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Effect of Capital Market Return On Insurance Coverage : A Financial Economic Approach (투자수익(投資收益)이 보험수요(保險需要)에 미치는 영향(影響)에 관한 이론적(理論的) 고찰(考察))

  • Hong, Soon-Koo
    • The Korean Journal of Financial Management
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    • v.10 no.1
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    • pp.249-280
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    • 1993
  • Recent financial theory views insurance policies as financial instruments that are traded in markets and whose prices reflect the forces of supply and demand. This article analyzes individual's insurance purchasing behavior along with capital market investment activities, which will provide a more realistic look at the tradeoff between insurance and investment in the individual's budget constraint. It is shown that the financial economic concept of insurance cost should reflect the opportunity cost of insurance premium. The author demonstrates the importance of riskless and risky financial assets in reaching an equilibrium insurance premium. In addition, the paper also investigates how the investment income could affect the four established theorems on traditional insurance literature. At the present time in Korea, the price deregulation is being debated as the most important current issue in insurance industry. In view of the results of this paper, insurance companies should recognize investment income in pricing their coverage if insurance prices are deregulated. Otherwise. price competition may force insurance companies to restrict coverage or to leave the market.

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Facters Affecting Recurrence after Video-assisted Thoracic Surgery for the Treatment of Spontaneous Pneumothotax (자연기흉에 대한 비디오흉강경수술후 재발에 영향을 미치는 요인들)

  • 이송암;김광택;이일현;백만종;최영호;이인성;김형묵;김학제
    • Journal of Chest Surgery
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    • v.32 no.5
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    • pp.448-455
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    • 1999
  • Background: Recent developments in techniques of video-assisted thoracic surgery(VATS) and endoscopic equipment has expanded the application of video-assisted surgical procedures in the field of thoracic surgery. Especially, it will probably become the treatment of choice of spontaneous pneumothorax(SP). There is, however, a high recurrence rate, high cost, and paucity of long-term results. We report the results of postoperative follow-up and analyze perioperative parameters affected to recurrence, retrospectively. Material and Method: From march 1992 to march 1997, 276 patients with spontaneous pneumothorax underwent 292 VATS procedures. Conversion to open thoracotomy was necessitated in eight patients, and this patients excluded from the study. Result: The sex distribution was 249 males and 31 females. The mean age was 28.1 12.2 years(range, 15 to 69 years). Primary SP was 237cases(83.5%) and secondary SP was 47cases(16.5%). The major underlying lung diseases associated with secondary SP were tuberculosis 27cases(57.4%) and emphysema 8cases (38.3%). Operative indications included Ipsilateral recurrence 123(43.9%), persistent air-leak 53(18.9%), x-ray visible bleb 40(14.3%), tension 30(10.7%), contralateral recurrence 21(7.5%), uncomplicated first episode 8(2.9%), bilateral 3(1.1%), complicated episode 2(0.7%). Blebs were visualized in 247cases(87%) and 244cases(85.9%) performed stapled blebectomy. Early postoperative complications occurred in 33 cases(11.6%): 16 prolonged air-leak more than 5 days(four of them were required a second operation and found missed blebs); 5 bleeding; 5 empyema; 2 atelectasis; 1 wound infection. No deaths occured. The mean operative time was 52.8 23.1 minutes(range, 20 to 165 minutes). The mean d ration of chest tube drainage was 5.0 4.5 days(range, 2 to 37 days). The mean duration ofhospital stay was 8.2 5.5 days (range, 3 to 43days). At a mean follow-up 22.3 18.4 months(range, 1 to 65 months), 12 patients(4.2%) were lost to follow-up. There were 24 recurrences and seven patients underwent second operation and 6 patients(85.7%) were found the missed blebs. 12 perioperative parameters(age, sex, site, underlying disease, extent of collapse, operative indication, size of bleb, number of bleb, location of bleb, bleb management, pleural procedure, prolonged postoperative air-leak) were analyzed statistically to identify significant predictors of recurrence. The significant predictors of recurrence was the underlying disease[17.0%(8/47): 6.8%(16/237), p=0.038], prolonged postoperative air-leakage[37.5%(6/16): 6.7%(18/268), p=0.001], and pleural procedure [11.4%(19/167): 4.3%(5/117), p=0.034]. Blebectomy has less recurrence rate then non-blebectomy [8.2%(20/244) : 10.0%(4/40), p>0. 5]. However, this difference was not statistically significant(p=0.758). Conclusion: We conclude that it is important that we shoud careful finding of bleb during VATS due to reducing of recurrnece, and cases of no bleb identified and secondary spontaneous pneumothorax were indicated of pleurodectomy. VATS is a valid alternative to open procedure for the treatment of spontaneous pneumothorax with less pain, shorter hospital stay, more rapid return to work, high patient acceptance, less scar and exellent cosmetics. But, there is high recurrence rate and high cost, and than it is necessary to evaluate of long-term results for recurrence and to observate carefully during VATS.

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A study on Development Process of Fish Aquaculture in Japan - Case by Seabream Aquaculture - (일본 어류 양식업의 발전과정과 산지교체에 관한 연구 : 참돔양식업을 사례로)

  • 송정헌
    • The Journal of Fisheries Business Administration
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    • v.34 no.2
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    • pp.75-90
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    • 2003
  • When we think of fundamental problems of the aquaculture industry, there are several strict conditions, and consequently the aquaculture industry is forced to change. Fish aquaculture has a structural supply surplus in production, aggravation of fishing grounds, stagnant low price due to recent recession, and drastic change of distribution circumstances. It is requested for us to initiate discussion on such issue as “how fish aquaculture establishes its status in the coastal fishery\ulcorner, will fish aquaculture grow in the future\ulcorner, and if so “how it will be restructured\ulcorner” The above issues can be observed in the mariculture of yellow tail, sea scallop and eel. But there have not been studied concerning seabream even though the production is over 30% of the total production of fish aquaculture in resent and it occupied an important status in the fish aquaculture. The objectives of this study is to forecast the future movement of sea bream aquaculture. The first goal of the study is to contribute to managerial and economic studies on the aquaculture industry. The second goal is to identify the factors influencing the competition between production areas and to identify the mechanisms involved. This study will examine the competitive power in individual producing area, its behavior, and its compulsory factors based on case study. Producing areas will be categorized according to following parameters : distance to market and availability of transportation, natural environment, the time of formation of producing areas (leaderㆍfollower), major production items, scale of business and producing areas, degree of organization in production and sales. As a factor in shaping the production area of sea bream aquaculture, natural conditions especially the water temperature is very important. Sea bream shows more active feeding and faster growth in areas located where the water temperature does not go below 13∼14$^{\circ}C$ during the winter. Also fish aquaculture is constrained by the transporting distance. Aquacultured yellowtail is a mass-produced and a mass-distributed item. It is sold a unit of cage and transported by ship. On the other hand, sea bream is sold in small amount in markets and transported by truck; so, the transportation cost is higher than yellow tail. Aquacultured sea bream has different product characteristics due to transport distance. We need to study live fish and fresh fish markets separately. Live fish was the original product form of aquacultured sea bream. Transportation of live fish has more constraints than the transportation of fresh fish. Death rate and distance are highly correlated. In addition, loading capacity of live fish is less than fresh fish. In the case of a 10 ton truck, live fish can only be loaded up to 1.5 tons. But, fresh fish which can be placed in a box can be loaded up to 5 to 6 tons. Because of this characteristics, live fish requires closer location to consumption area than fresh fish. In the consumption markets, the size of fresh fish is mainly 0.8 to 2kg.Live fish usually goes through auction, and quality is graded. Main purchaser comes from many small-sized restaurants, so a relatively small farmer and distributer can sell it. Aquacultured sea bream has been transacted as a fresh fish in GMS ,since 1993 when the price plummeted. Economies of scale works in case of fresh fish. The characteristics of fresh fish is as follows : As a large scale demander, General Merchandise Stores are the main purchasers of sea bream and the size of the fish is around 1.3kg. It mainly goes through negotiation. Aquacultured sea bream has been established as a representative food in General Merchandise Stores. GMS require stable and mass supply, consistent size, and low price. And Distribution of fresh fish is undertook by the large scale distributers, which can satisfy requirements of GMS. The market share in Tokyo Central Wholesale Market shows Mie Pref. is dominating in live fish. And Ehime Pref. is dominating in fresh fish. Ehime Pref. showed remarkable growth in 1990s. At present, the dealings of live fish is decreasing. However, the dealings of fresh fish is increasing in Tokyo Central Wholesale Market. The price of live fish is decreasing more than one of fresh fish. Even though Ehime Pref. has an ideal natural environment for sea bream aquaculture, its entry into sea bream aquaculture was late, because it was located at a further distance to consumers than the competing producing areas. However, Ehime Pref. became the number one producing areas through the sales of fresh fish in the 1990s. The production volume is almost 3 times the production volume of Mie Pref. which is the number two production area. More conversion from yellow tail aquaculture to sea bream aquaculture is taking place in Ehime Pref., because Kagosima Pref. has a better natural environment for yellow tail aquaculture. Transportation is worse than Mie Pref., but this region as a far-flung producing area makes up by increasing the business scale. Ehime Pref. increases the market share for fresh fish by creating demand from GMS. Ehime Pref. has developed market strategies such as a quick return at a small profit, a stable and mass supply and standardization in size. Ehime Pref. increases the market power by the capital of a large scale commission agent. Secondly Mie Pref. is close to markets and composed of small scale farmers. Mie Pref. switched to sea bream aquaculture early, because of the price decrease in aquacultured yellou tail and natural environmental problems. Mie Pref. had not changed until 1993 when the price of the sea bream plummeted. Because it had better natural environment and transportation. Mie Pref. has a suitable water temperature range required for sea bream aquaculture. However, the price of live sea bream continued to decline due to excessive production and economic recession. As a consequence, small scale farmers are faced with a market price below the average production cost in 1993. In such kind of situation, the small-sized and inefficient manager in Mie Pref. was obliged to withdraw from sea bream aquaculture. Kumamoto Pref. is located further from market sites and has an unsuitable nature environmental condition required for sea bream aquaculture. Although Kumamoto Pref. is trying to convert to the puffer fish aquaculture which requires different rearing techniques, aquaculture technique for puffer fish is not established yet.

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Effects of Dietary Carbohydrase Enzyme Complex and Microbial Phytase Supplementation on Productivity and Nutrient Digestibility in Growing Pigs (탄수화물 분해 복합효소제와 미생물 파이테이즈의 첨가가 육성돈의 생산성 및 영양소 소화율에 미치는 영향)

  • Shim, Y.H.;Chae, B.J.;Lee, J.H.
    • Journal of Animal Science and Technology
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    • v.45 no.4
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    • pp.569-576
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    • 2003
  • An experiment was conducted to investigate the effect of microbial phytase (Natuphos$^{\circledR}$) supplementation, individually and in combination with carbohydrase enzyme complex (composed of enzymes targeted to SBM dietary components such as $\alpha$-galactosides and galactomannans; ENDO-POWER$^{\circledR}$) to corn-soy basis diet with low nutrient levels on growth performance and nutrient digestibility of growing pigs. A total of 48 crossbred weaned pigs (Landrace${\times}$Yorkshire${\times}$Duroc), 29.1$\pm$0.14 kg of initial body weight, were randomly allotted to four dietary treatments, based on weight and age, according to a Randomized Complete Block Design. There were three pens per treatment and 4 pigs per pen. The dietary treatments were 1) CON (control diet with 3,380 kcal/kg of metabolizable energy, 18.96% of crude protein, 1.10% of lysine, 0.75% of calcium and 0.35% of available phosphorus), 2) LP+NTPS (CON diet with 0.15% unit lower available P levels+0.1% phytase (500 FTU/kg; Natuphos$^{\circledR}$)), 3) LEL+ENP (CON diet with 3.0% unit lower ME and lysine levels + 0.1% carbohydrase enzyme complex (ENDO-POWER$^{\circledR}$), and 4) LPEL+ENZ (CON diet with 0.15% unit lower available P levels and 3.0% unit lower ME and lysine levels+0.1% ENDO-POWER$^{\circledR}$ and 0.1% Natuphos$^{\circledR}$ (500 FTU/kg). There was no significant difference (p〉0.05) in average daily gain (ADG), average daily feed intake (ADFI) and feed conversion ratio (FCR) among dietary treatments during the whole experimental period (0 to 4 weeks). Apparent digestibility of gross energy was greater in LP+NTPS and LPEL+ENZ groups than in the LEL+ENP (p<0.05). Apparent digestibility of phosphorus was greater in LP+NTPS than in LEL+ENP (p<0.05). Dry matter excretion was lowest in LPEL+ENZ and phosphorus excretion was lowest in LP+NTPS (p<0.05). Overall, pigs fed on LPEL+ENZ group tended to have better nutrient digestibility (dry matter, gross energy, crude protein and phosphorus) than pigs fed on control group. All dietary enzyme treatment groups showed lower feed cost/body weight gain of pigs than control group. In conclusion, the results from the present study suggest that the simultaneous inclusion of phytase and carbohydrase enzyme complex to diets is advantageous with respect to reducing nutrient excretion of growing pigs and may contribute to increased economic return when added to corn-soy based growing pig diets.

Appraisal of the Special Production Area Development Project in Rural Area and Countermeasures for Off-farm Income Increase (The Case of Chungnam Province) (농어촌(農漁村) 특산단지개발사업(特産團地開發事業)의 평가(評價)와 농외소득증대방안(農外所得增大方案) (충청남도(忠淸南道)를 중심(中心)으로))

  • Lim, Jae Hwan
    • Korean Journal of Agricultural Science
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    • v.18 no.2
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    • pp.164-179
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    • 1991
  • Korean agriculture has encountered two problems. One is internal income disparity between rural and urbarn area and the other is external Uruguay Round trade problems as an abolition of direct and indirect import barriers, reduction in export subsidies and to reduce internal price supports. These problems will be brought severe farm problems such as decreasing farm household income and repressing agricultural growth in the near future. Considering the above inevitable facts Korean government has implemented several development projects such as rural industrial area development project, rural special production area development project, leisuresight seeing farm development project, traditional food development project, unskilled labor training project for off-farm employment and so on, to increase farm household income through off-farm income increase. This study was mainly concentrated on the identification of operational problems and post evaluation of the rural special production area development projects which aimed at increasing non-farm incomes and giving employment opportunity for rural farmers in small factories processing regional special farm products and mine products. The main findings and problems to be solved for the successful project implementation are as followed ; 1. Total number of the special production area development projects as of the end of 1991 was amount to 138, and total number of farm household participated were estimated at 2,079, and total amount of off-farm income per farm household was reached to 3,011 thousand won. 2. The total number of processed special products have increased from 21 items in 1981 to 56 items in 1991. On the other hand the total number of farm household participated in the projects have decreased from 2,518 to 2,079 during same period. 3. Total amount of investment for the projects has increased from 1,429 million won in 1981 to 24,760 million won in 1991 but the rate of G'T loan of the total investment has reduced from 24.5% to 5.2% during same period. 4. 138 special production area development project are classified into 6 kinds of commodity groups such as 19 of general industrial good production areas, 52 of folks-industrial art objects production areas, 39 of food processing areas, 9 of fiber and texstile processing areas, 18 of agricultural and fishery inputs processing areas and 1 of stone processing area. 5. The total production value in 1990 was estimated 20,169 million won of which export was amount to 2,627 million won. 6. The finacial rate of return of the UNGOK KUGIJA Tea processing Project operated by UNGOK coops and BAKSAN ginseng tea processing project were estimated at 45.4% (B/C Ratio=1.17, NPV=152.5 million won) and 17.7% (B/C Ratio=1.12, NPV=120.2 million won) respectively. 7. More favorite terms and condition of the loan including collateral problems have to be given to farmers participated. Heavy investment and G'T subsidy policies should be started for the successful project implementation anf farm household income increase. 8. To expand market demand of the rural special goods G'T have to provide special program of TV or other mass media for commodity propaganda and the total cost concerned must be supported by G'T subsidy. 9. The special farm products as GUGUJA,MOSI'Ramie', Ginseng. SOGOKJU,HEMP,Mushroom.DUGYUNJU and Chesnut processing projects have to be propelled and expanded for off-farm income increase in Chung Nam Province. 10. Direct operational pattern of the special production area by coops is more favorable to farmers and recommendable considering with off-farm income increase and market demand creation throughout Korea. 11. In rural area, special organizations for project appraisal are not exist. Accordingly special training program, project appraisal, formulation and preparation for civil servants concerned have to be prepared for project selection and sound implementation under limited budget and financial support.

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Problems of the Current Referral System of the Terminal Cancer Patients in Korea (말기 암 환자의 완화 의료 연계 시스템의 문제점과 개선 방안)

  • Yun, Cho-Hee;Lee, Ju-Young;Kim, Mi-Ra;Heo, Dae-Seok
    • Journal of Hospice and Palliative Care
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    • v.5 no.2
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    • pp.94-100
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    • 2002
  • Purpose : The system to refer terminally ill patients to palliative or hospice care which ultimately give them emotional, psychological, and social support hasn't been fully developed and organized yet in Korea. The controversies concerning the current referral system are being analyzed to present the improvements. Methods : The questionnaires were asked to be filled out by family members of the 76 patients by phone interview, who were referred from the Seoul National University Hospital between April, 2001 to March, 2002. They were referred to the 35 palliative and hospice care-giving institutes and hospitals which were given questionnaires by mail. Results : Of the 76 patient's family members, 47 family members accepted to answer the questionnaire. The first thing that influence to family to determine the referral of patient was solicitation of doctors or nurses (44%). And they were influenced by allowance for the other things such as convenience of patients (32%), convenience of caring family members (24%). In the course of determining of referred institutes, responders had considered at first their dwelling area, and then fame of institutes, the place which patent had wanted to spend last hours or which is suitable for patient's funeral service, and their financial condition. Thirty-eight the 47 responders answered that they had experienced difficulties in referral procedure. The worst among difficulties was unwanted discharge, and followings were lack of information about the referred institutes, concern about patient's suffering, resistance of patient and opposition of other family members, etc. Although they expressed dissatisfaction in referral procedure, most of them answered they had been satisfied with hospice care at referred institute after referral. Merits of referral which responders counted were patient's peace, caring family's comfort and reduced cost in order. Of the 35 referred institutes, 24 institutes' staffs responded mail questionnaires and sent to us in return. Except one responder, the rest approved the referral system and thought that referred patients had been satisfied with their hospice care. And they claimed that systemic support of the government is definitely necessary. The most difficult thing which responders experienced in care of referred patients was lack of information about patients. Besides, there were patient's financial problems, lack of understanding about their institutes of patients or family, and inconvenience of terminal cancer patient's pain control. Conclusion : The development and support of the organized referral system is needed to alleviate the troubles which patients, family members, and palliative or hospice institutes and hospitals have to face through the procedure of the referral.

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Fundamental Economic Feasibility Analysis on the Transition of Production Structure for a Forest Village in LAO PDR (라오스 산촌마을의 생산구조전환을 위한 투자 경제성 기초 분석)

  • Lee, Bohwe;Kim, Sebin;Lee, Joon-Woo;Rhee, Hakjun;Lee, Sangjin;Lee, Joong-goo;Baek, Woongi;Park, Bum-Jin;Koo, Seungmo
    • The Journal of the Korean Institute of Forest Recreation
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    • v.22 no.4
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    • pp.11-22
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    • 2018
  • This study analyzes the economic feasibility on the transition of production structure to increase income for a local forest village in Laos PDR. The study area was the Nongboua village in Sangthong district where the primary product is rice from rice paddy. Possible strategies were considered to increase the villagers' revenue, and Noni (Morinda citrifolia) was production in the short-term. We assumed that the project period was for 20 years for the analysis, and a total of 1,100 Noni tree was planted in 1 ha by $3m{\times}3m$ spacing. This study classified basic scenario one, scenario two, scenario three by the survival rate and purchase pirce of Noni. Generally Noni grows well. However, the seedlings' average survival rate (= production volume) was set up conservatively in this study to consider potential risks such as no production experience of Noni and tree disease. The scenario one assumed that the survival rate of Noni seedlings was 50% for 0-1 years, 60% for 0-2 years, and 70% for 3-20 years; the scenario two, 10% less, i.e., 40%, 50%, and 60%; and the scenario three, 10% less, i.e., 40%, 50%, 60% and purchase price 10% less, i.e., $0.29 to $0.26, respectively. Our analysis showed that all 3 scenarios resulted in economically-feasible IRR (internal rate of return) of 24.81%, 19.02%, and 16.30% of with a discounting rate of 10%. The B/C (benefit/cost) ratio for a unit area (1ha) was also analyzed for the three scenarios with a discounting rate of 10%, resutling in the B/C ratio of 1.71, 1.47, and 1.31. The study results showed that the Nongboua village would have a good opportunity to improve its low-income structure through planting and managing alternative crops such as Noni. Also the results can be used as useful decision-making information at a preliminary analysis level for planning other government and public investment projects for the Nonboua village.

A Study on Major Safety Problems and Improvement Measures of Personal Mobility (개인형 이동장치의 안전 주요 문제점 및 개선방안 연구)

  • Kang, Seung Shik;Kang, Seong Kyung
    • Journal of the Society of Disaster Information
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    • v.18 no.1
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    • pp.202-217
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    • 2022
  • Purpose: The recent increased use of Personal Mobility (PM) has been accompanied by a rise in the annual number of accidents. Accordingly, the safety requirements for PM use are being strengthened, but the laws/systems, infrastructure, and management systems remain insufficient for fostering a safe environment. Therefore, this study comprehensively searches the main problems and improvement methods through a review of previous studies that are related to PM. Then the priorities according to the importance of the improvement methods are presented through the Delphi survey. Method: The research method is mainly composed of a literature study and an expert survey (Delphi survey). Prior research and improvement cases (local governments, government departments, companies, etc.) are reviewed to derive problems and improvements, and a problem/improvement classification table is created based on keywords. Based on the classification contents, an expert survey is conducted to derive a priority improvement plan. Result: The PM-related problems were in 'non-compliance with traffic laws, lack of knowledge, inexperienced operation, and lack of safety awareness' in relation to human factors, and 'device characteristics, road-drivable space, road facilities, parking facilities' in relation to physical factors. 'Management/supervision, product management, user management, education/training' as administrative factors and legal factors are divided into 'absence/sufficiency of law, confusion/duplication, reduced effectiveness'. Improvement tasks related to this include 'PM education/public relations, parking/return, road improvement, PM registration/management, insurance, safety standards, traffic standards, PM device safety, PM supplementary facilities, enforcement/management, dedicated organization, service providers, management system, and related laws/institutional improvement', and 42 detailed tasks are derived for these 14 core tasks. The results for the importance evaluation of detailed tasks show that the tasks with a high overall average for the evaluation items of cost, time, effect, urgency, and feasibility were 'strengthening crackdown/instruction activities, education publicity/campaign, truancy PM management, and clarification of traffic rules'. Conclusion: The PM market is experiencing gradual growth based on shared services and a safe environment for PM use must be ensured along with industrial revitalization. In this respect, this study seeks out the major problems and improvement plans related to PM from a comprehensive point of view and prioritizes the necessary improvement measures. Therefore, it can serve as a basis of data for future policy establishment. In the future, in-depth data supplementation will be required for each key improvement area for practical policy application.

Analysis of Management Status and Optimum Production Scale of Quarrying Firms in Korea -Comparative Analysis of Aggregate and Building-Stone Quarrying Firms- (산지채석업체(山地採石業體)의 경영실태(經營實態) 및 적정규모설정(適正規模設定) -골재용(骨材用) 채석업체(採石業體)와 건축용(建築用) 채석업체(採石業體)의 비교(比較) 분석(分析)-)

  • Joung, Ha Hyeon;Cho, Eung Hyouk
    • Journal of Korean Society of Forest Science
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    • v.80 no.1
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    • pp.72-81
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    • 1991
  • This study was carried out to provide necessary information for improving quarrying industry management in Korea. The results of the study are summarized as follows : 1. In aggregate and building-stone quarrying firms the managers over 40 years of age are 97% and 89.1%, the ones above education level of high school are 90% and 85% and the ones not more than 10 years of quarrying experience are 70% and 52%, respectively. Accordingly it can be pointed out that most of the managers of two types of firms are relatively old, have high educational background, while quarrying experiences of building-stone firm managers are longer than that of aggregate firm managers. 2. Most of the management forms are social corporation(60%) for aggregate quarry firms and private management(76%) for building-stone firms. Average areas of permitted stone-pits of aggregate and building-stone quarries are about 2.86ha and 1.66ha respectively. That is, aggregate quarrying firms are carried on a larger scale than building-stone quarrying firms. 3. The yearly average product of aggregate quarrying firms has increased steadily from $88.961m^3$ in 1985 to $144.028m^3$ in 1988, while, in case of building-stone quarry firms, it has significantly increased from $4.155m^3$ to $19.462m^3$ from 1985 to 1987, but reduced to $13.400m^3$ in 1988. Unstable production activities of building-stone quarrying firms may require continuous government support. 4. Major cost items are equipment rental, depreciation, salaries, repair, maintenance for aggregate quarrying firms, and salaries, depreciation, fuel, tax for building-stone quarrying firms. The yearly average rate of return is about 9.7% for aggregate quarry firms and 2.6% for building-stone quarry firms. It can be pointed out that aggregate quarrying firms is better managed than building-stone quarrying firms. 5. The production elasticity of salary for aggregate quarrying firms is 0.495, that of employees is 0.559, and that of capital service is 0.513. The sum of the elasticities is 1.257>1. Fur building-stone quarrying firms, that of employees is 0.492, that of variable costs is 0.192, and that of capital service is 0.498. The sum of elasticities is 1.172>1, thus denotes the increasing returns to scale for both types quarrying firms. 6. The ratio of marginal value product to opportunity cost of empolyees is 2.54, that of variable costs is 3.62, and that of capital service is 1.45, in aggregate quarrying firms. That of employees is 2.47, that is variable costs was 2.34, and that of capital service is 19.67 in building-stone quarrying firms. Therefore the critical factors for more expansion of management scale in aggregate quarrying firms are variable cost and employees, and are capital service in building-stone quarry ing firms. 7. The break-even points of stone sales are about 0.587 billion won and 0.22 billion won in aggregate and building-stone quarrying firms respectively. The optimum sales Level for profit maximization are about 2.0 billion and 0.5 billion in aggregate and building-stone quarry firms respectively.

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The Effect of Franchisor's On-going Support Services on Franchisee's Relationship Quality and Business Performance in the Foodservice Industry (외식 프랜차이즈 가맹본부의 사후 지원서비스가 가맹점의 관계품질과 경영성과에 미치는 영향)

  • Lee, Jae-Han;Lee, Yong-Ki;Han, Kyu-Chul
    • Journal of Distribution Research
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    • v.15 no.3
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    • pp.1-34
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    • 2010
  • Introduction The purpose of this research is to develop overall model which involves the effect of ongoing support services by franchisor on franchisee's relationship quality(trust, satisfaction, and commitment) and business performance(financial and non-financial performance), and to investigate the relationships among trust, satisfaction, commitment, financial and non-financial performance. This study also suggests franchise business or franchise system should be based on long-term orientation between franchisor and franchisee rather than short-term orientation, or transactional relationship, and proposes the most effective way of providing on-going support services by franchisor with franchisee thru symbiotic relationship among franchisor and franchisee Research Model and Hypothesis The research model as Figure 1 shows the variables on-going support services which affect the relationship quality between franchisor and franchisee such as trust, satisfaction, and commitment, and also analyze the effects of relationship quality on business performance including financial and non-financial performance We established 12 hypotheses to test as follows; Relationship between on-going support services and trust H1: On-going support services factors (product category & price, logistics service, promotion, information providing & problem solving capability, supervisor's support, and education & training support) have positive effect on franchisee's trust. Relationship between on-going support services and satisfaction H2: On-going support services factors (product category & price, logistics service, promotion, information providing & problem solving capability, supervisor's support, and education & training support) have positive effect on franchisee's satisfaction. Relationship between on-going support services and commitment H3: On-going support services factors (product category & price, logistics service, promotion, information providing & problem solving capability, supervisor's support, and education & training support) have positive effect on franchisee's commitment. Relationship among relationship quality: trust, satisfaction, and commitment H4: Franchisee's trust has positive effect on franchisee's satisfaction. H5: Franchisee's trust has positive effect on franchisee's commitment. H6: Franchisee's satisfaction has positive effect on franchisee's commitment. Relationship between relationship quality and business performance H7: Franchisee's trust has positive effect on franchisee's financial performance. H8: Franchisee's trust has positive effect on franchisee's non-financial performance. H9: Franchisee's satisfaction has positive effect on franchisee's financial performance. H10: Franchisee's satisfaction has positive effect on franchisee's non-financial performance. H11: Franchisee's commitment has positive effect on franchisee's financial performance. H12: Franchisee's commitment has positive effect on franchisee's non-financial performance. Method The on-going support services were defined as an organized system of continuous supporting services by franchisor for the purpose of satisfying the expectation of franchisee based on long-term orientation and classified into six constructs such as product category & price, logistics service, promotion, providing information & problem solving capability, supervisor's support, and education & training support. The six constructs were measured agreement using a 7-point Likert-type scale (1 = strongly disagree to 7 = strongly agree)as follows. The product category & price was measured by four items: menu variety, price of food material provided by franchisor, and support for developing new menu. The logistics service was measured by six items: distribution system of franchisor, return policy for provided food materials, timeliness, inventory control level of franchisor, accuracy of order, and flexibility of emergency order. The promotion was measured by five items: differentiated promotion activities, brand image of franchisor, promotion effect such as customer increase, long-term plan of promotion, and micro-marketing concept in promotion. The providing information & problem solving capability was measured by information providing of new products, information of competitors, information of cost reduction, and efforts for solving problems in franchisee's operations. The supervisor's support was measured by supervisor operations, frequency of visiting franchisee, support by data analysis, processing the suggestions by franchisee, diagnosis and solutions for the franchisee's operations, and support for increasing sales in franchisee. Finally, the of education & training support was measured by recipe training by specialist, service training for store people, systemized training program, and tax & human resources support services. Analysis and results The data were analyzed using Amos. Figure 2 and Table 1 present the result of the structural equation model. Implications The results of this research are as follows: Firstly, the factors of product category, information providing and problem solving capacity influence only franchisee's satisfaction and commitment. Secondly, logistic services and supervising factors influence only trust and satisfaction. Thirdly, continuing education and training factors influence only franchisee's trust and commitment. Fourthly, sales promotion factor influences all the relationship quality representing trust, satisfaction, and commitment. Fifthly, regarding relationship among relationship quality, trust positively influences satisfaction, however, does not directly influence commitment, but satisfaction positively affects commitment. Therefore, satisfaction plays a mediating role between trust and commitment. Sixthly, trust positively influence only financial performance, and satisfaction and commitment influence positively both financial and non-financial performance.

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