Search results

China is currently developing and promoting an industrial cluster policy at the government level. By enacting the ‘Opinion on promoting industrial cluster development’, China is supporting the development of industrial clusters. Building an industrial cluster is done by using a single factor but requires many additional factors like regional characteristics, competitiveness factors are also diversified. To evaluate the competitiveness of the Chinese automobile industry cluster, a competitiveness element index should be developed and a competitiveness evaluation method is needed to evaluate the importance of each element. To accomplish this objective, this research applied the analytic hierarchy process (AHP) and focused on the importance of the competitiveness elements.

This research investigated the character is tics regarding cases of clusters and also analyzed the competitiveness of the Changchun automobile cluster located in northeastern China. The purpose of this research is to help Korean enterprises who enter China in the hopes that Korea will emerge as a top automobile production country.

The equity futures market was opened in May 6th, 2008 for the first time in Korea but nonetheless it has rarely been researched since. In this paper, we examine whether the market, combined with the stock market, its underlying market, has been offering any arbitrage opportunities to market participants for the period of May 6th, 2008 to March 11, 2010, focusing on the two futures contracts of Samsung Electronics and Hyundai Motors, the two most actively traded ones. Our findings are as follows. First, there have been arbitrage opportunities for the two futures in either direction. Second, the average time period for an arbitrage opportunity was two seconds so arbitrage transactions were feasible indeed. Third, nevertheless, some arbitrage transactions ended up with a loss because the estimated spot price at maturity to carry out an arbitrage trading turned out to be significantly different from the realized one. The discrepancy in these two prices causes a seemingly very safe arbitrage trading a risky one. This risky feature of an arbitrage trading has never been addressed in depth in a paper or a book before, and is a major contribution of this paper.

Existing research has theoretically modeled conditional correlations between the long-term interest rates as a function of macroeconomic variable. In line with it, the purpose of this paper is to explore whether conditional correlations can be a new signal to predict recessions. Furthermore, this paper also tries to investigate among the four factors – the time difference of the beginning and the end of recessions, financial integration (FI), and trade integration (TI) – which factors drive the direction of change in conditional correlations. Finally, this paper is to explain the implication for Korea trade.

This study uses a probit regression model for 33 country during the period from 1972 to 2015. To measure the time-varying interest rates conditional correlations, a VAR(1)-DBEKK-GARCH(1,1) model is adopted due to its statistical advantages. Furthermore, the authors also construct the four measures – time difference of the beginning of recessions (BEG), time difference of the end of recessions (END), FI, and TI. The authors first study the predictive power of correlations in both in and out-samples test, and study which factors determine the different behavior of interest rate co-movements using the four measures.

The empirical results show that the conditional correlations between the long-term interest rates of the USA and individual countries contain information about recessions a few quarters ahead which term spreads of neither individual countries nor the USA conveyed in. However, there is a heterogeneity of the significance and direction of interest rate correlations. A further research reveals that especially the heterogeneous degree of TI leads to the different overlapped recession period of individual countries with the USA, resulting in heterogeneous behavior of interest rates among countries.

As a limitation of this paper, the forecasting power of interest rate correlations is not always significant in all countries. Despite this, the study has a profound implication that for those countries where the US accounts for the high proportion of trade, increase in conditional correlations can be a signal for future recessions. Especially, given a considerable portion of trade in GDP and the more sensitive trade activity of Korea to a contagious recession than a domestic recession, the conditional correlation measure is particularly useful for Korean policy makers.

Although many papers model interest rate co-movement as a function of macroeconomic condition, this paper provides the first evidence to show interest rate co-movement precede the macro shocks empirically. Furthermore, this paper determines the precise channel through which TI affects the time-varying behavior of interest rate co-movements before recessions.

The purpose of this research, is to develop a nano composite deposition system (NCDS) to fabricate three dimensional functional nano composite parts.

The NCDS is a hybrid system in which material removal process by mechanical micro machining and/or the deposition process is combined.

Hybrid RP technology showed higher precision than those made by casting or deposition process. Tensile strength of the hydroxyapatite‐acrylic composite was about four times higher than that of resin‐only specimen while MWCNT composite did not show much improvement.

The paper illustrates new approaches for rapid prototyping techniques with various materials and high precision.

The purpose of this paper is to present the role of social values in setting healthcare priorities in Korea.

Using Clark and Weale's draft framework, Korean healthcare priority setting was analysed. The process values used were transparency, accountability, and participation, and the content values used were clinical effectiveness, cost effectiveness, justice/equity, solidarity and autonomy.

In the Korean health priority setting, it was found that multiple factors influence the decision‐making process. Effectiveness and safety are the two most important values mentioned in the process. Cost‐effectiveness is also considered in reimbursement decisions for new drugs since 2007. Recently, health technology assessment (HTA) has begun to change the social value system traditionally used in the Korean healthcare priority setting.

The paper extends understanding of health priority setting in Korea, and how the interpretation and use of social values has changed over recent years.

Rapid prototyping (RP) technology has been widely applied in biomedical research. The purpose of this paper is to describe how a scaffold composite drug delivery system (DDS) was fabricated using a nano composite deposition system (NCDS).

A biocompatible and biodegradable thermoplastic polymer (poly(DL‐lactide‐co‐glycolide acid)) was used as the matrix, and a mixture of anti‐cancer drug (5‐fluorouracil) and bio‐ceramic (hydroxyapatite – HA) was added to the polymer to form a bio‐composite material for the DDS. An in vitro drug release test showed that the release rate of the drug composite could be controlled by the amount of HA for 50 days.

Faster release was observed for the DDS with higher weight percent of HA. The relationship between release rate and the amount of HA showed a bi‐linear manner, and bi‐linear drug release models were developed based on the experimental results.

Cylindrical scaffolds were fabricated with polymer/drug/additive using an NCDS. A series of in vitro drug release tests was performed to evaluate the effectiveness of the additive, HA. Drug release models were developed based on the experimental results.

Optimisation of the package design in order to reduce stresses in a plastic small outline J‐lead (SOJ) package and to thereby prevent fractures during the infrared soldering process.

Finite element (FE) modelling was used, both with and without crack tip‐modelling. A design of experiment (DOE) approach was used to reduce the number of FE models required.

The optimum design values for minimization of thermal stress and the prevention of fracture were found to be different. The results allow the values of design variables such as the dimensions and material properties of the IC package.

To reduce the stresses and thereby prevent fracture, the values of the Young's modulus and coefficient of thermal expansion of the epoxy moulding compound should be reduced.

The work has used both stress analysis and fracture mechanics analysis along with DOE to identify the design values which simultaneously reduce the thermal stresses and prevent the fracture of the IC package.