South Korea's social protection system has undergone a profound transformation from a developmental welfare state, in which social protection policies were subordinated to the economic development goal, to a universal welfare state. This study traces this trajectory by examining six key...

In an era of fragmented global production and domestic decentralization, middle-income countries confront the complex challenge of industrial upgrading. While national governments remain central to industrial policy design and funding, upgrading unfolds through multi-level interactions between...

The Value of Lost Load (VoLL) is a key metric in electricity system planning and market design, informing reliability assessments, scarcity pricing, and capacity remuneration mechanisms. This study conducts a comprehensive review of VoLL estimation methods and identifies the most appropriate...

In South Korea, nearly 40% of the elderly population lives in poverty, one of the highest rates in the developed world. As the country undergoes a rapid demographic transition and the share of older individuals increases, understanding the drivers of old-age poverty becomes increasingly...

Central Asia has emerged as a key region where the convergence of geopolitics and development cooperation is most visible. Major powers are redefining their approaches: Japan combines official development assistance (ODA) with commercial partnerships to advance connectivity and reform; the EU is...

Germany is facing a security policy Zeitenwende whose industrial dimension has not yet been sufficiently addressed. The war in Ukraine, rising military threats in Europe, and the long-term underfunding of the German Armed Forces have exposed the limits of existing defence industrial capacity,...

We examine the local effects of South Korea's large-scale place-based industrial policy of constructing industrial complexes in left-behind regions. We compile a novel dataset on industrial complex designations dating back to the 1960s and link it to administrative establishment surveys. Using a...

Asia presently houses some of the top and dynamic economies in the world. These economies have also experienced high fintech adoption in their banking sectors. This paper examines the impact of fintech adoption and integration on the efficiency and stability of banks in 9 Asian countries, using...

Industrial policy has returned amid geopolitical rivalry, supply-chain fragility, and contemporary grand transitions, but its performance hinges less on ideology than on governance and design. By examining three comparative cases (Germany, Republic of Korea, South Africa), this paper argues that...

This study aimed to analyze the competition structure of grain terminals in the West Coast region of South Korea. Herfindahl-Hirschman Index (HHI), shift-share analysis, and Boston consulting group (BCG) Matrix approaches were used in this study. The results showed that grain terminals in...

The Korean shipping industry, which had been striving to recover from the Asian Financial Crisis, underwent significant quantitative expansion between 2004 and 2008. This growth was largely fueled by the so-called "China Effect," which generated a global shipping boom, during which an average of...

Prior research has found that boys often outperform girls in high-stakes math exams, raising the question of whether these gender differences under pressure stem from nature or nurture. This relative female disadvantage can influence access to selective university programs and subsequent career...

Using firm-level data on 7,000 suppliers transacting with 26 major South Korean retailers, this study analyzes how contract types, referring to direct purchase, special contract, consignment, and store lease types, are determined and how they affect supplier performance. Contract choice varies...

In this study, we aimed to analyze whether ESG strategies can be utilized as sustainable strategies with practical necessity and effectiveness in solving problems within a realistic business environment. To this end, through an in-depth case analysis of Hansol Paper, South Korea's leading paper...

The subjective judgment and discretionary actions of a manager can influence the core strategy, investment, operations, and decision-making of a company. Managerial actions from the top, particularly the board, plays a vital role in addressing this inclination. While scholars have shown interest...

Industrial policy has returned amid geopolitical rivalry, supply-chain fragility, and contemporary grand transitions, but its performance hinges less on ideology than on governance and design. By examining three comparative cases (Germany, Republic of Korea, South Africa), this paper argues that...

This study examines the impact of corporate sustainable tax strategies on investment scale and firm value using signaling theory. We measure Sustainable tax strategy through the coefficient of variation of cash effective tax rates over a five-year period. Using 3121 firm-year observations of...

Institutional investors now exceed individual investors in number of shares held. To provide empirical support for the stewardship role of institutional investors, we examine the relationships of the presence of stewardship code-compliant institutional investors among shareholders with micro-...

To investigate whether, along with economic growth, the Republic of Korea has become a better place for workers, we examine trends in seven job quality dimensions between 2006 and 2020 and find that the relevant mean values changed in opposite directions. The largest rise was in Working Time...

Financial inclusion refers to expanding access to and use of financial services among traditionally excluded groups including low-income households, microenterprises, the elderly, and women. Digital financial inclusion helps advance financial inclusion by deploying digital financial services...

Many Korean local governments have enacted ordinances that enable resident participation in the supervision of public construction projects, yet an implementation gap persists between the legal framework and actual engagement. This study thus examined causes of and strategies for residents'...

COVID-19 is recognized to be the most impactful pandemic crisis on social customs, policy-making, and economic activities in the modern history of humankind. The insurance industry especially, both life insurance and general insurance, was highly impacted by COVID-19. In this paper, we examined...

Following the COVID-19 pandemic, Korea's unemployment rate has remained significantly lower than pre-pandemic levels. This paper examines the dynamics of unemployment through a framework of labor market flows incorporating a matching function and identifies a sustained increase in labor market...

This study examines the long-term impact of Hyanggyo, state-sponsored educational institutions established during the early Joseon Dynasty in Korea (1392-1592), on human capital accumulation. Although these schools largely ceased functioning as educational centers by the late 16th century, their...