Social Welfare Reform Since the 1997 Economic Crisis in Korea: Achievement, Limits, and Future Prospects

Social welfare reform has been implemented in Korea since the 1997 financial crisis. A dominant concern of the reform was on equality and social solidarity. A major means to this end was establishing universalistic social insurance programs like those in developed welfare states. The reform efforts produced some positive results but were not greatly successful. Income polarization and the deteriorating economic status of low-income families have become big social issues. Many low-income families have not gained many benefits from the reformed social security system. The rapid aging of the population is creating an exploding demand for social spending, risking the fiscal sustainability of major social insurance programs. The reform experience suggests that a social welfare system based on western-style universal social insurance may be too expensive to sustain and not very effective in protecting disadvantaged families in Korea. More attention is being paid to expenditure control and efficiency. Social insurance programs may need to be leaner than those in traditional welfare states. Targeted programs, such as the "making work pay" policy, are likely to be expanded more broadly to low-income families. The future of the Korean welfare state may hinge on successful employment support for working families and extensive investment in their human capital.     

Ethnic activism and multicultural politics in immigrant settlement in Toronto,Canada

Immigrant activists work within but challenge the discursive limits in the settlement sector in Toronto, Canada. The establishment and institutionalization of settlement service results from community based ethnic activists working with changing multicultural circumstances and state policies that regulate immigrants. Consequently, immigrants have been able to obtain resources from the state but must work within ethnicized politics where ethno-specificity, cultural sensitivity and the language of service delivery to ‘visible minority’ immigrants are important modes of dealing with differences, racial or otherwise. Manager-activists respond to the changing discourse of ethno-specificity as the sector was ‘restructured’; they also have to meet the discursive imperatives of the flexible and transcendental immigrant. This paper draws from information gathered as a researcher and as a worker in this sector, from community reports and documents, and from interviews with managers of settlement organizations who also see themselves as activists.     

A panel study to examine the impact of multidimensional poverty on Korean adolescents' health

The study aims to explore the changes in adolescents' health during this significant transition from childhood to adulthood, and examines the impact of multidimensional poverty on their health. The study used panel data drawn from Seoul Child Panel Study, from 8th to 11th grade, and analysed the 908 adolescents using hierarchical linear modelling. Having consistent poverty, single parents and food insufficiency were significant predictors of physical and mental health problems, and these findings varied significantly by specific grade level. Implications for policies and practice to promote the health of adolescents in multidimensional poverty are identified.     

Alfred Kuß: „Marketing-Theorie: Eine Einführung“

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Alfred Ku?: „Marketing-Theorie: Eine Einführung“     

单斜式模-数转换器的一种新方案

本文提出的一种单斜式模-数转换器的方案,可消除一般单斜式模-数转换器的多种误差因素,具有精度高、速度快、电路简单等优点。本方案在TP-801单板微型计算机的控制下运行,实验结果表明,方案可行,实用价值高,可用于高精度的数字仪器。     

The Development of State Welfare in the Asian NICs with Special Reference to Taiwan

This paper explores Taiwan's welfare development from its specific politico-economic situation. Although education and public health are well developed in Taiwan and social insurance is expanding to cover more and more Taiwanese people, the govenmental welfare effort is still too low to meet the welfare needs of the public. This is especially so given our discovery that military servicemen and related groups receive over 70% of the welfare expenditure of the central government while the disadvantaged receive only around 3%. Furthermore, political crises are often accompanied by a significant growth in social expenditure, implying that the purpose of state welfare is to maintain the stability of the Taiwanese state rather than to protect the well-being of Taiwanese people. Political isolation forces the Kuomintang (KMT) to secure Taiwan's role in the international community via economic growth. The development of state welfare cannot be allowed to have a negative effect on this highest priority. The limited resources, therefore, are allocated to economic goals as well as to the KMT–state apparatus in order to keep the KMT in power. However, the democratization of Taiwanese politics since the 1980s has forced the KMT to consolidate its legitimacy from the people and the improvement of social welfare is one measure for this purpose. Whether or not Taiwan becomes a Western-style welfare state through the expansion of state welfare in the near future, it furnishes a useful example with which to examine existing welfare theories.     

The role of identity in South Korea’s policies towards Japan

This paper asks why South Korea’s relations with Japan is so vulnerable to disputes over history in the post-Cold War period. It argues that South Korea’s identities vis-à-vis Japan and North Korea respectively conflict with each other and leads to inconsistent policy towards Japan that hovers between cooperation and discord. By analyzing South Korea’s relations with Japan as well as its policies and behavior in the post-Cold War period, this paper aims to show how identity factor affects a state’s foreign policy and behavior towards other states. In doing so, it questions the rationality assumption of state behavior in IR and offers alternative explanations on how to better understand “emotional” foreign policies.     

科技期刊改革中编辑素质的重要性分析

分析科技期刊改革中编辑素质对编辑职业整体的影响,认为编辑在改革中的地位是由编辑整体的职业影响力决定的,编辑在改革中主体作用的发挥是期刊改革的推动力,编辑素质的提高、编辑职业影响力的强化是科技期刊改革强有力的保障。     

從可持續發展視角論澳門的輸入外勞政策

澳門博彩業開放所折射出的輸入外勞政策備受關注。本文通過分析博彩業開放後就業市場的變化,結合社會對博彩業開放的成果分享和责任分擔及輸入外勞政策的利益分析,提出輸入外勞政策應從澳門長速及可持續發展的視角出發,為顧全大局而敢於傾斜。     

关于GM(1,2)模型的一个改进

分析了GM(1,N)(N≥2)的建模原理,找出了其模型误差产生的部分原因,证明了在相关因素序列变化幅度很小(可视为灰常量)的条件下,GM(1,N)(N≥2)具有白指数律的充要条件与GM(1,1)模型的完全相同.并在此基础上提出了GM(1,2)模型的一个改进,从而避免了GM(1,2)模型因|a|较大而产生的误差,提高了模型的精度.