Joosung Lee

Analysis of Technological Innovation and Environmental Performance Improvement in Aviation Sector

The past oil crises have caused dramatic improvements in fuel efficiency in all industrial sectors. The aviation sector—aircraft manufacturers and airlines—has also made significant efforts to improve the fuel efficiency through more advanced jet engines, high-lift wing designs, and lighter airframe materials. However, the innovations in energy-saving aircraft technologies do not coincide with the oil crisis periods. The largest improvement in aircraft fuel efficiency took place in the 1960s while the high oil prices in the 1970s and on did not induce manufacturers or airlines to achieve a faster rate of innovation. In this paper, we employ a historical analysis to examine the socio-economic reasons behind the relatively slow technological innovation in aircraft fuel efficiency over the last 40 years. Based on the industry and passenger behaviors studied and prospects for alternative fuel options, this paper offers insights for the aviation sector to shift toward more sustainable technological options in the medium term. Second-generation biofuels could be the feasible option with a meaningful reduction in aviation’s lifecycle environmental impact if they can achieve sufficient economies of scale.

How consumer knowledge shapes green consumption: an empirical study on voluntary carbon offsetting

This paper investigates how highly knowledgeable consumers differ from less knowledgeable consumers in their rational and emotional determinants of desire for green consumption, and derive distinct advertising implications for each group. We distinguish consumer knowledge into three categories (knowledge related to the environment, available action, and its effectiveness) and test them as moderating variables. A survey of 256 US consumers revealed that less knowledgeable consumers were driven primarily by their perceived behavioral control, while highly knowledgeable consumers exhibited a distinct influence from positive anticipated emotions on their desire. This distinction was brought upon only within low/high action/effectiveness knowledge groups, but not within low/high environment knowledge. Our findings highlight the importance of raising consumers system, action-related, and effective knowledge, as well as the need for targeted advertising strategies for consumers with differing knowledge levels in green consumption.

An innovation network analysis of science clusters in South Korea and Taiwan

Innovation develops within a diverse group of social entities that form an interwoven structure. The role and relations of regional entities within clusters have become a critical point of innovation due to the emphasis of globalization on the importance of regional competitiveness. In this study, we model such interactions via the Triple Helix framework, which can be used to demonstrate the collaborative relations of three entities (university, industry, and government) in an innovation system. This framework allows this research to diagnose the roles and relations of regional innovation institutions and define the characteristics of the innovation models for science parks in South Korea and Taiwan; subsequently, this research quantitatively measures two regional university–industry–government network densities to find collaborative knowledge generation. Second, network centrality is measured in order to analyse the regional innovation participations’ roles of collaboration. Finally, the status of cluster performance is qualitatively compared and related to collaboration networks. This study presents an analysis of the structure and position (qualitatively and quantitatively) of regional innovation institutions by applying a Triple Helix model. This case analysis also provides regional innovation policy implications to design regional innovation systems for developing countries.

Technology-acquiring cross-border M&As by emerging market firms: role of bilateral trade openness

ABSTRACT This paper investigates the role of bilateral trade openness in technology-acquiring cross-border mergers and acquisitions (M&As) by emerging market firms (EMFs). The cross-border M&A, patents, and financial data from January 2000 to December 2013 have been utilised for empirical analyses. By analysing cumulative abnormal returns of the acquirer EMFs from Brazil, Russia, China, India, and Mexico, the value-creating nature of technology-acquiring cross-border M&As has been confirmed. In addition, the number of the patents owned by the target firms showed a positive and significant effect on the stock performance of cross-border acquirers. Finally, the bilateral trade openness significantly and positively moderated the relation between the innovation capability of the target firms and EMFs’ stock performance.

Analysis of the Cambodia's garment industry and catch‐up strategy

Summary This article aims to assess the capabilities of Cambodias garment industry in the post‐Safeguard Policy era, and the countrys ability to upgrade its garment assembling status to Original Equipment Manufacture (OEM) status. This article analyzes and proposes a strategic positioning of Cambodias garment industry in the next decade by utilizing the analytical framework developed by the US International Trade Commission (USITC) in 2004. Findings from the USITC framework‐based assessment have been illustrated in a cobweb‐shaped diagram to show an analogy of Cambodias garment industry in comparison with that of China and Vietnam. For the improvement of the current working environment and the forthcoming upgrading process, a trajectory of the Cambodias garment industry has been projected in three vital stages: (1) assembling, (2) OEM, and (3) original brand manufacturing. In response to the first objective, the Cambodias garment industry is predicted to face a high risk of industrial downturn in the post‐ 2008 era due to the internal weaknesses in the supply side. For the second objective, the shift from Cambodias current garment assembler status to OEM status will take a long time and require training of local managers and skilled workers.