the early 2010s; its share in their global exports, while still substantial, is now in decline. Mechanisms through which the global economy may adjust to China's graduation into more technologically sophisticated activities include expanded labor-intensive export production in other emerging economies and labor-saving technological change in products currently heavily reliant on less-educated labor. Available evidence suggests that the first mechanism is operating slowly and the second hardly at all. As a third mechanism, China may in part replace itself by moving labor-heavy factories out of densely populated and expensive coastal cities and into the country's interior. Such a transition, though still in its infancy, would mirror the decentralization of manufacturing production in the U.S. and Europe, which occurred after World War II.

• Analyses & Alternatives
• /
• v.4 no.2
• /
• pp.71-102
• /
• 2020

This study analyzes the effect of demographic changes on economic growth. We use the supply-side output identity to forecast the growth potential of the Korean economy. According to the results, even based on optimistic assumptions and prospects, the economic growth rate is likely to fall drastically starting in 2020. Of course, to maintain growth potential, efforts to increase productivity are necessary. However, given the historical experience of developed countries, it is not clear whether the huge trend of demographic change can be offset by efforts to increase productivity. In the so-called '30-50 club' countries, both labor productivity and growth rate tend to fall after reaching the per capita income of $30,000. The degree of decline in the growth rate is closely related to changes in the working age population and the prime-age workforce. The results are similar when tracking the path of changes in total factor productivities of the economy. When a certain level of income is reached, the increase in total factor productivity also tends to slow down. The ripple effects of rapid changes in demographics will indeed be extensive. The negative impact is likely to be concentrated at a time when the working age population, the prime-age workforce, and the total population shrink simultaneously. Above all, it is necessary to use the government's fiscal space to block the possibility of a rapid fall in the growth rate. In addition, it is important to continuously implement various reform tasks that should be promoted, such as improving the education system and strengthening the social safety net.

• East Asian Economic Review
• /
• v.26 no.4
• /
• pp.279-304
• /
• 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 International Area Studies (JIAS)
• /
• v.15 no.2
• /
• pp.51-68
• /
• 2011

The purpose of this paper is to review China's perception on the U.S. power after the global financial crisis. Although economic power of U.S. was declined by the global financial crisis, U.S. hegemony in the international order still maintains. Gap of national power between U.S. and China may be narrow because of decline of U.S. economic power. It can be predicted China will push a policy that secures an initiative of reform in the global monetary system and is going to take a more cooperative policy without U.S. hegemony power harming China's core interests.

• Korean System Dynamics Review
• /
• v.16 no.4
• /
• pp.51-81
• /
• 2015

The main purpose of this study is to seek better approach which explains reciprocal causality associated with factors causing social conflict and improving social integration respectively. Throughout this study, there are several important implications how social conflict can be solved in South Korea. In particular, government and policy makers in political sector should create an environment of social integration through political reforms by switching from vertical structure to horizontal structure and by encouraging ordinary people to actively participate in the policy-making processes and political activities. In economic sector, government and stakeholder associated with a certain economic issue should induce a change in the economic environment for social integration, focusing on distribution of wealth and employment stability. In social and cultural sectors, it is necessary to solve social and cultural problems (e.g., generation gap and conflict between the young and the old, multi-ethnic families, and lack of communication) by exploring better ways to establish an altruism and to interact with each other. In psychological sectors, PsyCap(Positive Psychological Capital) will help ordinary people to crate positive thinking and lead to social integration. For instance, political leaders having PsyCap are able to communicate with the people and can help the people to build positive main influencing on social integration. Finally, the improvement of the system is required because the improvement of insufficient system is the basis for reasonable and equitable social integration.

• The Journal of the Korea Contents Association
• /
• v.18 no.8
• /
• pp.446-458
• /
• 2018

The media is not just a means of conveying social reality, but is also a political economic subject that restructures social reality. The perceptions and attitudes of the people who read the news can be influenced by the content and direction of the media. Therefore, it is very important to understand and discuss the characteristics of news coverage produced by media. In the case of issues closely related to economic benefits rather than general socio-economic issues, more objective arguments and confirmation of facts are required. In this study, we tried to understand how real estate policy, which is one of the major political and economic issues of S. Korean society, is covered in the media. After analyzing media coverage, we concluded that it was somewhat unreasonable to look at facts about real estate policy objectively and make realistic alternatives, because the framework and attitudes expressed in the articles varied by newspaper.

• Journal of the Korean Geographical Society
• /
• v.32 no.2
• /
• pp.155-174
• /
• 1997

This paper's main objective is to present an assessment of the impact of NAFTA on the economic structure of the Mexican northem borderlands. The NAFTA is the strategy of a free trade agreement with the United States and Canada, first mentioned by Salinas in June 1990 and established since January 1994. Mexican govemment permitted factories called maquiladoras at the northem borderlands for the first time in 1965. in the early 1980s Mexico was in a deep economic crisis and the international environment was adverse to Mexico. Mexico began to move toward an open economy and abandoned the import-substitution industrialization model that characterized Mexico since the 1930s. Through the new economic reform, the market system was preferred to the regulation; the private ownership, to the public ownership; and the competition, to the protection. The most phenomenal urbanization in northem Mexico has occurred around the major crossing points along the Mexico-U.S. border. The rapid urbanization in northern Mexico has been much due to the industrialization, brought about bv the maquiladora programs and, recently, by the NAFTA.

• Journal of National Security and Military Science
• /
• s.3
• /
• pp.121-167
• /
• 2005

The great strategy of China has been changing depending on the time, change of surrounding environment and personality of leaders of the time. However, the process of the change was not the drastic change but has maintained the consistency through the course of modification and development. The great strategy of Mao Ze-dong was to have the objective in 'World Great Nation' with the facilitation of the 'Surpass Strategy' and 'Autonomy, Independence and Alliance strategy' to successfully build up the political great nation, but he entrapped China's politics and economy into the point of no return by excessive war preparation under 'The Principle of Inevitable World War', striving of rapid communism and other policies. The Deng Xiao-ping era also targeted for ‘World Great Nation’ but, unlike Mao Ze-dong, he had the foundation in the 'The Principle of Evitable World War' and undertook the ‘Peace and Development Strategy’ and ‘Peaceful Coexistence' to build up the advantageous surrounding environment for China to focus on the economic construction as the core of the nation by establishing ‘The Reform and Opening Strategy’ and 'Three-step Development Strategy‘ to have the successful soft landing of the Chinese economy with the astonishing economic development. The system of leader's group of China after Deng Xiao-ping succeeded the practical and realistic spirit of Deng Xia-ping, and based on the drastically grown economic strength, the great strategy of China is on the ‘The Great Reinvigoration of Chinese Nation’. This is one step further from the strategy of 'World Great Nation' of the past that it embraces all the minority races in China, Chinese economic sphere, foreign citizens of Chinese origin as well as Chinese residing abroad. China contemplates the time of making 'The Great Reinvigoration of Chinese Nation’ in 2050, 100 anniversary of the birth of new China.

• Journal of Navigation and Port Research
• /
• v.41 no.4
• /
• pp.243-250
• /
• 2017

Seaports are not longer considered to be single entities for which the main activity is to load and discharge cargo, but rather as fundamental hubs within a complex supply chain serving global production networks. From a public perspective, they hold a key role in terms of their economic impact at the local, regional and national level by generating value added activity and employment. This issue is becoming increasingly pivotal for ports and their stakeholders. The objective of the study is to estimate a regression model of the value added activity and employment figures of 17 Italian ports for which there are no publications available. Concerning port system reform in Italy, the research intends to provide policy makers with a tool to measure the effects produced by ports and their importance to local communities and regions. The paper finds that in all Italian ports, the direct effects are larger than the indirect effects, and the bigger socio-economic effects are found in the biggest ports.

• Analyses & Alternatives
• /
• v.6 no.1
• /
• pp.259-282
• /
• 2022

This article examines features and implications of 'new northeast phenomenon' in China's new normal period. Different from previous studies with economy as a single factor, this paper regards the northeast phenomenon as not an single economic phenomenon but a compound socio economic phenomenon that economic, demographic and financial issues are linked together. This study finds that since 2014 decline of economic growth, deepening of population decline and brain drain, accelerated aging, the increase in fiscal deficit and a surge in social security spending, these phenomena occur simultaneously and influence each other, forming a vicious cycle in northeast China, and also finds that the difficulty of 'new northeast phenomenon' lies in this compound features. If so, what are the implications of 'new northeast phenomenon's' these features for China as a whole? This study proposes two points. First, based on the recent changes in some relevant situations in China, northeast region can be regarded as a microcosm of China, northeast phenomenon is likely to spread to other regions of China in the near future, it will become a common phenomenon all over China. Second, the emergence of the 'new northeast phenomenon' in the new normal period requires deep reflection and rethinking about the fundamental effect of the regional development strategies, such as 'The Development of the Western Region', 'The Rise of Central China', 'The revitalization of the Northeast', implemented since the reform and development. The 'new northeast phenomenon' has become one of the most urgent problems to be solved by the Chinese government, if the solution is successful, it can be a very useful direction for reconstructing regional development strategies in contemporary China.