Inha Oh

This study evaluates the macroeconomic and distributional impacts of design options for the Korea Emissions Trading Scheme (K-ETS) in meeting South Korea’s 2030 NDC target, focusing on (1) raising the auction share and (2) regulating indirect emissions alongside direct emissions, considering both efficiency and inter-industry equity. Using a computable general equilibrium model, policy scenarios combining emission coverage (direct only vs. direct plus indirect) with auction coverage (electricity only vs. all industries) are analyzed. Raising the auction share improves GDP and welfare when carbon revenue is recycled through labor tax reductions, particularly when applied to all industries. Under joint regulation of direct and indirect emissions, raising the auction share in electricity generation alone reduces GDP owing to higher electricity prices, although the welfare effect is much weaker. Greater free allocation distributes reduction burdens more equitably across industries, revealing an efficiency–equity trade-off. We further show that the assessment of auctioning is inseparable from the revenue-recycling rule and the treatment of regulated electricity prices: when carbon revenue stabilizes electricity prices under a fiscal budget constraint, auctioning confined to the electricity sector becomes equivalent to free allocation, whereas economy-wide auctioning can finance full electricity price stabilization while retaining room for labor tax reductions.

This study investigated the effects of firm characteristics (external investment and co-CEO structures), managerial characteristics (CEO’s experience and age), and COVID-19 on earnings management in small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Examining the data of 18,873 Korean SMEs between 2015 and 2020, this study determined the factors influencing discretionary accruals in SMEs. Discretionary accruals were estimated using firms’ financial statements, and the effects of firm and CEO characteristics on the magnitude of the absolute value of discretionary accruals were estimated using random effects panel regression models. The results revealed that SMEs with co-CEO structures (vs. those with single-CEO structures), those led by more experienced CEOs (vs. those with less experienced CEOs), and those led by older CEOs (vs. those with younger CEOs) engage in less earnings management. Conversely, SMEs with external investors engage in greater earnings management than those without external investors. The results also showed that SMEs engaged in less earnings management during the COVID-19 period than during non-COVID-19 periods. Overall, this study is significant because it focuses on SMEs, a group often overlooked in earnings management research, and provides empirical evidence of how COVID-19, a global economic shock, influenced SMEs’ earnings management practices.

Kim YH, et al. Food Suppl Biomater Health. 2025 Jun;5:e7. https://doi.org/10.52361/fsbh.2025.5.e7

Kim Y, et al. Food Suppl Biomater Health. 2024 Dec;4:e25. https://doi.org/10.52361/fsbh.2024.4.e25

This study explores the impact of adopting emerging Industry 4.0 technologies on firm growth by analysing a panel dataset of Korean manufacturing firms. It finds that the impact differs depending on the types of technology implementation (including purpose and applications) and corporate entrepreneurship. In general, adopting front-end technologies for advanced manufacturing increases firm growth and adopting base technologies for advanced digitalisation reduces firm growth in the existing business. However, when firms develop a new business, adopting base technologies positively influences their growth and adopting front-end technologies negatively affects firm growth.

Over-the-top (OTT) firms must overcome the hurdle of the competitive Korean media market to achieve sustainable growth. To do so, understating how users enjoy OTT and analyzing usage patterns is essential. This research aims to empirically identify a profitable niche in the Korean OTT market by applying market segmentation theory. In addition, it investigates an effective content strategy to convert free users into paying customers belonging to profitable niche segments. The latent class regression model was applied to Korean Media Panel Survey data to divide Korean OTT customers into submarkets. According to an empirical analysis, Korean OTT users can be divided into three submarkets based on their OTT usage patterns, with the third segment serving as a profitable niche market. An additional analysis of the profitable niche market revealed that bundling content, such as foreign content, original content, and movies, is a crucial content strategy for increasing paying subscribers in a profitable niche segment.

This study examines how adopting advanced digital technologies (ADTs) affects a firm's performance indicators, such as growth in sales, labor productivity, and export, by analyzing Korean firms' panel data. This study finds that the effect of adopting ADTs on firm performance depends on the productivity level, performance types, and technology combination. The effect of adopting ADTs on sales growth has a U‐shaped relationship with the firm's productivity level. Moreover, in the frontier group, multiple technology adopters obtain higher rates of sales and significant export growth compared to single technology adopters.

This study conducted quantitative comparisons of various public R&D support options using a CGE model. The analysis considered four different options by varying the types of fiscal incentives and the scope of beneficiaries concerning the firm size. The findings indicate that direct subsidy is more effective in spurring private R&D investments than indirect tax incentives. In addition, selective R&D support toward small and medium enterprises is found to induce balanced growth among industries. In summary, the simulation results suggest that R&D support under the direct subsidy scheme aimed at SMEs has the potential to achieve a higher equilibrium state within the Korean economy. This study confirms that the government should carefully design the R&D promotion policy by ensuring that direct R&D inducement effects are transmitted to industrial output growth with a diversified industrial structure and higher knowledge spillover effects.