KJC Korea
Journal Central

This study benchmarks advanced countries including the USA, Canada, UK, France, Japan, and Finland, before proposing four key factors for improving informatization performance in Korea. First, regarding environment, it is better to use ICT to make alternative responses to social issues such as aging society. Second, as to leadership, it is desirable to rebuild e-Government 2.0 for the development of democracy and the improvement of participation. Third, in terms of institutions, it is necessary to introduce a managerial organization for the coordination and unification of the various functions of the ministries involved. Lastly, as to feedback, there would be benefits to making a new institution to oversee the implementation and consistency of the new policies and programs.

The informatization of Korean government made computer-assisted audits possible and has helped to achieve results which would have been impossible using traditional audit methods. Computer-assisted audits have also alleviated the burden felt both by audited companies and the auditors themselves. However, problems inherent in the data used in audits have brought about difficulties in the audit process and had a negative effect on audit results. Therefore, it is imperative that research address this issue. This study introduces a number of cases where computer-assisted audits are used, and discusses major information technology techniques that are used for enhancing auditing capability, as well as methodological differences between traditional and computer-assisted audits. Technical problems in computer-assisted audits, both in Korea and internationally, are then discussed and investigated. In addition, the effects of data quality on the performance and credit rating of public institutions is analyzed. The main results of this study are as follows. First, we found that improved data quality for public institutions would help to enhance the effectiveness of computer-assisted audits. Second, the role of self-auditing organizations in continually monitoring their data quality should be strengthened.

This study examines changes in the landscape of global science and technology (S&T) knowledge networks and their characteristics through focusing on the G20 nations. Using a range of articles and patents from the past 20 years, the changing emphasis given to knowledge production in the G20 nations is analyzed on the basis of R&D investment, activity and output indices and application structure. The findings suggest that a new landscape of activity regarding global S&T innovation is being formed. In particular, after the 2008 financial crisis, the global economic order has altered and knowledge based society has changed rapidly due to both increased knowledge and labor mobility. Currently, the importance of global S&T knowledge flows in G7 nations appears to be decreasing due to the increasing role of newly industrialized countries such as China, India, and Brazil, along with small but strong countries including Korea and states in northern Europe. It is suggested that these changes in the flow of global knowledge will be reflected in future global economic flows.

This study aims to examine the effects of the introduction of new policy standards following the Korea-EU Free Trade Agreement (FTA) through a survey of firms that produce items covered by 21 EU directives. The results of the analysis of responses from 146 firms are as follows. First, in terms of the economic impact of the adoption of EU technical regulations, there are training and technical development costs as well as costs such as certification for compliance with the new regulations and production costs. At the same time, there are also benefits – rising corporate sales or exports and long-term technical development. Second, regarding the response of firms to the new technical regulations, the more the firms are familiar with the EU directives and want integration of technical regulations, the more positively they view the adoption of EU technical regulations. In the future, as more FTAs are expected to be signed or negotiated with various countries, political support will be required to minimize the costs in the early stages of adopting new technical regulations, along with active efforts to increase understanding through the provision of information to domestic companies about standards in partner countries.

The aim of this study is to understand the relationship between changes in government and policy in the UK. The analysis draws upon the characteristics of policy changes in the areas of macro economic policy, welfare policy, labor policy, local policy and EU related policy. These policy areas are expected to differ according to the ruling party ideology. However, the results show that, in several policy areas, the relationship between changes in government and policy is not as strong as expected. Rather, various environmental factors exert a more powerful influence on the nature of policy in the UK. Among these factors, the economic situation is very distinctive in that it affects a wide range of policy fields. In particular, the financial crisis was an event which opened the window of opportunity for paradigmatic policy change. Other factors which were found to impact upon policy changes include parties’ political interests, think tanks, historical legacies and international governance. On the whole, the Conservative and Labour parties have continuously tried to reflect people’s demands and changed their policies to win public support. As such, in recent years, these parties have converged on many policy issues and shown fewer differences. Consequently, we can see more cases of policy succession and maintenance instead of radical innovation and abrupt termination during and after changes in government.

These days public policy is often faced with problems which are not only difficult to answer, but also difficult to define. These are wicked problems. The more complex the problem and the more diverse the participants, the greater the likelihood that the policy will face wicked problems. Prostitution is a classic wicked problem in our society. However, it has not always been that way. Initially, prostitution was a tame problem which could be managed by government. Similarly, from the 1950s to the 1980s, government did not face many difficulties with prostitution policy, and did not have to consider any powerful lobby groups on this issue. Yet, since the 1990s, feminists who oppose the government have intervened in this matter, and prostitution has become a wicked problem. Ongoing discussions about the nature of prostitution mean that the issue is difficult to define and prostitution has become a wicked problem. Although there is no definitive way to solve a wicked problem, it is clear that new processes and ways of thinking are required, along with consistent actions over the long-term.

This study discusses Norbert Elias’ concept of figuration in depth along with ways in which the concept can be applied and give meaning to today's public administration. To this end, the works of Norbert Elias are reviewed from a genealogy perspective, and the figuration concept, which lies at the core of the sociology of Elias, is explained from the perspective of human science. Elias emphasizes the relationships between individual and society, the importance of power and time in social science, and of being a person who is balanced in their approach to others. The concept of figuration is applied to overseas cultural policy to raise the possibility of utilizing figuration in public administration more generally. Finally, I reflect upon recent trends in the study of public administration to highlight the utility of Elias’ figuration.

Previous research on the noblesse oblige of social leaders considers the values involved, and is frequently critical when it is perceived that social leaders are not fulfilling their duties. From this perspective, despite the different values required by the noblesse oblige of various social leaders, depending on their position and role, previous studies have been inclined to make generalizations about noblesse oblige. This position not only gives an undue burden to social leaders but also acts as a deterrent to social integration due to the criticisms generated when it is perceived that noblesse oblige has not been fulfilled. The present study aims to move beyond this perspective. Accordingly, we classified the values involved in the noblesse oblige of politicians, business professionals, and senior government officials by conducting a survey of university students using Q-methodology. Based on this classification, we investigated the role image of each of these types of social leader by analyzing the degree of consensus or disagreement in survey responses. Further, we used statements in the surveys to analyze commonalities and differences in the role of social leaders.

The purpose of this study is to identify features of the Korean military’s organizational culture and differences in organizational culture between the army, navy, air force and the marine corps, and to make recommendations for management changes. Cameron and Quinn’s Organizational Culture Assessment Instrument (OCAI), based on the Competing Values Framework (CVF), is used as the culture assessment tool. Key research findings are as follows: First, while the Korean military organizational culture appears to be generally well balanced, the market is more dominant than adhocracy. To be specific, the navy has the strongest market/hierarchy culture, while the marine corps has the weakest. Second, Korean military officers display most preference for clan culture, followed by adhocracy culture. On the other hand, there is a low preference for market/hierarchy culture. Among the particular branches, navy officers displayed a preference for clan/adhocracy culture, while army officers preferred the market/hierarchy culture. Third, Korean military officers desire a transition in organizational culture from market/hierarchy to clan/adhocracy, and the intensity of this desire was strongest in the navy.

This research describes the emergence and effectiveness of charismatic leadership among middle-level leaders in Korean central agencies. It was found that charismatic leadership appeared when performance appraisal was unstable and when there was a clear reporting system in bureaucracies. External political influence was not significantly related to charismatic leadership. Charismatic leadership was effective in meeting clients’ needs in public sector organizations. This research suggests that the emergence of charismatic leadership at the middle-level in public organizations is related to the organizational context and the leadership is effective for public performance.

This study examines the effects of public pensions on poverty reduction for the aged using Korean Retirement and Income Study (KReIS) panel data. A quasi-experimental design including both national pension recipients and non-recipients was utilized, and the effects of the contribution of public income transfers on income security for the aged was compared in terms of poverty rates and equivalent household income. The results reveal that public income transfers through the national pension system contributed to an increase in equivalent household income of the pension recipient group, but did not contribute to a reduction in their poverty rates. However, a regression analysis using a difference-in-difference model suggests that the national pension system neither significantly increased their equivalent household income, nor improved poverty rates. These findings imply that previous research has overemphasized the poverty reduction effects of the national pension system, due to the inclusion of those with relatively mature vocational pensions as part of the target group. Therefore, the bandwagon effect of the national pension system has been embedded due to the effects of vocational pensions. Still, there is a need for caution when interpreting these results, as a full investigation will only be possible at least 20 years after the introduction of mandatory national pensions in 1999. Analyzing the results over a longer time period would allow for a fuller investigation of the effects. As such, the results of this study should be regarded as an interim analysis.

The purpose of this study is to explore the relationship between the organizational capacity and performance of Local Self-Sufficiency Centers. Based on the contingency theory of leadership, this study utilizes empirical evidence to suggest that the organizational capacity of Local Self-Sufficiency Centers impacts on the performance of the Self-Sufficiency Program. The results from the combined impact analysis indicate that organizational maturity is a necessary condition for improving the performance of Local Self-Sufficiency Centers. This implies that regular workshops and training would improve group efficacy and the cohesiveness of the centers. The results also reveal that increased task-oriented leadership improves program performance only when it is accompanied by increased relationship-oriented leadership. Based on these findings, the importance of relationship-oriented training programs for the leaders of Local Self-Sufficiency Centers is emphasized. Finally, this study suggests that it is possible to apply contingency theory to the relationship between organizational network and leadership style.

The tragedy of the commons results basically from individuals maximizing their benefits and interests without regard to the long-term perspective. Climate change can be defined as a collective action dilemma resulting from human activity. A wide variety of national and sub-national policies and instruments are available to governments to create incentives for mitigation action relative to climate change. Policy-politic typology, policy tool and governance approaches are discussed as new ways of looking at carbon taxes. This paper attempts to describe the comprehensive mechanism of the governance approach to carbon taxation rather than narrower focus of the command-and-control or market-based approaches.