The utilization of capital and the growth of output in a developing economy: The case of South Korean manufacturing

This paper presents the utilization rate of capital equipment in the S. Korean manufacturing industry during 1962–1971. The aggregate utilization rate is shown to have increased at an annual rate of about 8%. The level of utilization in S. Korea is found to be generally lower even in 1971 than in the U.S. in 1962, both at the aggregate and sectoral levels. The rise in the utilization rate is shown to have contributed nearly as much as investment has in the growth of manufacturing output. The influence of the residual component declines from 36% to 8% of the recorded growth of output when the increase in the utilization rate is properly allowed for.     

Behavioral Commitment Among the Automobile Workers in South Korea

The research reported in this article evaluates the extent to which the theoretical constructs established as determinants of behavioral commitment in the U.S. have cross-cultural validity in South Korea. A causal model developed and validated in the U.S. is estimated among automobile workers in Korea and the results indicate 18 prominent determinants: job satisfaction, organizational commitment, job search, met expectations, legitimacy, transfer costs, positive and negative affectivity, opportunity, role conflict and ambiguity, spouse and supervisor support, routinization, autonomy, job hazards, involvement, and distributive justice. These are fundamental explanatory constructs that have long been affirmed in the U.S., and, as such, this study suggests evidence to support their cross-cultural validity. In spite of several Korean cultural characteristics that are relevant to employee behavioral commitment, the theoretical constructs explaining behavioral commitment are generally the same between the U.S. and Korea. The findings are interpreted with discussions of the implications.     

Strategic CSR Communication: A Moderating Role of Transparency in Trust Building

Based on the literature in various strategic communication disciplines, including marketing, advertising, and public relations, this 2 (company-cause fit: congruent vs. incongruent) × 2 (level of transparency: high vs. low) experiment examines message effect on trust, organizational advocacy, and skepticism in order to explore ways to effectively communicate CSR initiatives in consideration of company-cause fit and transparency. Company-cause fit has been incorporated as a strategic tool in marketing and advertising, yet transparency has been primarily discussed in terms of its ethical implications in PR literature. Most significantly, this study suggests a moderating role of transparency on the effect of CSR cause fit, in that partnering with an incongruent cause fit can help build trust with consumers when the CSR message is communicated in a highly transparent manner. Furthermore, this study suggests that transparency is a necessary condition to be strategically implemented in CSR communication to enhance trust with consumers.     

Migrating to the East: a qualitative investigation of acculturation and leisure activities

This study sought to explore leisure behaviours associated with acculturation and immigration experiences among emigrants from the United States and Canada who moved to South Korea. Three main themes were identified as leisure engagement associated with acculturation: (a) embracing new leisure behaviours, (b) experiencing dynamics of interpersonal relationships and (c) improving cultural understandings. The findings of this study indicated that leisure provided an opportunity for participants to develop the ability to adapt to a new environment and gain cultural knowledge. In addition, this study indicates that as a result of leisure activities, participants explored, understood and experienced a new cultural environment that may facilitate acculturation.     

The innovation consequences of mandatory patent disclosures

We investigate the effect of patent disclosures on corporate innovation. Using the American Inventor's Protection Act (AIPA) as a shock that increased patent disclosures, we find an increase in innovation for firms whose rivals reveal more information after the AIPA and a decrease in innovation for firms whose own disclosures are divulged to competitors as a result of the law. These findings suggest patent disclosures generate both spillover benefits and proprietary costs. Our findings provide justification for patent disclosure requirements by demonstrating positive externalities: rivals' disclosures facilitate a firm's innovation. However, we also highlight that mandatory patent disclosures can impose proprietary costs on firms. These results broadly contribute to our understanding of the real effects of disclosure, such that forcing firms to share proprietary information can be privately costly but beneficial to other firms.     

Analyst reputation and management earnings forecasts

Prior studies show that analysts with high reputation are influential in the market. This paper examines whether managers consider analyst reputation in shaping their voluntary disclosure strategy. Using Institutional Investor magazine’s All-American (AA) rankings as a proxy for analyst reputation, we find that the coverage of AA analysts is positively associated with the likelihood of quarterly management earnings forecasts (MEFs). We also find that AA analysts’ forecast optimism is more positively associated with the likelihood of MEFs than non-AA analysts’ forecast optimism when the firm is covered by AA analysts. Analyses based on AA analyst coverage changes and AA status changes confirm the relation between analyst reputation and MEFs. We further find that analyst reputation influences other MEF properties, such as forecast news, bias, and revisions, and that our results are robust to alternative measures of analyst reputation. Further analyses show that market reactions at quarterly earnings announcements are more positive (negative) when firms meet/beat (miss) AA analysts’ forecasts than when firms meet/beat (miss) non-AA analysts’ forecasts. Collectively, our findings suggest that managers strategically provide voluntary forecasts by taking into account the reputation of individual analysts following their firms.     

Loan guarantees and credit supply

The efficiency of federal lending guarantees depends on whether guarantees increase lending supply or simply act as a subsidy to lenders. We use notches in the guarantee rate schedule for Small Business Administration (SBA) loans to estimate the elasticity of bank lending volume to loan guarantees. We show significant bunching in the loan distribution on the side of the size threshold that carries a more generous loan guarantee. The excess mass implies that increasing guarantee generosity by one percentage point of loan principal would increase per-loan lending volume by $19,000. Excess mass increases in periods with guarantee generosity, and placebo results indicate that the effect disappears when the guarantee notch is eliminated.     

Analyzing state government spending: balanced budget rules or forward-looking decisions?

We analyze US state government spending behavior with a general intertemporal model allowing for asymmetry in balanced budget rules in a panel data setting. We find no strong evidence for forward-looking behavior in state spending; balanced budget rules are a significant constraint. States with budget rules imposing lighter restrictions are more likely to exhibit habit formation, while those with stricter rules demonstrate asymmetric responses to revenue changes. Evidence for a precautionary savings motive is limited. Balanced budget requirements trigger substantial pro-cyclical spending, possibly amplifying state economic volatility for states with tight fiscal rules, especially after revenue increases.