Explore Korea through Statistics 2014 is published to help foreign readers understand social and economic phenomena of Korea by Statistics Korea. Brief explanations are given with statistical tables, graphs and figures for better understanding of readers. The book presents various information on land, population, economy, society and culture to help readers grasp the Korean society easily. 1. Land and Climate 2. Population 3. Labor 4. Prices and Household Economy 5. National Account 6. Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries 7. Manufacturing 8. Construction 9. Energy 10. Transportation and Infor-Communications 11. Foreign Trade and Balance of Payments 12. Public Finance and Financial Institutions 13. Health and Welfare 14. Environment 15. Education and R＆D 16. Diplomacy and Two-Korea Issues 17. Culture and Tourism

This publication provides an understanding of the role of food tourism in local economic development and its potential for country branding. It also presents several innovative case studies in the food tourism sector and the experience industry.

This book aims to promote a better understanding of the education policy choices and implementation modalities that have enabled many East Asian countries over the last 30-40 years to move from education and economic conditions similar to those of many Sub-Saharan Africa countries to attain the level of development they enjoy today.

This book uses the publicly available TEDS-M data to answer such questions as: How does teacher education contribute to the learning outcomes of future teachers? Are there programs that are more successful than others in helping teachers learn to teach mathematics? How does the local and national policy environment contribute to teacher education outcomes? It invites readers to explore these questions across a large number of international settings. The importance of preparing future mathematics teachers has become a priority across many nations. Across the globe nations have allocated resources and expertise to this endeavour. Yet in spite of the importance accorded to teacher education not much is known about different approaches to preparing knowledgeable teachers and whether these approaches do in fact achieve their purpose. The Mathematics Teacher Education and Development Study (TEDS-M) is the first, and to date the only, cross-national study using scientific and representative samples to provide empirical data on the knowledge that future mathematics teachers of primary and secondary school acquire in their teacher education programs. The study addresses the central importance of teacher knowledge in learning to teach mathematics by examining variation in the nature and influence of teacher education programs within and across countries. The study collected data on teacher education programs structure, curriculum and opportunities to learn, on teacher educators’ characteristics and beliefs, and on future mathematics teachers’ individual characteristics, beliefs, and mathematics and pedagogical knowledge across 17 countries providing a unique opportunity to explore enduring questions in the field.

This book collects contributions written by well-known statisticians and econometricians to acknowledge Léopold Simar’s far-reaching scientific impact on Statistics and Econometrics throughout his career. The papers contained herein were presented at a conference in Louvain-la-Neuve in May 2009 in honor of his retirement. The contributions cover a broad variety of issues surrounding frontier estimation, which Léopold Simar has contributed much to over the past two decades, as well as related issues such as semiparametric regression and models for censored data. This book collects contributions written by well-known statisticians and econometricians to acknowledge Léopold Simar’s far-reaching scientific impact on Statistics and Econometrics throughout his career. The papers contained herein were presented at a conference in Louvain-la-Neuve in May 2009 in honor of his retirement. The contributions cover a broad variety of issues surrounding frontier estimation, which Léopold Simar has contributed much to over the past two decades, as well as related issues such as semiparametric regression and models for censored data.

This book examines the growing diversity of religions and worldviews across East & Southeast Asia, and the factors affecting prospects for 'covenantal pluralism' in these regions. According to the Pew Religious Diversity Index, half of the world’s most religiously diverse countries are in Asia. The presence of deep religious/worldview difference is often seen as a potential threat to socio-political cohesion or even as a source of violent conflict. Yet in Asia (as elsewhere) the degree of this diversity is not consistently associated with socio-political problems. Indeed, while religious difference is implicated in some social challenges, there are also many instances of respectful multi-faith engagement, practical collaboration, and peaceful debate. Whether or not religious/worldview difference is part of a positive pluralism depends on a complex array of legal and cultural conditions. This book explores these dynamics and contingencies in Asia, structuring the inquiry according to the theory of 'covenantal pluralism'. Covenantal pluralist theory calls for (a) a constitutional order characterized by freedom of religion/conscience and equality of rights and responsibilities, combined with (b) a culture of practical religious literacy and virtues of mutual respect and protection. Volume I offers a pioneering exploration of the prospects for this robust and non-relativistic type of pluralism in East & Southeast Asia. (Volume II examines South & Central Asia.) The chapters in these volumes originally appeared as research articles in a series on covenantal pluralism published by The Review of Faith & International Affairs.

A guide for constructing and using composite indicators for policy makers, academics, the media and other interested parties. In particular, this handbook is concerned with indicators which compare and rank country performance.

Why does North Korea routinely turn to provocation to achieve foreign policy goals? Are the actions of the volatile Kim regime predictable, based on logical responses to the conditions faced by North Korea? This book, an examination of the "Hermit Kingdom" over the past 50 years, explains why the Democratic People's Republic of Korea uses hostility and coercion as instruments of foreign policy. Using three case studies and quantitative analysis of more than 2,000 conflict events, the author explores the relationship between North Korea's societal conditions and its propensity for external conflict. These findings are considered in light of diversionary theory, the idea that leaders use external conflict to divert attention from domestic affairs. Analyzing the actions of an isolated state such as North Korea provides a template for conflict scholarship in general.

In the last two decades, manufacturing industries in Korea have become more concentrated, and interconnectedness across industries and to foreign countries has risen via vertical relationships and trade linkages. This paper investigates the transmission of economic shocks in such a highly concentrated and interconnected structure, focusing on the role of vertical and trade linkages and using the industry-level international input-output data. The results suggest that, first, the role of vertical and trade linkages in propagating growth shocks from both domestic sources and external sources is important. Second, the growth impact of a few key sources of economic shocks is relatively large. These findings highlight that economic shocks in a few key industries and/or major trading partners that are transmitted through vertical and trade linkages can lead to large swings in the overall economy. This paper contributes to the understanding of the potential interactions between the industrial structure and economic growth and stability.