The Korean housebuilding industry: Aspects of growth, efficiency and diversification, 1980-1995.

The objective of this thesis is to contribute to the understanding of the development of the housebuilding industry in Korea. Starting from a description of the growth of the industry in the regulated environment, relevant theories are investigated. Based on both theory and evidence, an analytic framework is then developed from which four main research areas are drawn. The first area is an analysis of the structure of the Korean housebuilding business. The focus is on the investigation of governance structure within the housebuilding business and determinants of that structure. The second area is an examination of efficiency in the housebuilding business. Cost structures of the housebuilding business, the input factor relationship, the extent of economies of scale, and productivity are evaluated. The third area is an analysis of the building firms' diversification strategy. The extent of diversification among housebuilding firms, the changing pattern and the motives for that diversification are examined. Finally, the fourth area brings these elements together to investigate the efficiency of the firms' diversified production structure by estimating multi-product cost functions. Interviews and secondary data sources were used to examine the structure of the Korean housebuilding business. For the analyses of the efficiency of the business, multiproduct firms, and the firms' diversification strategy, econometric modelling techniques such as Translog cost function estimation and multivariate regression estimation were employed. The cost structure of the Korean housebuilding business was found to be price inelastic, with relatively low productivity and increasing returns to scale. Firms tended to depend on 'contracting' throughout the production process and also showed diversified production structures. Diversification was motivated by avoiding risks and uncertainty within the housebuilding business and by using retained resources efficiently. The diversification strategy was found to be economically efficient, although the estimated optimum scale suggests that the current scale of the firms may be too large

The impact of UK household overconfidence in public information on house prices

We investigate if house prices are affected by overconfidence of households who predict house prices using imperfect public information about economic outlook. For this purpose, we develop a new measure of household overconfidence in the Bayesian framework. For the three variables we test – changes in consumption, stock returns, and changes in human capital, we find that UK households were overconfident about the signals of consumption regardless of regions. However, households in London were overconfident about the signals of stock markets whereas those remote from London were overconfident about the signals of human capital. The results of household overconfidence appear positive in the UK housing market for our sample period from 1980 to 2018, in particular, 0.5% per quarter in London

The organizational boundaries of housebuilding firms in Korea

This paper investigates the boundary of activities undertaken by Korean housebuilding firms. First, it examines the contractual relationships between housebuilding firms and contractors, focusing on the existence of quasi-firm type organization in the Korean housebuilding industry. Second, it looks at how far Korean housebuilding firms diversify into other activities outside the industry. Secondary data analysis and an interview survey, carried out over the period between 1980 and 1995, were used. The results show that Korean housebuilding firms depend on a traditional contractual relationship with contractors but that quasi-firm type organization is not established. On the other hand, housebuilding firms diversify into both related and unrelated business. This diversification could be a short-term 'survival strategy' under a regulated environment rather than a long-term 'growth strategy'.Organizational boundary, diversification, contracting, quasi-firm, housebuilding,

Better off households moving to more deprived areas: what is happening? Why?

Economic theories of residential location suggest that households tend to live in neighbourhoods with similar households. Yet in England we have seen increasing evidence of better off households moving to live in more deprived areas, especially since the financial crisis. Here we ask whether these household decisions are more a matter of choice or constraint. Our results suggest that household attributes are consistently important in decision making but household behaviour also relates closely both to the extent of market tension and to individual financial constraints—with households in pressured areas particularly affected by worsening affordability. Supply policy, which has tended to concentrate new building in deprived areas has helped facilitate such moves. A particularly important issue in a rapidly changing housing environment is the extent to which tenure and location appear often to be joint decisions—with many better-off households choosing to buy in more deprived areas. Those who move to or within more deprived areas as owner-occupiers are positive about both their housing and tenure choice but not about their location; private tenants on the other hand appear relatively unhappy with their dwelling, their neighbourhood and their tenure—in both cases reflecting trade-offs and constraints

Dental service sector and patient-reported oral health outcomes: Modification by trust in dentists

ObjectiveThe study aimed to examine the association between patient-reported oral health outcomes and the dental service sector and trust in dentists. The possible interaction effect of trust on this association was also explored.MethodsRandomly selected adults aged over 18 years living in South Australia were surveyed using self-administered questionnaires. The outcome variables were self-rated dental health and the evaluation outcome of the Oral Health Impact Profile. The dental service sector and the Dentist Trust Scale were included in bivariate and adjusted analyses with sociodemographic covariates.ResultsData from 4,027 respondents were analyzed. Unadjusted analysis showed that poor dental health and oral health impact were associated with sociodemographic characteristics, including lower income/education, public dental service, and lower trust in dentists (p ConclusionPatient-reported oral health outcomes were associated with sociodemographic characteristics, the dental service sector, and trust in dentists.Implications for public healthThe inequality of oral health outcomes between dental service sectors needs to be addressed both independently and in association with covariates including socioeconomic disadvantage.</p

Exploring lessons from Covid-19 for the role of the voluntary sector in integrated care systems

Integrated care systems (ICS) in England are partnerships between different health and social care organisations, to co-ordinate care and therefore provide more effective health and social care provision. The objective of this article is to explore the role of the ‘Voluntary, Community and Social Enterprise’ (VCSE) sector in integrated care systems. In particular, the paper aims to examine recent experiences of the voluntary sector in responding to the Covid-19 pandemic, and the lessons that can be learnt for integrated care provision. The article focuses on the case of Oxfordshire (UK), using a mixed methods approach that included a series of semi-structured interviews with key informants in health and the VCSE sector as well as online surveys of GPs and organisations in the VCSE sector. These were complemented by two contrasting geographical case studies of community responses to Covid-19 (one urban, one rural). Data were collected between April and June 2021. Interviewees were recruited through professional and community networks and snowball sampling, with a total of 30 semi-structured interviews being completed. Survey participants were recruited through sector-specific networks and the research arm of doctors.net.uk, with a total of 57 survey respondents in all. The research demonstrated the critical role of social prescribing link workers and locality officers in forging connections between the health and VCSE sectors at the hyper-local level, particularly in the urban case study. In the rural case study, the potential role of the Parish Council in bringing the two sectors together was highlighted, to support community health and well-being through stronger integrated working between the two sectors. The article concludes that enhanced connections between health and the VCSE sector will strengthen the outcomes of ICS