• Korean Journal of Agricultural Science
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• v.38 no.2
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• pp.383-391
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• 2011

Traditional international trade theory assumes that import goods and domestically produced goods of the same industry are equal in quality. However the substitutability of the two goods is imperfect. This article estimated the import functions of pulp and paper using econometric and vector autoregressive models, and calculated the elasticities of substitution between imported and domestically produced pulp and paper. The import of pulp is inelastic to import price and domestic price, and elastic to national income in econometric model. And it is inelastic to import price, domestic price and national income in vector autoregressive model. On the other hand, the import of paper is inelastic to domestic price, and elastic to import price and national income in econometric model. And it is inelastic to import price and domestic price, and elastic to national income in vector autoregressive model. The elasticity of substitution between imported and domestically produced pulp was positive, and the elasticity was respectively 0.42 and 0.20 in econometric and vector autoregressive models. This may be because of the high proportion of imports. On the other hand, the elasticity of substitution between imported and domestically produced paper was positive, and the elasticity was respectively 0.75 and 0.81 in econometric and vector autoregressive models. This may be because the quality of imported paper is different from that of domestically produced paper.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.51 no.6
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• pp.1689-1695
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• 2019

This study suggests a simple economic model to analyze electricity grid that consists of different power sources. The substitutability of renewable energy for nuclear power in Korean electricity transmission network is investigated by suggested model. The monthly data from January 2006 to December 2013 reported by Electricity Power Statistics Information System (EPSIS) of Korea Power EXchange (KPX) are used. To estimate the elasticities of substitution among four power sources (i.e. coal, natural gas, nuclear power, and renewable energy), this paper uses the trans-log cost function model on which local concavity restrictions are imposed. The estimated Hicks-Allen and Morishima elasticity of substitution shows that renewable electricity and nuclear power are complementary. The results also evidenced that renewable electricity and fossil fueled thermal power generation are substitutes.

• Journal of Korea Trade
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• v.26 no.7
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• pp.1-18
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• 2022

Purpose - Recent international studies have largely focused on measuring the welfare gains from increased trade varieties. To adequately capture the variety gains, it is of importance to estimate the elasticity of substitution between varieties of trade goods because it is one of the key parameters to determine the magnitude of the variety gains. Using the import data of South Korea, this paper shows that the elasticities vary substantially across the estimators, which affects the magnitude of the gains from trade. Design/methodology - Empirical studies working on the gains from trade variety have heavily depended on the estimation methods for the elasticity of substitution between trade varieties, developed by Feenstra (1994) and refined by Broda and Weinstein (2006). We estimate and compare the estimated elasticities for 8,945 HS 10 goods of South Korea, obtained from the three estimation methods: Feenstra's weighted least square (F-WLS), Feenstra's feasible generalized least square (F-FGLS), and Broda and Weinstein's feasible generalized least square (BW-FGLS). Findings - Using the estimated elasticities from the F-FGLS, considered as a suitable estimator, A typical Korean consumer saved 228 dollars per year by the greater access to new import varieties. This leads to gains from imported variety of 2.06% of GDP. In 2017, a typical Korean consumer would gain by 611 dollars, compared with 2000. China is the country with the largest contribution (28.4%), followed by Japan and USA. About 50% of all the welfare gains come from the imports from the three main trade partners. The Southern Asian countries are more important to the South Korean welfare gain than the Western European countries. Originality/value - Existing studies have chosen one of the methods without any criterion for the choice and then estimated the elasticities of substitution between varieties of trade goods. This paper focuses on the estimation specifications and methods as the cause of the disparity in estimated elasticities and welfare gains from trade variety. According to the Ramsey RESET and White tests, the F-FGLS estimates are relatively better compared to the F-WLS and BW-FGLS estimates. As another contribution, this paper provides the first measure of the welfare gains from trade variety for South Korea, using the estimated elasticities of substitution between trade varieties.

• Journal of Technology Innovation
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• v.15 no.2
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• pp.1-24
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• 2007

In this study, we estimated a CES production function for the Korean economy. We have found in the empirical results that the elasticity of the factor substitution is less than one and that the Korean economy exhibits labor-saving technological progress. In addition, we obtained the regression coefficient of R&D investment on technological change, i.e., the elasticity of R&D investment with respect to the technological change was 0.26% point. It implies that if R&D stock increases by 1%, labor efficiency increases 0.26% point through technological progress which is Hicksian non-neutral. It confirms that innovation-based growth strategy by increasing R&D investment would be effective on the one hand. Some policy consideration on the other might be needed for an increase in employment which is offset by technological progress.

• Journal of Labour Economics
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• v.34 no.3
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• pp.1-28
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• 2011

This paper empirically tests the theory that labor demand elasticity of unionized firms would be smaller than that of nonunionized firms, using the Korean firms' panel data for 1990-2009. The major findings are the following: First, the estimates of labor demand elasticity of unionized firms are in the range of 0.34-0.49, less than a half of those of nonunionized firms, hence supporting the theory. Second, the unionized firms are more rigid in dynamic adjustment of employment than nonunionized firms. Finally, there are no significant differences between unionized and nonunionized firms in the elasticity of substitution.

• Asian Journal of Business Environment
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• v.14 no.1
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• pp.23-30
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• 2024

Purpose: The purpose of this research is to explore the macroeconomic model through both static and dynamic equations. The primary objective of this study is to investigate the variations in the elasticity of substitution across changing economic variables within the framework of the Allen-Uzawa production functions. Research, design, data and methodology: The data were drawn from the World Bank's annual central statistical office database from 2010 to 2021 in the United States of America. The level of expenditures and of the public finance sector, macroeconomic data like output, inflation rates, and labor are examined. Results: This study demonstrates the interaction of two equations, clarifying that the macroeconomic model is practical to determining the stability of both static and dynamic equation systems analytically. The Allen-Uzawa equations allow for the verification of macroeconomic model properties, and study results demonstrate an increase in the range of capital uses as a form of mechanization. A constant elasticity of substitution function is derived from the macroeconomic variables. Conclusion: The macroeconomic model, though the analysis of the static and dynamic Allen - Uzawa model, not only facilitates the examination of long-term trends in crucial endogenous variables but also overcomes challenges commonly associated with other mathematical methods. Overall, the analysis promotes economic growth, investment, and employment. The levels of expenditures and the public finance sector, along with macroeconomic data such as output, inflation rates, and labor, are examined.

• Proceedings of the Korea Technology Innovation Society Conference
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• 2010.05a
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• pp.3-14
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• 2010

Through time-series plots, we can see relatively stable trend of energy factor share and the decreasing trend of relative energy prices (to wages) in Korea. We can compromise these empirical facts with the following explanation: if elasticity of substitution between capital and energy is smaller than one(<1) in Korea, a change(decrease) in energy price can prevent income share of resources from rising in the process of economic growth. This is consistent with theoretical and empirical results that substitution between energy and capital is so difficult. From simple empirical analysis and limited information, we can carefully infer that, in the past in Korea, resource-specific innovation was performed widely. Finally, If we are to reduce the magnitude of "growth drag", we should decrease energy factor share. This can be accomplished by energy-augmenting technical progress in the case of elasticity of substitution less than 1 as in Korea.

• Journal of Korean Society of Forest Science
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• v.104 no.2
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• pp.254-260
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• 2015

This paper assesses the tariff reduction on imported wood products that will have impact on the demand for domestic wood products in South Korea, by estimating the Armington substitution elasticities based on the assumption that they are imperfect substitutes. Results indicate that domestic and foreign wood products are far from perfect substitutes to each other. The substitution elasticities in plywood and fiberboard appeared to be high, implying that tariff reduction may have negative effects on those industries. On the contrary, imported and domestic particleboard showed a low substitution elasticity. The decline of fiberboard industry may lead to the decline in forestry since fiberboard is produced mainly by thinned woods supplied from domestic forests. Therefore, effective countermeasures to enhance the competitiveness of wood products industry are needed to cope with the market opening.

• Environmental and Resource Economics Review
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• v.13 no.4
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• pp.593-619
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• 2004

This study analyzes the interfuel substitution of energy demand in Korean manufacturing sector using static and dynamic linear logit models. For the period of 1981~2002, this study uses petroleum, electricity, natural gas and coal as energy sources. According to the empirical results, firstly, the own-price elasticity of coal has been increased steadily even though its elasticity is smallest compared with those of other energy sources. On the other hand, price elasticity of natural gas is largest, but its value has been decreased after 1997. Price elasticities of petroleum and electricity are very stable over the sample period. One of the main features in trends of interfuel substitution is as follows. Substitution effect of a change in price of natural gas on both petroleum and coal has been increased especially after 1997. The implication of the empirical results is summarized as follows: First, the fact of inelastic own-price elasticity of petroleum implies that the dependency of Korean manufacturing sector on petroleum and coal will be persistent even in a sharp fluctuation of petroleum price. Second, the effects of price increase in natural gas on demand for petroleum and coal are very significant. Thus, price decline of natural gas rather than price declines of coal and petroleum could be more effective as an energy price policy for the reduction of $CO_2$ emission. The assessment on this implication will remain for future researches.

• Journal of Labour Economics
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• v.36 no.1
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• pp.1-44
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• 2013

This paper surveys the existing literatures on labor demand of Korea. It has been found that labor and capital are substitutes in Korea and the result holds even if labor is decomposed into white collar and blue collar workers. The elasticity of substitution lies between 0 and 1. It is yet unclear if employment and work hours are substitutes. The reduction of legal work week did not increase employment although decreased work hours. The labor demand elasticity is below 0.5 in the short run. Since mid 1990s, the technological change has shown skill bias and therefore increased demand for skilled labor.