DESPERATE TIMES CALL FOR DESPERATE MEASURES: GOVERNMENT SPENDING MULTIPLIERS IN HARD TIMES

We investigate state-dependent effects of fiscal multipliers and allow for endogenous sample splitting to determine whether the U.S. economy is in a slack state. When the endogenized slack state is estimated as the period of the unemployment rate higher than about 12%, the estimated cumulative multipliers are significantly larger during slack periods than nonslack periods and are above unity. We also examine the possibility of time-varying regimes of slackness and find that our empirical results are robust under a more flexible framework. Our estimation results point out the importance of the heterogenous effects of fiscal policy and shed light on the prospect of fiscal policy in response to economic shocks from the current COVID-19 pandemic. (JEL C32, E62, H20, H62)     

Three Korean perspectives on U.S. internet public diplomacy

This study identifies perspectives of relationships publics have about countries other than their own and examines whether publics engaged through social media-based public diplomacy programs demonstrate different relationship perspectives. Q methodology and survey research were used to investigate these issues. Data come from South Korean adult internet users, including members of Café USA, an online community run by the U.S. Embassy in Seoul. Three relationship perspectives were identified: outcome-based, sincerity-based, and access-based. Compared with other groups, Café USA members put more emphasis on sincerity in their relationships with the United States. The results of this study indicate that individuals’ subjectivity should be considered as far more contextualized and nuanced than has been the case in previous research on national image or country reputation.     

Psychometric Evaluation and Discussions of English Language Learners’ Listening Comprehension

The importance of listening in the context of English language acquisition is gaining acceptance, but its unique attributes in language performance, while substantively and qualitatively justifiable, are generally not psychometrically defined. This article psychometrically supports listening as a distinct domain among the three other domains of language learning—reading, writing, and speaking—through the analysis of listening data from a large-scale K-12 English language proficiency assessment. Student responses in this study were compared on the basis of cognitive, metacognitive, and other learning strategies between high achieving and low achieving listening groups that were formed using a latent mixture distribution model. Latent mixture distribution and differential items functioning analyses together with classical item analysis were used to substantiate or draw attention to literature findings. The article also highlights the importance of social-interactive items that are inadvertently embedded in an assessment that is primarily created to measure academic language.     

Are they ideological renegades? Fathers' experiences on taking parental leave and gender dynamics in Korea: A qualitative study

Despite their fear of repercussions on career advancement and gender identity, Korean fathers taking parental leave have continually increased. Why do Korean fathers take parental leave in spite of the risk of being stigmatized as less masculine and less ideal workers? Are they willing to be ‘ideological renegades' to be new involved fathers? In‐depth interviews with fathers who took parental leave provide interesting answers. Overall, taking parental leave does not make fathers become ideological renegades since it is mainly utilized in a manner that accommodates the work devotion schema, deviating from the formal policy objectives. This deviant utilization is encouraged and even valued by organizations. This may be part of a psychological contract between organizations and employees, ensuring that employees are dedicated to their career even during parental leave. Furthermore, beyond the legal eligibility of uptake, informal but powerful ‘organizational eligibility' such as high performance or their contribution to the organization, makes not only the likelihood but also the aftermath of taking up different across fathers. As a result, a hierarchy among fathers with class connotations emerges. This hierarchy among fathers, combined with the traditional gender hierarchy, may reinforce the masculine fabric of ideal workers as the norm.     

The Relations Among Relatedness Needs,Subjective Well-Being,and Depression of Korean Elderly

The first part of the study examined what the relatedness needs Korean elderly have in close relationships (spouse, children, friends) are. The most salient needs were “love and care” for spouse and “contact and often meeting” for children and friends. The second part of the study assessed the relations among the difference between expectation and satisfaction of relatedness needs, subjective well-being, and depression of Korean elderly. Regression analyses showed that the difference between expectation and satisfaction of relatedness needs for spouse and children significantly predicted subjective well-being and depression. Finally, gender differences are discussed in terms of the patriarchal culture of Korean society.     

The impact of in-vehicle cell-phone use on accidents or near-accidents among college students

With in-vehicle use of cell phones rapidly increasing, the safety of young drivers, who represent 14% of licensed drivers but 26% of drivers involved in fatal crashes, may be disproportionately threatened. The authors used a questionnaire to examine the association between in-vehicle cell-phone use and accidents or near-accidents among 1,291 conveniently recruited college students in 4 states. Of the 1,185 respondents who were drivers, 87% had a cell phone, and 86% of the cell-phone owners reported talking while driving at least occasionally. Of the 762 reported accidents or near-accidents, 21% (n = 159) involved at least 1 of the drivers talking while driving. Chi-square tests and logistic regression analyses showed that the frequency, not the duration, of drivers talking while driving was related to experiencing accidents or near-accidents. Differences between drivers who used cell phones and nonusers in unsafe driving behaviors and attitudes were also examined, and target groups for intervention efforts against talking on a cell phone while driving are suggested.     

Robust Bayesian estimation of a bathtub-shaped distribution under progressive Type-II censoring

The bathtub-shaped failure rate function has been used for modeling the life spans of a number of electronic and mechanical products, as well as for modeling the life spans of humans, especially when some of the data are censored. This article addresses robust methods for the estimation of unknown parameters in a two-parameter distribution with a bathtub-shaped failure rate function based on progressive Type-II censored samples. Here, a class of flexible priors is considered by using the hierarchical structure of a conjugate prior distribution, and corresponding posterior distributions are obtained in a closed-form. Then, based on the square error loss function, Bayes estimators of unknown parameters are derived, which depend on hyperparameters as parameters of the conjugate prior. In order to eliminate the hyperparameters, hierarchical Bayesian estimation methods are proposed, and these proposed estimators are compared to one another based on the mean squared error, through Monte Carlo simulations for various progressively Type-II censoring schemes. Finally, a real dataset is presented for the purpose of illustration.     

Resource Dependence Patterns and Organizational Behavior/Structure in Korean Nonprofit Organizations

This article examines the relationships among the three dimensions of resource dependence patterns (RDPs) and organizational formalization and goals in nonprofit organizations (NPOs). These three RDPs (that is, the appearance of the financial resource inflow) are resource dependency, resource diversity, and resource competitiveness. The empirical findings suggest that high dependency on government funding (high resource dependency) is positively associated with organizational formalization, although resource diversity does not have any explanatory power on organizational behavior and structure, and that a very competitive environment for resource acquisition significantly affects goal setting in NPOs. In particular, resource competitiveness well explains goal clarity and goal change in NPOs. NPOs with high resource competitiveness present clearer organizational goals or missions and are likely to experience frequent goal change.     

Assembly block storage location assignment at a shipyard: a case of Hyundai Heavy Industries

It is not a trivial issue how to manage assembly blocks at a shipyard. Based on the project experience in Hyundai Heavy Industries, currently the largest shipbuilding company in the world and the leader in the Korean merchant shipbuilding industry, this study points out the difficulties on the block stockyard operations, formalises the assembly block storage location assignment problem, and develops the assembly block storage location assignment algorithm, the purpose of which is to reduce the number of unproductive block moves. Through simulation experiments for various situations, this study demonstrates the usefulness of the assembly block storage location assignment algorithm. In addition, this study examines the impacts of block move sequence rules and of block stockyard layouts on the block stockyard operations.