ICT investment and GDP growth: Causality analysis for the case of Korea

This study investigated how investment in the industry of Information, Communication and Technology (ICT) has been interlocked with the GDP growth of South Korea. Based on seasonally-adjusted quarterly time-series data for the period between 1999 and 2016 available from the Korea Statistical Information Service, a Vector Error Correction model was applied for the analysis. The results revealed that ICT investment and GDP growth affected bi-directionally except for the short-run case in which only ICT investment affected GDP growth. The results explain that ICT investment plays an important role in the economic growth of South Korea in the long term; at the same time, investment size in the ICT industry increases as the economy grows. Without controlling any other factors, we found GDP increases by 0.4% when ICT investment increases by 1%. However, in the short term, only ICT leads to GDP growth. Therefore, the recent stagnation in ICT investment experienced in South Korea could negatively affect the economic growth of Korea in the short run, and hence, in the long-run, if it should become prolonged. The ICT investment strategy revealed from this study is especially useful to policy-makers who plan the economic growth in South Korea and other ICT-advanced countries because promoting ICT utilization across all sectors requires putting legal and policy mechanisms in place.     

动漫强国的发展之道

美、日、韩三国的动漫产业在动漫的不同领域占有一席之地,如以“动漫科技技术”称霸的美系,以“漫画”在国际舞台大施拳脚的日系,以“网络游戏”寻求捷径的韩系,都在不同程度上引领了世界动漫的潮流。     

Do R&D and ICT affect total factor productivity growth differently?

We analyze the effect of ICT and R&D on total factor productivity (TFP) growth across different industries in Sweden. R&D alone is significantly associated with contemporaneous TFP growth, thus exhibiting indirect effects. Although there is no significant short-run association between ICT and TFP, we find a positive association with a lag of seven to eight years. Thus, R&D affect TFP much faster than ICT-investments. We also divide ICT capital into hardware and software capital. To our knowledge, this distinction has not been made in any previous study analyzing TFP at the industry level. The results show that lagged hardware capital services growth is significantly associated with TFP growth. Hence, investments complementary to hardware are needed to reap the long-run TFP effects from reorganizing production.     

Room for improvement: Why Korea's leading ICT ODA program has failed to combat corruption

In the past decade Korea has become the world's top provider of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) aid to developing countries. E-government reforms helped Korea cut domestic corruption, and research has established a clear causal relationship between ICT, E-government, and lower corruption. GMM dynamic panel data analysis indicates, however, that Korean ICT aid has in fact exacerbated corruption in recipient nations. ICT ODA from Canada and the U.K., the second and third largest national donors, however, successfully reduced recipient corruption levels. Why? The characteristics of recipients targeted by each respective donor and key differences in national ODA program goals and management systems explain the results. Tobit regressions reveal that economic and security motives led Korea to favor recipients that were poorer and more authoritarian with inferior governance institutions, traits which fixed and random effect regressions show lower E-governments effectiveness against corruption. Canada and the U.K. primarily succeeded by designating good governance as a core ODA goal and by pioneering Results Based Management systems to realize program objectives. They established clear goals, linked them to quantifiable indicators, independently evaluated the results and transparently released that information to the public. Good governance was not at the center of the Korean aid program which failed to establish clear targets, credibly measure results or release information, providing fertile ground for graft, like the Choi Soon-shil scandal, to infect the program. To improve ICT ODA effectiveness against corruption, therefore, Korea must elevate good governance as a core aid objective, accelerate introduction of RBM reforms to increase effectiveness, and direct more aid to recipients with greater civil liberties in which leaders are motivated to effectively employ ICT ODA against corruption.     

Does ICT investment widen the growth gap?

This paper builds a model of cumulative growth to examine the dynamic interdependent relationship between Information and Communication Technology (ICT) investment and economic growth for a sample of 29 countries in the 1990s. We confirm the following facts: First, there is a positive correlation between ICT investment and economic growth. Second, non-ICT investment has as much influence on the growth gap as ICT investment. Third, those countries with a solid economic infrastructure and open trade regime experience more active ICT investments. Fourth, those countries with a comparatively lower productivity level can reduce the gap using knowledge spillovers from more advanced countries. Fifth, reinforcement of patent rights has a positive influence on economic growth by stimulating the accumulation of ICT capital. Finally, ICT investment does not have a strong interdependent relationship with economic growth, while non-ICT investment has a cumulative causal relationship with economic growth and plays a key role in the process of widening the growth gap.     

Evolving beef export market access requirements for age and source verification

We analyze the economic impacts of changes in age and source verification requirements and associated adjustments in international trade of US beef using an equilibrium displacement model. Because the United States lags behind many countries in adopting animal traceability systems, the United States risks losing export market access. The loss of an export market the size of South Korea’s would cause a decline of US meat industry producer surplus of $1751 million over 10 years or 0.23% of its10-year cumulative discounted present value. Additionally, we find that only small increases in US beef exports would be necessary to offset direct costs associated with adoption of age and source verification.     

韩国经济发展中的对外贸易

韩国从20世纪60年代试图开始实质性的经济开发，到2004年为止与230多个国家和地区进行贸易。2004年。其GDP是6801亿美元，为世界第10位，人均收入14162美元。交易额4783亿美元，为世界第12位。2004年外币储备额是1991亿美元．居世界第4位。韩国以韩国式经济开发，即实行市场亲和式政府干预的经济政策，通过出口为主导的经济开发实现了经济的快速增长。正高速增长的中国亦以中国式社会主义．以中国式改革开放追求出口和贸易的共同增长。中国和韩国都持续着经济的高速发展．被公认为是以出口和贸易为主的经济开发模式的典范。韩国进口能源、原材料和资本品，出口工业制成品。中国的贸易由外资企业为主进口半成品和资本品，出口工业制成品。而中国贸易在经济发展中所发挥的影响与韩国相比还小。为了持续增长，韩国需要以技术和经营革新提高国际竞争力．尤其要改善以资本品进口为主的贸易结构。     

Characterizing and comparing the evolution of the major global economies in information and communication technologies

In this paper, we characterise and compare status and evolution of the ICT industry of the six major global economies in ICT: China, the EU, Japan, Korea, Taiwan and the USA. For this, we employ official data covering the period 2006–2009. Our analysis shows that although the EU is the largest economy of the world, it is the least ICT-specialised economy of all six major ICT economies. The USA is clearly the top global player in ICT in many respects. In both ICT Manufacturing and ICT Services it has the largest Value Added, BERD, BERD intensity and labour productivity. We further observe that China has, by far, the largest number of employees in both ICT Manufacturing and Services, while its level of ICT BERD remains low. China is however an emerging economy and economic indicators of its ICT sector have strongly grown from 2006 to 2009. Japan׳s ICT sector has a larger weight in the national economy than those of the USA, EU, and China. Moreover, it is the country from which the highest number of ICT patent applications originate. We also find that, of all six major global economies in ICT, Taiwan and Korea have the most ICT-specialised economies, with a strong orientation towards Manufacturing. Finally, we discuss selected results of our analysis and conclude the paper with tentative policy implications for the EU.     

Disparities in ICT adoption: A multidimensional approach to study the cross-country digital divide

This paper presents a cross-country study on the determinants of information and communication technology (ICT) diffusion using multivariate analysis techniques to capture the relative and multidimensional character of digital divide. Using canonical correlation analysis, the differences detected between groups of countries both in terms of ICT patterns and in terms of the factors explaining each are compared. The results provide the ability to distinguish between different patterns of ICT adoption that can be explained primarily by variables associated with differences in development levels. In countries registering higher levels of ICT adoption, the digitalization pattern is explained by GDP, service sector, education, and governmental effectiveness. In contrast, in developing countries, population age and urban population are positively associated with the ICT adoption, while Internet costs impact negatively. The results might be useful in finding and implementing the most suitable telecommunication and development policies for each case.     

Comparison of Chinese and Korean companies in ICT global standardization: Essential patent analysis

The latecomers from Asia—China and Korea—started to participate in information and communication technology (ICT) global standardizations as they accumulated technological capabilities. We observed the current situation of ICT global standardizations in those countries by analyzing the mobile communications standards, WCDMA and LTE, and derived interesting findings and meaningful implications from the analysis. First, this paper provides evidence of the differences in Chinese and Korean standard strategies; China is creating its own standard whereas Korea goes with global standardization. Second, this paper shows the subsequent results of the different strategies. In detail, we conducted an analysis based on (declared) essential patents in WCDMA and LTE. The results indicate that China and Korea hold a significant number of essential patents and their numbers compete with those of leading countries. However, the analysis shows that Korea accumulated domestic knowledge that enables the country to actively participate in standardization,but China still heavily relies on foreign knowledge, probably because China is attempting to create its own standard and accumulating knowledge takes a long time despite its efforts.Our findings have several implications for leading countries and other following countries.     

Estimating and comparing learning curves in three Asian economies

This paper consists of two parts. In the first, a method is suggested to isolate the effects of scale economies on learning phenomena by integrating the conventionally specified learning curve with the production function in neoclassical economics. The problem of establishing the variable for measuring experience is dealt with in the estimation procedure. Using this method we estimated the learning curves of 20 industries in the manufacturing sector in Singapore using data taken from 1961 to 1991. More modern industries like electronics, precision instruments and pharmaceutics have steeper learning curves than older industries. Among traditional industries, the food and beverage industry has a greater learning potential than others. In the second part of the paper, the learning curves for 11 common industries in South Korea, Japan and Singapore were estimated and compared. The Japanese industries are found to have steeper learning curves compared to those in Singapore and South Korea.The authors are from the Department of Business Policy, Faculty of Business Administration, National University of Singapore. The authors would like to thank Ms Tan Mui Lee for her assistance in preparing the time series data used for this study.     

Partial Ownership Arrangements and Collusion in the Automobile Industry

This paper develops a conjectural variation model that allows for partial ownership arrangements and foreign trade. This model is applied to the Japanese and US automobile industries. Although collusion is found to occur in the Japanese automobile industry, it is found to be more competitive than the US automobile industry. The effect imports have on firms' price–cost margins in both countries is also found to be different.     

Determinants of US multinational banking performance in the Asia pacific region: An eclectic approach

The Asia Pacific region has provided the fastest growing and the most profitable overseas markets for US multinational banks (MNBs) since 1975. In the region, US MNBs remain the dominant banking power despite a recent contraction in their relative market share. This paper discusses major characteristics of US MNB activities in the region and identifies empirically major determinants of MNB performance in the two key countries of the region (Singapore and South Korea) using an eclectic approach.     

A multi-criteria game theory and real-options model for irreversible ICT investment decisions

The information and communication technology (ICT) industry is one of the most capital intensive among the high-technology industries. ICT business analysis, especially after the industry deregulation, has become a difficult task. Traditional quantitative cost–benefit analysis concerning investment decisions is by no means sufficient for capturing the complexity of the problem in its entirety. This work combines quantitative and qualitative analyses for modeling competitive interactions between players in the ICT business field. The proposed decision analysis model combines real options, game theory, and analytic hierarchy process for analyzing ICT business alternatives under the threat of competition. The proposed model is applied to a real broadband technology business case, showing how it can be formulated and solved.     

Being a woman in an ICT job: an analysis of the gender pay gap and discrimination in Spain

Despite policy initiatives aimed at promoting female access to jobs, the information and communication technology (ICT) professions have traditionally been largely monopolised by men. Segregation, gendered stereotypes and environmental factors have a clear impact on educational and professional choices, as well as on working conditions. The spread of ICT to all economic activities has meant that ICT specialists are now to be found everywhere, not only in the ICT sector where many stereotypes related to technical jobs persist. This work aims to analyse the gender wage gap and discrimination in ICT professions, with the emphasis on how working in an ICT-intensive industry might affect that situation. The study uses the Spanish Earning Structure Survey data for 2014, and applies wage decomposition techniques to the wage distribution. The results show that female ICT professionals face unfavorable working conditions, especially in highly qualified jobs and in ICT-intensive industries.     

The effect of the digital economy on services exports competitiveness and ternary margins

In the era of the digital economy, improving the level of information and communications technology (ICT) development is an important measure for achieving the high-quality development of the services exports. This study constructs a comprehensive development index for the digital economy based on the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development Statistics Database (UCTADstat) to calculate the services exports competitiveness of 75 countries (regions) around the world from 2010 to 2019 and conducts ternary margin decomposition. The study empirically verifies that the digital economy promotes the competitiveness of services exports, not only driving intensive growth of quantity margin and price margin but also enhances the expansion growth of category margin. Heterogeneity analysis reveals that the effect of the digital economy on improving low- and middle-income countries' services exports competitiveness and industries with low ICT intensity is more significant than that of high-income countries and high ICT-intensity industries. The impact of the digital economy on the ternary margin of countries’ different income levels and ICT-intensity sample groups exhibits differentiated estimation results. The conclusions of this study provide novel explanations regarding the effects of the digital economy in improving services exports competitiveness and new perspectives and evidence for strategic policymaking.     

Do ICTs drive wealth inequality? Evidence from a dynamic panel analysis

Surprisingly, little is known about the cross-country effect of information and communication technology (ICT) on wealth inequality. At the same time, there is some tentative evidence suggesting that information and communication technology is positively correlated with income inequality. However, whether and how ICT affects wealth inequality is less explored, particularly because of the lack of reliable data on wealth inequality. This paper, therefore, fills this gap and contributes to this new literature by investigating the effect of ICT on wealth inequality in a sample of 45 developed and developing countries over the period 2000–2017. ICT is measured with six different indicators (including internet penetration, mobile penetration, ICT service exports, the ICT index, ICT quality, and ICT quantity), while wealth inequality is measured with three different indicators (comprising billionaire wealth to GDP, the Top 1% wealth share, and the Top 10% wealth share). The empirical analysis is based on the Generalised Method of Moments, and the results show that ICT increases wealth inequality. Furthermore, we show that democracy mitigates the increasing effect of ICT on wealth inequality. This result suggests that improving democracy in both developed and developing countries is an effective mechanism for mitigating the effects of ICT on wealth inequality. Therefore, we encourage efforts to implement democratic institutions that ensure respect for citizens' freedoms, greater democratic accountability, and executive constraints that allow for a more egalitarian distribution of wealth.     

我国集成电路设计产业发展模式探讨

本文从多个侧面考察了美、日、韩、台和欧洲等国或地区在发展集成电路设计产业过程中取得的经验，将之提炼为各种模式。然后结合我国国情，论述了其中哪些适宜于我国。我们的观点是：应优先发展制造、封装测试等产业，以此带动设计产业的发展；既要发展独立的设计公司，也要发展依附型的设计中心或设计部门；我国的设计单位应利用在地理上靠近市场的优势；政府应在设计产业的发展中发挥主导作用；应允许 外资进入；等等。     

The role of ICT in Korea’s economic growth: Productivity changes across industries since the 1990s

This paper investigates the hypothesis that technological convergence has been a major driving force for the recent productivity increase in Korea. Based on the dynamic panel data of Korean industries, the direct impact of information and communication technology (ICT) on labor productivity is assessed through growth accounting, and the indirect network effect of ICT on industrial total factor productivity (TFP) is estimated. The results confirm the essential role of broadband networks for successful convergence. The policy implications for the regulatory change are drawn from the empirical analysis.     

ICT diffusion and production in ASEAN countries: Patterns,performance, and policy directions

ICT has become an increasingly crucial catalyst for economic development, but the transition to more sophisticated technologies is a challenging process requiring prudent vision, strategy, and policy. This paper investigates the dynamics of ASEAN countries’ performance on embracing the ICT revolution for development. Several findings stand out. First, ASEAN experienced a faster pace of convergence, compared to the rest of the world, in level of ICT diffusion over the past 10 years. Second, all ASEAN countries, including Singapore – the leading player, face increasing challenges in competing with income-level peers on ICT diffusion performance. ASEAN is a global hub of ICT hardware production and a fast-growing center of ICT services exports. In terms of revealed comparative advantage, ASEAN as an economy is strong in ICT hardware but remains weak in ICT services. The paper discusses policy insights drawn from the study and proposes a strategic policy framework to guide ASEAN’s concerted efforts to embrace the ICT revolution for development.