• Journal of Technology Innovation
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• v.13 no.2
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• pp.133-155
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• 2005

After the publication of the competitive advantage of nations by Porter in 1990, the competitiveness of regional concentrations of industries has been often explained by the cluster concept. There are many definitions of clusters, but they mainly boil down to a geographically proximate group of interconnected companies and associated institutions in a particular field, linked by commonalities and complementarities. The shipbuilding industry in Korea can for sure be regarded as a competitive industry, as the spectacular rise of its world market share from 2% in the early 1970s to the current 38% impressively testifies, but can it be considered a cluster? Based on an analytical framework consisting of a typology of clusters and a context-sensitive evolutionary approach, the paper will show that over the last thirty years Korea's shipbuilding developed from a mere number of isolated, large shipyards (cathedrals in the desert) established by large conglomerates (chaebol) in close collaboration with the central government into an innovative cluster. The cluster is on the one hand characterised by a strongly developed supply industry and specialised universities and research institutes, but on the other hand by a weak, yet increasing role for local and regional institutions The specific and context-dependent characteristics of this innovative cluster are more important explanations for its competitiveness than the financial interventions by the central government, which are repeatedly put forward by European policy-makers in their trade war with Korea.

• Journal of the Economic Geographical Society of Korea
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• v.22 no.3
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• pp.274-290
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• 2019

This article links the change in regional manufacturing employment in Korea after the financial crisis to the geography of technological and trade shocks. We conceptualize the trade shock as the rapid growth in Korean imports from and exports to China and ASEAN countries. We then measure the exposure to technological shocks as the degree to which regions are specialized in routine tasks, which are susceptible to automation technologies. Results show that local labor markets specialized in routine tasks experience significant falls in manufacturing employment. Regions whose industrial structure exposes them to rising import competition experience sharp drop in manufacturing employment. We also found that export plays a major role in explaining the growth of regional manufacturing employment.

• Journal of Distribution Science
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• v.14 no.3
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• pp.31-38
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• 2016

Purpose - This paper reviews the change of steel export-import structure between Japan and China by the courtesy of international business reference index and stress to analyze comparative advantage under the circumstance of time-series evaluating database by 3 indexes. Research design, data, methodology - Per economic phase, both China-Japan have mutually a complementary base. Under this kind of view point, the reason why to conduct this study is to realize how this 2 country's trade competitiveness should be improved and strengthened. Results - Under this research data and analysis outcomes, bilateral intra-economy's potential supplementation is enormous. Additionally, expected benefits from here are so sufficiently assured as we compare them with any other regional economic integrated society. Conclusions - When we review our economic point of view, Northeast economic cooperations between China and Japan can provide a chance for industrial technological cooperations not only in steel business but also in other business areas. Come to think of the circumstance to accelerate competitions between 2 country's industries past time and acknowledge concrete resource supplier including expanding export market and diversification.

• The Journal of Fisheries Business Administration
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• v.39 no.3
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• pp.91-109
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• 2008

The worldwide proliferation of regional trade agreements combined with rising interests of 37countries has led to the emergence of a possible GSTP between each country. Although there are many obstacles to GSTP, its effect, if a realized, will go beyond trade related issues. This study was to specify and estimate a model of Korea-GSTP Ground in Korea that can be used to evaluate and improve management decisions. The development of the model relied on several submodels. On the trade negotiation side, a import demand function was estimated in order to account for the increasing amount of import. In terms of margin of preference(MOP)s, they were used to estimate values after decreasing tax based on scenarios I, II, and III. The results showed that the highest effects for increasing value and amount of import are a freezing crab(HS code 0306143000) and freezing hairtail(HS code 0303793000). This paper will be provide to help policy makers understand the Korea-GSTP Ground in the Korea fishery.

• Journal of the Economic Geographical Society of Korea
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• v.14 no.4
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• pp.467-485
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• 2011

After Korean War, Korea focused on catching up with the world economy by concentrating on some target industries around the Capital Region and southern coastal cities. Thus, the regional disparity between Capital Region and non-Capital Regions increased drastically. At last, when Korea acquired full-fledged autonomy in 1994 in the Civilian government (1993-1998) and experienced the Asian financial crisis in 1997-1998, local governments were awakened to the notion of region-oriented development, especially for regional industrial development. The purposes of this paper are to introduce regional industrial development policies since 1998 and to suggest some recommendations in terms of how to adjust regional development for industrial policies in the future. In the introducing phase (Kim administration, 1998-2003), four provincial governments requested national funding to raise regional industries that are of strategic importance. At the same time, the central government recognized the need to nurture regional industries to overcome structural weaknesses. As a result, the Roh administration (2003-2008) gave a birth to a systematizing phase. As the ultimate regional policy objective, the balanced national development has been set and the Special Acts, Special Accounts, Committee, and National Plan have been established. Regional Industrial Promotion Project has been carried out very actively during this period. It had a good start albeit idealistic to a certain extent. Therefore, the current government has changed policy paradigm from balanced growth to regional competitiveness along with global paradigm shifts. In order to enhance regional competitiveness, regional development policies have been pursued in more efficient way. Leading Industry Nurturing Projects (LINPs) on Economic Region level, existed Regional Industrial Promotion Projects (RIPPs) on Province level, and Region Specific Industry Projects (RSIPs) on Local Area level have been implemented. Now, it is appropriate to review regional development policies including industrial policies since 1998 and to adjust them for the future sustainable regional development. Because LINPs and RIPPs will be terminated in next two years, the 2nd stage projects are on planning to reduce the redundancies in two projects. In addition, business support program would be reformed from subsiding technology development to building ecological business system. Finally some policy implications are provided in this paper, which is useful to establish the new regional industrial policies for both central and local government.

• Proceedings of the Korea Water Resources Association Conference
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• 2023.05a
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• pp.394-394
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• 2023

The world's sustainable growth is being severely hampered by the inefficient use of water resources. Despite the widely acknowledged importance of trade in global and regional water and food security, societal reliance on local production as well as international trade remains inadequately assessed. Therefore, using South Korea as a case study, this study fills in this research gap by applying the virtual water concept, the logarithmic mean divisia index (LMDI) method, and the Tapio decoupling model. The virtual water concept was used to estimate South Korea's net virtual water trade for major grain crops from 1992 to 2017. Then, the LMDI method was utilized to assess the driving factors causing changes in net virtual water trade. Lastly, the Tapio decoupling model was used to investigate the decoupling relationships between economic growth and the driving factors of net virtual water trade. Results showed that South Korea remains a net importer of virtual water flows with respect to grain crops, with an average import of 16,559.24 million m³ over the study period. In addition, the change in net virtual water trade could be attributed to water intensity effect, product structure effect, economic effect, and population effect. However, water intensity and economic effects were the major decisive factors for decrease and increase in net virtual water trade respectively, while the population and product structure effects had minor positive influences on the net virtual water trade. Furthermore, water intensity and economic growth showed a strong decoupling in most periods, while the decoupling state between product structure and economic growth was observed as expansive negative decoupling. Likewise, population size and economic growth showed a weak decoupling in most periods. The results reveal South Korea's status as it concerns the virtual water trade of grain crops, thus providing valuable insights into the sustainability of trade activities for the management of local water resources.

• Asian Journal of Business Environment
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• v.1 no.1
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• pp.21-25
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• 2011

Sub-region cooperation is necessary based on the condition that China-Japan-Korea free trade area has not been established. Shandong has common interests with Koreain economic and trade cooperation and it has been equipped with prominent external environment and industrial advantages in sub-region cooperation. The article discusses the advantages, the specific patterns, the cooperation contents and the matched government measures of sub-region cooperation between Shandong and Korea, with the purpose of modifying the relevant policies launched by government.

• Journal of the Economic Geographical Society of Korea
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• v.9 no.3
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• pp.410-430
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• 2006

In the process of industrial restructuring at the regional and firm's level induced by significant changes in external economic circumstances, geographic and economic inheritances could be exploited as a constraint and/or asset for firms' strategies. Through a theoretical discussion of this argument, an attempt has been to categorize the effects of inherited regional assets on firms' strategies and regional development and to analyze the firms' strategies located at the city of Ansan. Capitalizing upon this empirical findings, some feasible development paths of Ansan in the future have been proposed and then critically discussed.

• International Area Studies Review
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• v.13 no.3
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• pp.781-799
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• 2009

Korea and China should come up with a mutually beneficial FTA proposal at an early date and thus lead the way towards the FTA. An FTA with China is a key issue of economic cooperation in order to confront soaring Chinese competitiveness in international markets. The purpose of this research paper is to analyze the overall Busan regional economy impacts of the Korea-China FTA. We analyzed the quantitative effects of an FTA by using microeconomic concept. The Korea-China FTA will have positive effects on the overall industry in Busan. Therefore, Busan regional industries exports and imports are expected to grow. Busan is worried the deal would pave the way for imports of cheap Chinese agricultural products, hurting the nation's already fragile agricultural sector. In contrast, Busan's manufacturing sector is expected to see its surplus rise. In sum, we think the FTA will bring benefit to the whole industry in Busan Regional economy because it accelerates development of the industries by trade and investment along with comparative advantage.

• International Area Studies Review
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• v.17 no.4
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• pp.1-21
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• 2013

This study aims at conducting a quantitative assessment of potential economic effects of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) consisting of 10 Member States of the ASEAN, Australia, China, India, Japan, Korea and New Zealand using a multi-region, multi-sector CGE model. Three different policy scenarios are carried out based on baseline scenarios: China-Japan-Korea FTA (Scenario 1); ASEAN+3 FTA (Scenario 2); and the RCEP (Scenario 3). The impacts of three scenarios are described in terms of real GDP, Equivalent Variation as a measure of welfare, export and import volumes, trade balance, and terms of trade. This study finds that the RCEP is to lead to an increase in real GDP of all members of the RCEP, with Korea as a winner with a highest additional economic growth of 2.43 percent, which implies that Korea is in a better position to play a leading role in promoting the RCEP.