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This paper proposes a novel theoretical perspective which views the K-pop industry through the lens of M-ies model. To date, the innovative aspects of K-pop have been largely neglected by business scholarship, in part due to the inadequacies of the existing theories to capture the dynamic nature of its development. To fill this gap, M-ies model is devised. It posits that innovators (i) were critical in creating a sustained level of innovative momentum (M), as they implemented strategies (s) to respond to the external environment (e). Using the M-ies model, we also explain how an intriguing parallel can be drawn between a seemingly unlikely pair, the K-pop and the semiconductor industry. In so doing, we point to the significance of producer-innovators, and how private sector – in particular, SM Entertainment as the first mover – was the main agent of creative destruction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigates the effect of R&D subsidy associated with R&D projects on the productivity and internal capacities of Korean manufacturing small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). It also addresses the difference in effectiveness attributed to the characteristics of such projects. We constructed distinctive firm-level panel data combining the National Science and Technology Knowledge Information Service and Korea Enterprise Data databases and used stochastic frontier analysis with multivariate matching techniques. The results reveal that subsidised R&D projects did not help Korean SMEs in improving productivity and efficiency. Compared with the control group, which had similar external features, beneficiaries showed worse productivity growth as well as efficiency changes. Moreover, the effects of R&D subsidies differ depending on project characteristics. Specifically, the amount and period of R&D subsidy had a positive effect on catch-up but a negative effect on SMEs' innovation capacity. These results demonstrate the need for renovating the current support system for SMEs' R&D activities in Korea. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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This paper raises a fundamental question with regard to the trajectory of capitalism in Korea, whether Korea is still "fast-following" developed countries and on-track to converge with their economic systems, or continues to forge a unique development path different from that of the mature capitalist economies. In an explorative effort to answer this question, this paper compares the key outcome variables of the Korean economy with those of other economies by taking the variety of capitalism (VoC) perspective. Existing evidence may point to the possibility of Korean capitalism converging with a U.S.- and U.K.-style liberal market economy (the so-called "Anglo–Saxon" economy) in terms of slow-down of growth, rising unemployment, and higher income inequality, despite the differences in several underlying institutions, such as the national innovation systems and corporate governance and ownership. The driving forces for convergence seem to be the ongoing trend of financialization and the rise of shareholder capitalism, which is perceived to be the cause of low investment and high inequality. This paper is one of the first calls to consider a switch from the existing "catch-up and post catch-up" framework to the new "catch-up and convergence" framework when assessing the past, present, and future capitalism in South Korea. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this study is examining Korean In Vitro Diagnostics (hereafter, IVD) companies' catch-up with established medical device companies by analyzing the process of sensing, seizing, and reconfiguration during the Corona Virus Disease 2019 (hereafter, COVID-19) pandemic. The potential catch-up of medical device companies in Korea has long been known as a demanding goal due to the conservative nature of the industry. While the rise of latecomers in industries such as mobile phones and automobiles is often observed, such a rise is rarely found in the medical device industry. Korean IVD companies have consistently been aiming at overtaking the existing leaders in the industry by pursuing technological innovation backed by active R&D investment. While the extant research on the topic of catch-up is enriched, there are small number of studies on the topic of the catch-up of medical device companies. This study focuses on understanding how two Korean IVD companies, SD Biosensor and Seegene, achieved meaningful catch-up during the COVID-19 pandemic. To understand the specific catch-up during the pandemic, this study adopted case study as a suitable method to examine the interactions between the pandemic and the device companies. The study results suggest that Korean IVD companies achieved significant growth by fully leveraging their dynamic capabilities in terms of market sensing (the emerging market dynamics associated with COVID-19) and opportunity seizing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

From an empirical perspective and using some historical elements, we speculate about the role of intellectual property rights (IPRs) in the information and communications technology paradigm in the context of production fragmentation and global value chains and the challenges they impose on learning. We use an evolutionary economics framework to understand the importance of 'learning' in a competitive economy where firms that absorb knowledge increase their opportunities to innovate and to obtain larger market shares. Exploring data from Brazil and South Korea we find similarities in both countries regarding the intellectual property (IP) balance of payments: both have an IP balance of payments deficit. However, data from national IPRs offices shows that residents in South Korea are more apt to generate knowledge than residents in Brazil, which can be attributed to the difference in importance given by these countries to their industrial policies and the way both have integrated global value chains. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates the two academic revolutions of the Korean higher education system. Since economic catch-up began in the 1960s, Korea has strongly encouraged the activities of its higher education system to serve industrial development as it has progressed through various developmental stages. At the 'strong regulation' stage, universities focused on the provision of technicians. As the need for higher education grew, the 'massive expansion' stage emerged. Finally, most recently, university research and its direct contribution to the economy have been invigorated by strong governmental support. Possibly, this is due to the fact that the Korean government has strongly controlled not only industry but also academia. As long as other East Asian universities have similar conditions to those of the development of Korean universities, we can generalise this model not only to universities in other East Asian countries, but also to universities in other rapid catch-up countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights: [•] We modeled four measles vaccination strategies and compared cost–benefit ratio. [•] With catch-up campaign, baseline 178,560 measles cases would decrease to 5936. [•] Two-dose MMR and MR catch-up campaign showed the highest cost–benefit ratio. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As the catch-up innovation system was exposed to a new competition environment in which second-tier catch-up countries reduced the gap with Korea and advanced Korean firms entered into the frontier product market, it is experiencing system delay in terms of organizational and policy change. Therefore, innovation policy needs to be reorganized from a dynamic perspective to analyze the problems in the transition period and enable the system to overcome organizational and institutional delays. This article investigates the characteristics of transition periods in terms of external environment changes and internal socio-economic pressures. Based on the analysis of environment changes and catch-up system characteristics, it suggests the framework for policy intervention, direction, and practical principles for post catch-up innovation policy. In particular, it suggests the network-based developmental state and policy implementation in order to overcome the limitation of centralized developmental state of catch-up periods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper deals with the question of why making a catch-up is even more difficult in capital goods industries that are usually led by small or middle-sized companies. It relies upon the sectoral systems of innovation as a theoretical framework for analysis. From the findings, the paper has identified three sources of difficulties in the catch-up of the capital goods industry, particularly in machine tools. First, while small firms in the capital goods industry are usually specialized suppliers to big final goods assembly firms in the consumer goods industry or other industries, and thus the tacit knowledge accumulated from the interface between the producer and the customer firms is very important, a serious difficulty lies in the fact that local client firms are reluctant to use locally made capital goods due to their poor quality and low precision level. Second, while a successful catch-up first requires the ability to produce goods of better quality and lower prices than those produced by incumbent firms from advanced countries, a typical difficulty arises because incumbent foreign firms often react by charging predatory prices upon news of the local development of capital goods by latecomers. Third, if the catch-up firms overcome this barrier, then the next strategy used by incumbent firms is to charge latecomers with legal actions for patent violations. Despite these intrinsic difficulties, the Korean economy has achieved a very slow but gradual catch-up in the capital goods industry. The paper has attributed such achievement to several factors, including the strenuous efforts of the government, niche markets in general-purpose machine tools and emerging economies, and finally, the increasing introduction and adoption of information technology (IT) or digital technologies in machine tools. Furthermore, the three sources of barriers to catch-up imply that any latecomer firms that wish to record a successful catch-up should have these barriers in mind from the beginning of the road towards catch-up. We observe that a successful catch-up requires the ability to produce goods of better quality and lower prices than those produced by incumbent firms from advanced countries. After the initial success, they should also be well prepared against eventual or possible attacks by the incumbent firms in the forms of predatory pricing and intellectual property rights (IPR) charges. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper addresses the issue of catching and convergence at the level of firms, and investigates whether Korean firms tend to converge toward mature firms represented by the US firms in terms of their behavior and performance as well as firm-level innovations systems. It conducts regression analyses of several behavior and performance variables, using the data of the Korean and US firms during the 1990s, the 2000s, and 2010s. It finds some evidence of convergence, such that Korean firms become more profitability- rather than growth-oriented, borrowing and investing less, and thus being less indebted. However, they have not changed much in terms of their behavior toward firm values and dividend tendencies. Further analyses, using the patent-derived, innovation system variables, also confirm some aspects of convergence, compared with the early results, for which self-citations become significant and positive for firm values; furthermore, the variable of cycle time of technology is no longer significant for profitability, which is consistent with the results from the US firms. Meanwhile, changes in corporate governance associated with the rise of foreign shareholder are also shown to have resulted in higher profitability but insignificant change in firm values. An emerging conclusion is an ongoing but partially completed process of convergence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]