Ahreum Hong

Metafrontier Production Function Analysis of Horizontal and Vertical Integration in Korea's Cable TV Industry

With its remarkable growth, the cable TV industry has witnessed increasing business integration continuously. This study categorizes technology-based operators into 3 groups on the basis of business integration—vertically integrated, horizontally integrated, and isolated system operators-and estimates the efficiency of each group. In addition, metafrontier analysis is employed to compare the efficiencies of the groups. The results suggest that vertically and horizontally integrated system operators can improve technical efficiency by accomplishing economies of scope and scale, respectively.

Does social media use really make people politically polarized? Direct and indirect effects of social media use on political polarization in South Korea

Abstract To help inform the debate over whether social media is related to political polarization, we investigated the effects of social media use on changes in political view using panel data collected in South Korea (N = 6411) between 2012 and 2016. We found that, although there were no direct effects of social media use, social media indirectly contributed to polarization through increased political engagement. Those who actively used social network sites were more likely to engage in political processes, which led them to develop more extreme political attitudes over time than those who did not use social network sites. In particular, we observed a clear trend toward a more liberal direction among both politically neutral users and moderately liberal users. In this study, we highlight the role of social media in activating political participation, which eventually pushes the users toward the ideological poles. The implications of these findings are discussed.

A dynamic framework for analyzing technology standardisation using network analysis and game theory

ABSTRACT As more technologies and industries converge, technology standards are more likely to be a strategic factor for firms and governments that are interested in the market with standards-based competition. From the previous research, a new standardisation framework was proposed by combining network analysis and the game theory model but was constrained by feasibility and dynamic approach. In this study, the case of the standards war between HD-DVD and Blu-ray was analyzed with patent data as an empirical case considering a dynamic framework. With this framework, we observed a change in a firm’s technology relations and could predict the decline in a firm’s preference and the shift of equilibrium ahead of Toshiba’s resignation.

ICT diffusion as a determinant of human progress

ABSTRACT This research poses the question of whether the diffusion of information and communications technology (ICT) in countries can affect human progress. Human progress in this research is defined as progress that allows every member of a society to live in an environment with high economic, political, and civil liberties. To examine the posed question, the authors developed the following three hypotheses. First, ICT diffusion serves as a determinant in human progress. Second, the size of the impact of diffusion of ICT on human progress may differ depending on the income level of the economy. Lastly, the impact of ICT on human progress may differ depending on the type of technological medium. These hypotheses were tested with a sample of 102 countries panel for 14 years from 2000 to 2013 with data from the International Telecommunications Union to see the status of diffusion of ICT, the Heritage Foundation and the Freedom House in order to employ the measure of human progress by a year-lagged seemingly unrelated regression analysis with both pooled and grouped samples. The results suggest that the diffusion of ICT is a determinant of human progress at the global level and that the effects differ depending on the type of technology or the income level of the country.

ICT as a determinant for human progress: Cross-country time series analyses

Hitherto studies regarding ICT diffusion at national/local level mainly focuses on economic growth only by enhanced productivity in domestic industries. As ICT plays a role of General Purpose Technology with its variability and adaptability, this research raise the issue about the relationship between human progress and information and communication technology (ICT) at the national level. Author conducts empirical studies with broader and qualitative factor with ICT diffusion through cross-country panel analysis method to test the hypotheses. The results confirm that ICT can drive human progress at the national level, and also contributes to academia for inspecting future changes with human progress with similar studies.