Corporate diversification and performance: Evidence from Korea.

This dissertation examines a sample of firms from the 70 largest Korean conglomerates, or chaebols, in order to determine the motivation behind their diversification strategies and to identify the effects of diversification on economic performance. The first essay, "Government Revenue Maximization, External Capital and Corporate Diversification, " examines the argument that firms that have easy access to external capital, which is directly related to government subsidies in Korea, become over-diversified. The empirical analysis shows that firms with a high debt level are the most likely to pursue diversified expansion. Furthermore, this study shows that these firms have a tendency to decrease their diversification level when the government reduces business subsidies. The analysis conducted here is consistent with the argument that extensive and skewed subsidies lead industrial firms to accumulate considerable resources that are a springboard for excessive diversification.The second essay, entitled, "Chaebol Structure and Industry Productivity Growth in Korea, " focuses on the effects of corporate diversification on performance rather than any particular aim that lies behind diversification strategies. According to prevailing studies, the over-diversification of Korea's large business conglomerates was an important source of inefficiency, which resulted in an industrial structure that was particularly susceptible to the financial shocks of the 1990s. My empirical tests are consistent with this argument, as they show that industries with higher levels of chaebol diversification have lower levels of productivity and productivity growth. These findings are consistent with previous studies in other countries, which have found that diversification is negatively related to economic performance

An Analysis of the Interaction of Trade and Foreign Direct Investment between South Korea and India

This paper is the revised version of the paper presented at the 21st Seoul Journal of Economics International Symposium at Seoul National University on September 3, 2013.This paper investigates the interaction of foreign direct investment (FDI) and trade between S. Korea and India from 1983 to 2012. To examine the relationship between trade and FDI, we established multivariate estimations for trade and FDI, including Gross National Income and effective exchange rate. We applied impulse response analysis using the Vector Error Correction Model to determine the effect of a shock emanating from an endogenous variable on other variables. One finding is that a unidirectional link exists between trade and FDI, but not vice versa. The export of S. Korea to India positively affects the growth of the outward FDI of S. Korea into India. This finding indicated that the relationship between trade and FDI of S. Korea to India is unidirectional. Both trade and FDI also do not affect either the income of the two countries or their effective exchange rate. The main reason for this result is that the amount of FDI and/or trade is considerably small to generate any dynamic spillover effect

Does the Role of Observer Countries in the Regional Trade Agreement matter for Intra-Regional Trade?

This paper investigates the effects of trade by observed economies on the intra-regional trade by SAARC members using PPML gravity models with panel data over the period 2008-2014. Eight SAARC members and eight observed countries, including the EU, are analyzed in capturing the trade effect of observed economies on intra-regional trade in SAARC. This paper provides an empirical measure of observers’ trade, FDI and ODA with SAARC if the exports and imports of observers to/from SAARC have positive or negative signs for intra-regional exports and imports. The results show that the exports and imports of observers to SAARC members have positive effects on bilateral exports among the members. The FDI of observers reduces the bilateral intra imports in SAARC and ODA also has a negative effect on bilateral exports among the members. These results imply that the imports by SAARC members from observer countries increase intra-regional trade in the region. The FDI and ODA increase and decrease intra-regional trade in SAARC, respectively, implying that the policies for both FDI inflow from observers and efficient aid management are needed to increase regional welfare. The study also recommends that trade between SAARC members and its observers help to increase intra-regional trade in SAARC

Improving bread quality using Deinococcus geothermalis glycogen branching enzyme

Glycogen branching enzyme(GBE) catalyzes transglycosylation reaction producing α-1,6-glucosidic linkages by cleaving an α-1,4-glucosidic linkage. Deinococcus geothermalis GBE (DgGBE) has the unique activity to form a large number of short oligosaccharide side chains(degree of polymerization 3~5) from the reaction with amylose. To observe the influence of DgGBE on bread quaility, we added 100 unit of the enzyme per kg of the flour at the step of mixing dough. During the fermentation, DgGBE treated dough showed 50~100% larger volume than control. After baking, the total volume and the specific volume of DgGBE treated loaf showed about 10% larger than those of control. The baked breads were sliced to 2cm of depth and stored in 25 degrees celcius, and then the texture was evaluated by texture analyzer during storage time. Hardness and Chewiness of DgGBE treadted bread increased slowly to compared with those of the control. DgGBE treated bread showed a significant effect on antistaling. 1. Shupeng Wua, Yu Liu , Qiaojuan Yan , Zhengqiang Jiang (2014) Gene cloning, functional expression and characterisation of a novel glycogen branching enzyme from Rhizomucor miehei and its application in wheat breadmaking. Food Chemistry 159 (2014) 85-94 2. José Manuel Amigo , Arantxa del Olmo Alvarez , Merete Møller Engelsen , Henrik Lundkvist , Søren Balling Engelsen (2016) Staling of white bread crumb and effect of maltogenic α-amylases. Part 1 : Spatial distribution and kinetic modeling of hardness and resilience. Food Chemistry 208 (2016) 318-32

Development of screening method for the selection of mutants to improve the substrate specificity of Pyrococcus furiosus thermostable amylase

Pyrococcus furiosus thermostable amylase (PFTA) shows the activities of both a cyclodextrin hydrolyzing enzyme and an α-amylase. To improve the substrate affinity and hydrolyzing activity against cyclodextrins, the saturation mutagenesis on the residue of PFTA active site was carried out. After the mutagenesis, the new screening method was needed to select appropriate mutants efficiently from various mutants. Among the α-, β-, γ-cyclodextrins, only β-cyclodextrin makes the complex with phenolphthalein. When added the β-cyclodextrin into phenolphthalein reagent, the color of the solution was changed red to colorless under alkaline condition. In this study, we developed screening method by using 24-well plate and phenolphthalein to compare the activity of PFTA mutants. Escherichia coli MC1061 was used as a host for the expression of various recombinant plasmids and cultured in 24-well plate with Luria-Bertani broth containing kanamycin. After cell lysis by heat treatment, each cell extracts were reacted with β-cyclodextrin at 70℃. Reacted mixtures were put into 96-well plate with NaOH solution and then add the phenolphthalein reagent respectively. Lastly, the absorbance of the mixture was measured at 550 nm. The substrate specificity of PFTA mutants was compared from the difference of absorbance. References 1. Sung-Jae Yang, Hee-Seob Lee, Cheon-Seok Park, Yong-Ro Kim, Tae-Wha Moon, and Kwan-Hwa Park. 2004. Enzymatic Analysis of an Amylolytic Enzyme from the Hyperthermophilic Archaeon Pyrococcus furiosus Reveals Its Novel Catalytic Properties as both an α-Amylase and a Cyclodextrin-Hydrolyzing Enzyme. APPL. ENVIRON. MICROBIOL. 70:5988-5995 2. Anuj Goel, Sanjay N. Nene. 1995. Modifications in the Phenolphthalein Method for Spectrophotometric Estimation of Beta Cyclodextrin. Starch/Starke. 47:399-40

Inadvertent discogram during transforaminal epidural injection in patients with lumbar disc herniation -A report of 2 cases-

The transforaminal epidural injection (TFEI) has been preferred in many cases because it can deliver the injected dose of medication closer to the nerve root and better facilitate ventral epidural flow compared to other methods. However, in patients with deformities not demonstrated on fluoroscopic imaging, the needle may enter unwanted locations. We treated two cases of intradiscal injection of contrast dye, during the TFEI, in patients with lumbar disc herniation

Hematogenous Metastasis of Ovarian Cancer: Rethinking Mode of Spread

SummaryOvarian cancer has a clear predilection for metastasis to the omentum, but the underlying mechanisms involved in ovarian cancer spread are not well understood. Here, we used a parabiosis model that demonstrates preferential hematogenous metastasis of ovarian cancer to the omentum. Our studies revealed that the ErbB3-neuregulin 1 (NRG1) axis is a dominant pathway responsible for hematogenous omental metastasis. Elevated levels of ErbB3 in ovarian cancer cells and NRG1 in the omentum allowed for tumor cell localization and growth in the omentum. Depletion of ErbB3 in ovarian cancer impaired omental metastasis. Our results highlight hematogenous metastasis as an important mode of ovarian cancer metastasis. These findings have implications for designing alternative strategies aimed at preventing and treating ovarian cancer metastasis

Salvage chemotherapy of biweekly irinotecan plus S-1 (biweekly IRIS) in previously treated patients with advanced gastric cancer

PURPOSE: This phase II trial first describes the combination chemotherapy of biweekly irinotecan plus S-1 (biweekly IRIS) for pretreated advanced gastric cancer (AGC) patients. METHODS: Patients who had previously been treated with greater than or equal to one regimen were enrolled. They received S-1 35 mg/m(2) twice daily on days 1-14 and irinotecan 150 mg/m(2) on days 1 and 15, every 4 weeks. The primary endpoint was overall survival (OS). RESULTS: Among the 38 patients enrolled, 18 patients were treated as second line, and the remaining 20 patients were enrolled as third- or fourth line. A total of 208 cycles were administered with the median being four cycles (range 1-16). The median OS was 8.7 months [95% confidence interval (CI) 7.5-10.3], and the median progression-free survival was 6.3 months (95% CI 5.3-7.3). Low serum albumin (<3.5 mg/dL) was an independent adverse prognosticator for survival. Overall response rate was 17% (95% CI 4-30%). The major grade 3/4 toxicities were neutropenia (26%) and diarrhea (18%). CONCLUSIONS: Biweekly IRIS showed the moderate activity as salvage treatment in AGC. Considering high neutropenia and gastrointestinal toxicity, patient selection should be warranted; serum albumin may be a predictive factor for treatment decisionope