Affiliations: [a] School of Business, Government and Technology, Kean University, Union, NJ, USA, Tel.: +1 201 568 5399; Fax: +1 201 568 6040; E-mail: [email protected] | [b] School of Business Administration, Ajou University, Suwon, 442-749, Korea, Tel.: +82 331 219 1944; Fax: +82 331 219 2190; E-mail: [email protected]
Abstract: In this paper we study the changing pattern of Korean Research and Development (R&D) after the IMF crisis. We contend that the focus has changed from government and chaebol-initiated R&D to small business and university-initiated R&D. This transition resulted from various reasons: (1) financial difficulty caused upon big chaebols by the IMF crisis, (2) the government's emphasis on nurturing high-technology venture businesses, (3) the government's initiative to start Brain Korea 21 (BK21) projects. We evaluate this transition from the real options view of R&D.
Keywords: Research and Development (R&D), IMF crisis, chaebols, venture business, Brain Korea 21 (BK21), Korea Institute of Science and Technology (KIST), Government-Financed Research Institutes (GFRIs), Korea Development Institute (KDI), advanced industrial countries (AICs), the small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), real options
