• International Area Studies Review
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• v.13 no.3
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• pp.803-825
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• 2009

There have been many critical point of view on the Korean industrial relations arguing that its conflictual nature and combative unions, and too much protective labor laws make the foreign investors to avoid Korea as an investment location. This argument has been raised since IMF' financial bail-out when Korea needed badly foreign FDI. Since then, however, any significant improvement in industrial relations field has not been made. In this kind of dead-lock situation, the Ireland' success story give us an important lesson, in which the strong economic growth had been made through the massive FDI, stimulated by the social partnership between government, unions and employers. Our study has an aim to examine the several success factors for Ireland's economic success, and to take a deep look into the context and characteristics of the Ireland' social partnership, and its outcome. We also try to draw some lessons to Korean economy, in particular, in its economic policy and industrial relations.

• Journal of Korean Society of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene
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• v.28 no.4
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• pp.352-364
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• 2018

Objective: The Korean Industrial Hygiene Association(KIHA) held a forum on "Improvement of Material Safety Data Sheets (MSDS) regulations for enhancing the effectiveness and efficiency in the field" at its 2018 Winter Conference(February 2, 2018). This article summarized the major consensus opinions developed at the forum. Methods: Since the initial implementation of the MSDS system, the contents of the system have changed and related studies have been reviewed. Before the forum, online questionnaires were developed and opinions on the effectiveness of MSDS program were collected from various strata of the occupational health field. We also summarized the key opinions of companies, trade unions, experts, and government officials as discussed at the forums. Results: A total of 265 opinions were gathered through online questionnaire surveys from safety and health managers, trade unions, government officials, and health professionals. The results of online surveys and discussions showed some differences of opinion, but it was a common perception that the current MSDS system is not working effectively in the workplace. It was considered necessary to strengthen MSDS education and to make it easier for workers to understand and deliver the necessary information. In addition, it was confirmed that the supply of and education on MSDS to small- and medium-sized enterprise workers is not being well executed. In particular, MSDS training for subcontract workers should be carried out under the responsibility of the contracting employer. Conclusions: In order for the MSDS system to serve more effectively in the field in the future, it needs to be improved in terms of the effective education and training considering the type of industry and employment.

• Asia-Pacific Journal of Business
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• v.11 no.3
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• pp.63-77
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• 2020

Purpose - The purpose of this study is to examine the effects of personal characteristics, loan characteristics, and interest rate characteristics of 2,653 borrowers on the delinquency possibility. In doing so, this study applies both multiple regression and logistic regression models to the data of credit unions in the city of Daegu. Design/Methodology/Approach - The major results of multiple regression analysis using SPSS are as follows. Findings - As for the results of testing the significance of the regression coefficients, it has been found that among the personal characteristics variables membership, credit rating, credit rating changes, and LTV have significant positive (+) effects on the delinquency possibility. Also it has been shown that among the loan characteristics variables loan amount, loan balance, total debt amount, collateral type, collateral amount, and repayment method have significant positive (+) effects on the delinquency possibility. Furthermore it has been found that among the interest rate characteristics variables both overdue interest rate and interest rate spread have positive (+) effects on the delinquency possibility. However, it has been shown that among the personal characteristics variables equity and membership do not have significant effects on the delinquency possibility, and that normal interest rate among the interest rate characteristics variables also do not have a significant effect on the delinquency possibility. Research Implications - By systematically analyzing the variables affecting delinquency possibility based on the results of this study, credit unions might get positive help in improving the system of managing receivables. Furthermore, the results of this study could be extended and applied to other types of financial institutions, so that financial institutions in general will also get some help to systematically manage the delinquency possibility.

• 한국사회정책
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• v.23 no.1
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• pp.1-23
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• 2016

This study evaluates the strategic capacity of Korean labor union movement by examining policy alternatives and strategic steps that the Federation of Korean Trade Unions and the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions have shown in response to Park Geun-Hye government's labor market structuring policies. While the government-led labor reform was carried out as intended, organized labor has not simply failed to achieve progressive labor reforms to enhance employment security, but also to exert their strategic capacity effectively for preventing Park's labor market flexibilization policies. The two national centers have not been able to exert their strategic capacity (such as intermediating, framing, articulating, learning) for mobilizing the resources of internal solidarity, network embeddedness, narrative discourse, and organizational infrastructure. In particular, the formation and diffusion of public discourse is a significant part of strategic capacity of labor unions dealing with the labor politics of labor market restructuring, since organized labor, which is under the unfavorable constraints of limited movement resources and power imbalance with the business circle, needs to mobilize massive support and participation from union members and civil society organizations. In this light, it becomes of more importance for labor union movement to exert their strategic capacity toward internal solidarity and network embeddedness in the stage of labor market reforms. Under the recent stage of labor reforms, however, the labor unions has not harnessed their movement resources effectively, but undertaken their protest in a traditional manner, thereby losing its public efficacy from inside and outside. Moreover, it is necessary to build and activate the network of organic solidarity among organized labor, civil society organizations and progressive political parties, in order to cope with the pro-business coalition of power elites for accomplishing pro-labor reforms.

• Korean Journal of Labor Studies
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• v.23 no.1
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• pp.47-83
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• 2017

The Swedish labor market secures flexibility in the use of labor force by means of non-regular workers such as temporary workers among others instead of regular workers' layoffs. Although the labor law reform in the late 2000s made it easier to use temporary workers and the outbreak of the economic crisis strengthened the power of user firms against labor unions, the size of temporary workers was scaled down. It is the aim of this study to analyze the change in the use of temporary workers, to examine the effect of the labor law reform and that of economic crisis in that regard, and to explain how, over the use of temporary workers, user firms' strategy to secure flexibility and labor unions' strategy to regulate flexibility interact with each other so as to establish a new equilibrium through conflicts and compromises. The labor law reform to enhance the flexibility in the use of temporary workers failed to entail amendments of collective contracts. Besides, out of the economic crisis, user firms adopted a new policy to use third party workers more, refraining from employing temporary workers. That's why the number of temporary workers has declined eventually. User firms prefer to use third party workers because they could avoid their own responsibility as an employer and they could rely on 'permanent temporary' workers without any time limit. Labor unions, however, responded with a strategy to lay more strict regulations on the use of third party workers, so that third party workers could be used only for limited cause for external numerical flexibility. As a result, the managed flexibility thesis comes to prevail to the usage of non-regular workers in general beyond the category of agency workers. Korea with severe abuse of third party workers should learn from Swedish labor unions' strategy to provide third party workers with stronger employment security and higher wages so as to prevent user firms from abusing third party workers.

• Proceedings of the IEEK Conference
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• 2003.07c
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• pp.2907-2910
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• 2003

시각장애인의 보행을 보조할 목적으로 설치된 점자보도블록은 보행방향과 정지 정보를 제공하지만, 현재 위치에 대한 정보는 제공 할 수 없어서 보행 보조물로써의 기능이 매우 제한되어 있다. 본 연구에서는 최근 IT 기술중 하나인 RFID(Radio Frequency Identification)를 내장한 새로운 개념의 점자보도블록과 이를 활용하여 보행을 유도할 수 있는 시스템을 제안하고자 한다. 점자보도블록에는 RFID 태그와 안테나를 삽입하여 현재 위치에 대한 정보를 저장하며, 백색지팡이에는 이 정보를 읽어 들이기 위한 리더기를 설치한다. 현재위치에 대한 정보는 PDA로 전송되어 해당되는 음성정보를 시각장애인에게 전달하게 된다. 제안된 시스템을 통해 시각장애인은 타인의 도움 없이 현재 자신이 위치한 곳에 대한 정보를 얻고, 올바른 곳으로 보행중인지를 판단할 수 있게 되므로, 시각장애인의 보행권과 사회활동권등 복지 증진에 효과가 있을 것이다.

• Korean Journal of Health Education and Promotion
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• v.15 no.2
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• pp.217-233
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• 1998

This paper analyzed four different perspectives on health care reform in Korea in terms of the basic values, formulated problems and reform plans, implementation methods, and supporting groups. The medical security plan was insisted by social security specialists and social activists focusing on the integration of medical insurance coops in order to enhancing equity and right of the people. However, its perspective was limited to promoting security instead of reforming health care system. The government proposed the health care reform plans in 1994 and in 1997, focusing on promoting efficiency by remedying many problems in health care delivery system. However, its implementation was not successful due to the lack of organizational and financial supporters. Recently, two opposite proposals were issued. The market reform plan paid attention to revitalizing the market function to promoting efficiency by allowing hospitals to treat private patients instead of applying the medical insurance regulation. The government reform plan focused on intensifying governmental planning and intervention in the health care sector in order to removing inefficiency and promoting equity with the supports of social activists and labor unions. Finally, this paper proposed an alternative plan to promote harmonious social relationship between actors in the health care system.

• Journal of Korean Institute of Industrial Engineers
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• v.30 no.4
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• pp.277-284
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• 2004

CDMA (Code Division Multiple Access) is a promising air interface technique for digital cellular systems. The soft handoff between base stations is one of many important features of CDMA for the mobile stations crossing the cell boundaries. The service areas of MSC's (Mobile Switching Centers) are defined as the unions of the service areas of the base stations connected to MSC's and are assumed to have hexagonal shapes. An analytical approach to the performance analysis of the link between MSC's for supporting the inter-MSC soft handoff scheme will be developed to obtain the probability that a soft handoff to an adjacent MSC will be blocked due to the shortage of the link capacity. Also, the rate of new connection establishments that are requested by the mobile stations moving to the service area of an MSC according to the inter-MSC soft handoff scheme will be obtained.

• Korean Business Review
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• v.2
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• pp.141-169
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• 1989

Most of the theories of collective bargaining outcomes start with a set of economic variables. The economic constraints, pressures, and incentives influence the bargaining power relationship between labor union and employer. In this paper, the critical macro and micro economic variables that need to be considered in analyzing the economic context of collective bargaining power relationship is outlined. The focus is on the role that economic forces play in shaping the results of bargaining, that is the outcome of negotiations. In this study, the elasticity of the demand for labor is introduced as one of the most important economic aspects that influence bargaining power. Unions will be most successful in increasing wages when they enjoy an inelastic demand for labor. If the demand for labor is not naturally inelastic, some institutional arrangement for "taking wages out of competition" must be sought. Inflation, business cycle, and income policy are influential in shaping both parties' goals and expectations as well. In addition to the analysis of the economic variables, the nature of power is diagonized with some introductory notions about its care and feeding before proceeding to the details of the above issues.

• The Journal of Information Technology
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• v.3 no.2
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• pp.23-37
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• 2000

This study examines the effect of trade union on the structure of wage determining and the variance of wage in manufacturing and non-manufacturing, 1993, in Korea It finds that the wage determining mechanism is significantly different between union and nonunion establishments, and that the wage inequality is too significantly lower among workers in establishments that are unionized than among those that are not. However, it is not clear whether the union wage policies designed to standardize rates have the effects of reduction in wage variance. that is mostly because of smaller variance within unionized workers having the same wage determining characteristics.