Responding to crisis in Korea, Pt 1: Impacts of the foreign exchange crisis on R&D activities
Taeyoung Shin
Director, Industrial Innovation Studies, Science & Technology Policy Institute (STEPI)
PP: 3
Abstract
This paper investigates the industrial R&D sector in Korea following the foreign exchange crisis at the end of 1997. In response to the crisis, rigorous reforms in the industrial sector were undertaken, including many within the R&D sector. A survey was carried out by STEP1, in October 1998, to ascertain the changes in R&D activities after the crisis.
The results indicated that total R&D investment decreased by about 12 per cent, while the growth rate of the economy was about -6 per cent. The major victims of the foreign exchange crisis appeared to be industries and universities. In addition, industrial R&D strategies changed from long-term to short-term oriented strategies and approximately 4,500 R&D personnel were made redundant.
This article describes the methodology and results of the STEPI study, illuminating Korea's R&D investment in various industries at the beginning of the new millennium.
Keywords
economic crisis, Corporate reform, R&D investment and man-power, R&D strategies
References
Lee HH (1999) A 'Stroke' Hypothesis of Korea's 1997 Financial Crisis, Consequence and Prospects, Mimeograph, Kwangwon University, Seoul, and University of Melbourne, Melbourne.
MOST, Report on the Survey of Research and Development in Science and Technology, various issues.
OECD (1995) Nowcasting R&D series: Basic Methodological Considerations, Part A and Part B, Paris.
STEPI (1998) Survey of the Corporate Reforms in R&D, Seoul.
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