Corporate Governance and Long Term Performance of the Business Groups: The Case of Chaebols in Korea

The existence of the business groups has been associated with market failure in emerging economies, and thus their performance has been argued and found to have declined with development of market institutions surrounding them. This paper takes up this issue of long-term performance of the business groups but argues that it has also to do with the internal problems, such as changes in the ownership and governance structure. It finds, with the Korea data and new method and theoretical grounds, that the relative performance of the business groups, the Chaebols, had consistently declined over the 1980s and 1990s although they were more efficient than the non-Chaebol firms during the early 1980s. The results are robust to different estimation methods, and also to controls for the possible survivorship bias, industry composition, and scale effects. The paper explains the performance change by examining the decrease of the shares held by the controlling families and the associated aggravation of the agency problem leading to unjustifiable expansion drives.Business groups, Long Term performance, Corporate Governance, Chaebols

The complete mitochondrial genome of Aphis gossypii Glover, 1877 (Hemiptera: Aphididae) isolated from Leonurus japonicus in Korea

We have determined the mitochondrial genome of A. gossypii isolated from Leonurus japonicus in Korea. The circular mitogenome of A. gossypii is 16,044 bp, including 13 protein-coding genes, two ribosomal RNA genes, 22 transfer RNAs, and a single control region of 797 bp. AT ratio is 83.8%. 88 SNPs and 4 INDELs (175 bp) were identified against mitogenome of A. gossypii isolated from cotton species. Especially, largest INDEL (170 bp) was in the control region. Phylogenetic trees show that four A. gossypii mitogenomes were clustered in one clade

Study on Combustion and Emission Characteristics of Marine Diesel Oil and Water-In-Oil Emulsified Marine Diesel Oil

Compression ignition engines used as marine engines are the most efficient internal combustion engines. They are well-established products, and millions are already on the market. Water-in-MDO (marine diesel oil) emulsions are the best alternative fuel for compression ignition engines and can be utilised with the existing setup of 2.0 L automotive common rail direct injection (CRDI) engines. They have benefits for the simultaneous reduction of both NOx and smoke (black carbon). Furthermore, they have a significant impact on the improvement of combustion efficiency. Micro-explosions are the most important phenomenon of water-in-diesel emulsions inside an internal combustion engine chamber. They affect both the emission reduction and combustion efficiency improvements directly and indirectly in accordance with the brake mean effective pressure (BMEP) and rpm. Owing to the influence of micro-emulsions on the combustion and emissions of water-in-diesel emulsion fuel, the reduction ratios of NOx and smoke in a used engine are approximately 30% and 80%, respectively. The effect of the operating parameters on micro-emulsions is presented

Comparison of NOx and Smoke Characteristics of Water-in-Oil Emulsion and Marine Diesel Oil in 400-kW Marine Generator Engine

Currently, the exhaust gas of a ship is regulated for nitrogen oxides and sulphur compounds; however, there is no IMO regulation on smoke under discussion. This study investigated the reduction of exhaust gas through ship emulsion fuel, which can simultaneously reduce nitrogen oxides and smoke in ship engines before smoke regulations are established. The combustion and exhaust characteristics were investigated according to the moisture content of emulsion fuel using a 400-kW generator engine. As the water content of the emulsion and the temperature of the combustion chamber increase, micro explosion increases and the combustion period decreases. The nitrogen oxide and smoke from the emulsion fuel used in this study decreased by 7% and 75%, respectively. The nitrogen oxides and soot reductions obtained by the use of emulsion fuel were boosted by micro-explosion of water contained in the fuel during combustion

Preliminary Numerical Study on Exhaust Emission Characteristics of Particulate Matters and Nitrogen Oxide in a Marine Engine for Marine Diesel Oil and Dimethyl Ether Fuel

As concerns regarding environmental pollution, energy security and future oil supply continue to grow, communities around the world are looking for non-petroleum-based alternative fuels along with advanced energy technologies (e.g., fuel cells) to increase energy use efficiency. Compared with the main alternative fuel candidates (e.g., methane, methanol, ethanol and Fischer–Tropsch fuels), dimethyl ether (DME) seems to have a significant potential to solve the aforementioned problems and can be used as a clean, high-efficiency compressed ignition fuel with reduced nitrogen oxide, sulphur oxide and particulate matter (PM) emissions. In this study, the results of experiments using a ship engine and numerical analysis were verified using AVL BOOST software. Based on these verifications, nitrogen oxide and PM reduction characteristics were numerically analysed by controlling the diameter and spraying time of the fuel nozzle, which is the fuel injection system of a marine engine. When DME fuel was used, nitrogen oxide and PM emissions were reduced by 40% and 90%, respectively, compared with marine diesel oil fuel. To prove the viability of DME as an alternative fuel, combustion and exhaust characteristics were analysed in accordance with injection timing and the variation of nozzle hole

Corporate Governance and Long Term Performance of the Business Groups: The Case of Chaebols in Korea

The existence of the business groups has been associated with market failure in emerging economies, and thus their performance has been argued and found to have declined with development of market institutions surrounding them. This paper takes up this issue of long-term performance of the business groups but argues that it has also to do with the internal problems, such as changes in the ownership and governance structure. It finds, with the Korea data and new method and theoretical grounds, that the relative performance of the business groups, the Chaebols, had consistently declined over the 1980s and 1990s although they were more efficient than the non-Chaebol firms during the early 1980s. The results are robust to different estimation methods, and also to controls for the possible survivorship bias, industry composition, and scale effects. The paper explains the performance change by examining the decrease of the shares held by the controlling families and the associated aggravation of the agency problem leading to unjustifiable expansion drives