Divisionalization, product cannibalization and product location choice: Evidence from the U.S. automobile industry

This study argues that a firm's product location choice may be a function of the firm's way of splitting the product market (i.e., divisionalization) and the concern for product cannibalization at the division and the firm levels. The focus of this study is at the division level and a division's new product location choice vis-à-vis its own products (intra-divisional new product distance), the products of a rival division of competing firms (inter-firm divisional new product distance), and the products of a sister division of the same firm (intra-firm divisional new product distance). The hypotheses were tested using data on the U.S. automobile industry between 1979 and 1999. The results show that a focal division with a high level of inter-firm divisional domain overlap with a rival division, relative to the focal division's own domain, is more likely to locate its new product (here new car model) closer to that rival's existing car models. And it was also found that divisional density affects a division's new product location choice. But this study didn't find any significant role of divisional status on new product location choice. And contrary to our expectation, the results of intra-firm divisional domain overlap and new product location choice suggest that inter-divisional product cannibalization might not be such an important concern when divisions introduce their new products, as we had originally expected. By addressing the firm's competitive engagement in the context of a division's new product location choice, this study expands the basic logic of market overlap at the firm level into the unit- or division-level, and highlights how a division's new product location choice is affected by intra-firm divisional structural relationship as well as interfirm divisional structural relationship. In so doing, this study hopes to contribute to the literature on divisionalization, new product location choice, competition at the unit-level, and product cannibalization, among others

Two essays on monetary policy under the Taylor rule

In this dissertation, two questions concerning monetary policy under the Taylor rule have been addressed. The first question is on, under the Taylor rule, whether a central bank should be responsible for both bank supervision and monetary policy or whether the two tasks should be exercised by separate institutions. This is the main focus of Chapter I. The second question is on whether the Taylor rule plays an important role in explaining modern business cycles in the United States. The second question has been covered by Chapter II. The implications of the first chapter can be summarized as follows: (i) it is inevitable for the central bank to have a systematic error in conducting monetary policy when the central bank does not have a bank supervisory role; (ii) without a bank supervisory role, the effectiveness of monetary policy cannot be guaranteed; (iii) because of the existence of conflict of interests, giving a bank supervisory role to the central bank does not guarantee the effectiveness of monetary policy, either; (iv) the way of setting up another government agency, bank regulator, and making the central bank and the regulator cooperate each other does not guarantee the effectiveness of monetary policy because, in this way, the systematic error in conducting monetary policy cannot be eliminated; (v) in the view of social welfare, not in the view of the effectiveness of monetary policy, it is better for the central bank to keep the whole responsibility or at least a partial responsibility on bank supervision. In the second chapter, we examined the effect of a technology shock and a money shock in the context of an RBC model incorporating the Taylor rule as the Fed??s monetary policy. One thing significantly different from other researches on this topic is the way the Taylor rule is introduced in the model. In this chapter, the Taylor rule is introduced by considering the relationship among the Fisher equation, Euler equation and the Taylor rule explicitly in the dynamic system of the relevant RBC model. With this approach, it has been shown that, even in a flexible-price environment, the two major failures in RBC models with money can be resolved. Under the Taylor rule, the correlation between output and inflation appears to be positive and the response of our model economy to a shock is persistent. Furthermore, the possibility of an existing liquidity effect is found. These results imply that the Taylor rule does play a key role in explaining business cycles in the United States

Association between Job Satisfaction and Pay: The Case of the Wage Payment System of Dental Clinics in Korea

The purpose of this study is to investigate empirical type of the wage structures and the sub-items of wage applied at dental clinics and to analyze the determinants of pay satisfaction of dental employees. The questionnaire used in this study consists of personal characteristics, characteristics of workplace, administration of pay, Pay Satisfaction Questionnaire (PSQ), Job Descriptive Index (JDI). PSQ and JDI were translated, and backward translation into Korean was implemented. A pilot test was conducted with 25 dental employees to complete the questionnaire. Survey was conducted from February to July in 2015, receiving 302 valid responses. ANOVA or t-test was conducted with categorized characteristics, by calculating pay satisfaction and job satisfaction scores. Principal factor analysis which is an exploratory factor analysis was conducted to investigate the consistency of pay satisfaction. The sub-factors of job satisfaction based on previous studies were divided into ‘work colleagues’, ‘jobs’, ‘wages’, ‘promotion opportunities’, and ‘supervision’. Multiple regression analysis was conducted to investigate how much effect the variables have on pay satisfaction and job satisfaction. At this time, the model was analyzed by adding stepwise variables in three stages. The result of principal factor analysis showed that pay satisfaction consists of 3 factors which are ‘paying system’, ‘pay level’, ‘benefits’. ‘Pay raise’ which was one of 4 factors of original PSQ was not the factor of pay satisfaction of dental employees. The result of multiple regression analysis showed tendencies pay satisfaction increases when age and monthly income increases and whole career and the number of unit chairs decreases. Increasing the autonomy of employees and simplification of paying system would improve pay satisfaction efficiently. The significant variables related to job satisfaction were the whole career, the number of unit chairs, the welfare level, and the amount of pay level. In this study, wage system applied in dental clinics was examined, and it was confirmed that wage satisfaction and job satisfaction differ according to wage system. These results can be used as basic data for wage satisfaction and job satisfaction in order to secure competitiveness of dental medical institutions

A Polynomial Digital Pre-Distortion Technique Based on Iterative Architecture

A digital predistortion (DPD) technique based on an iterative adaptation structure is proposed for linearizing power amplifiers (PAs). To obtain proper DPD parameters, a feedback path that converts the PA’s output to a baseband signal is required, and memory is also needed to store the baseband feedback signals. DPD parameters are usually found by an adaptive algorithm by using the transmitted signals and the corresponding feedback signals. However, for the adaptive algorithm to converge to a reliable solution, long feedback samples are required, which increases hardware complexity and cost. Considering that the convergence time of the adaptive algorithm highly depends on the initial condition, we propose a DPD technique that requires relatively shorter feedback samples. Specifically, the proposed DPD iteratively utilizes the short feedback samples in memory while keeping and using the DPD parameters found at the former iteration as the initial condition at the next iteration. Computer simulation shows that the proposed technique performs better than the conventional technique, as the former requires much shorter feedback memory than the latter

The Effects of Game Players’ Social Intelligence on Social Support and Psychosocial Problem Factors in a 2-Wave Longitudinal Study

Although digital gaming may be considered a social medium, no prior study has investigated how young players’ social intelligence affects their psychosocial problems (aggression, depression, loneliness, and stress) and social functioning (relationships with parents and peers). The primary aim of this study was to investigate the relations between social intelligence and psychosocial outcomes. Using data from 1364 online game players in Korea, we conducted a 2-wave longitudinal study at 6-month intervals for tracking the same person. The findings indicated that level of social intelligence was negatively related with all measures of adverse emotions and positively related with relationships with parents and peers over time. The findings and implications are discussed

Robust Digital Predistortion in Saturation Region of Power Amplifiers

This paper proposes a digital predistortion (DPD) technique to improve linearization performance when the power amplifier (PA) is driven near the saturation region. The PA is a non-linear device in general, and the nonlinear distortion becomes severer as the output power increases. However, the PA’s power efficiency increases as the PA output power increases. The nonlinearity results in spectral regrowth, which leads to adjacent channel interference, and degrades the transmit signal quality. According to our simulation, the linearization performance of DPD is degraded abruptly when the PA operates in its saturation region. To relieve this problem, we propose an improved DPD technique. The proposed technique performs on/off control of the adaptive algorithm based on the magnitude of the transmitted signal. Specifically, the adaptation normally works for small and medium signals while it stops for large signals. Therefore, harmful coefficient updates by saturated signals can be avoided. A computer simulation shows that the proposed method can improve the linearization performance compared with the conventional DPD method in highly driven PAs

Strong and Reversible Adhesion of Interlocked 3D-Microarchitectures

Diverse physical interlocking devices have recently been developed based on one-dimensional (1D), high-aspect-ratio inorganic and organic nanomaterials. Although these 1D nanomaterial-based interlocking devices can provide reliable and repeatable shear adhesion, their adhesion in the normal direction is typically very weak. In addition, the high-aspect-ratio, slender structures are mechanically less durable. In this study, we demonstrate a highly flexible and robust interlocking system that exhibits strong and reversible adhesion based on physical interlocking between three-dimensional (3D) microscale architectures. The 3D microstructures have protruding tips on their cylindrical stems, which enable tight mechanical binding between the microstructures. Based on the unique 3D architectures, the interlocking adhesives exhibit remarkable adhesion strengths in both the normal and shear directions. In addition, their adhesion is highly reversible due to the robust mechanical and structural stability of the microstructures. An analytical model is proposed to explain the measured adhesion behavior, which is in good agreement with the experimental results

Effect of a transcultural nursing course on improving the cultural competency of nursing graduate students in Korea: a before-and-after study

Purpose This study aimed to evaluate the impact of a transcultural nursing course on enhancing the cultural competency of graduate nursing students in Korea. We hypothesized that participants’ cultural competency would significantly improve in areas such as communication, biocultural ecology and family, dietary habits, death rituals, spirituality, equity, and empowerment and intermediation after completing the course. Furthermore, we assessed the participants’ overall satisfaction with the course. Methods A before-and-after study was conducted with graduate nursing students at Hallym University, Chuncheon, Korea, from March to June 2023. A transcultural nursing course was developed based on Giger & Haddad’s transcultural nursing model and Purnell’s theoretical model of cultural competence. Data was collected using a cultural competence scale for registered nurses developed by Kim and his colleagues. A total of 18 students participated, and the paired t-test was employed to compare pre-and post-intervention scores. Results The study revealed significant improvements in all 7 categories of cultural nursing competence (P<0.01). Specifically, the mean differences in scores (pre–post) ranged from 0.74 to 1.09 across the categories. Additionally, participants expressed high satisfaction with the course, with an average score of 4.72 out of a maximum of 5.0. Conclusion The transcultural nursing course effectively enhanced the cultural competency of graduate nursing students. Such courses are imperative to ensure quality care for the increasing multicultural population in Korea