The existing literature predominantly examines the direct effects of participative decision-making, often overlooking the mechanisms and processes that mediate or moderate its outcomes. This study addresses this gap by investigating the impact of participative decision-making on employees’ cognitive flexibility, creativity, and voice behavior. Specific contradictions and gaps in prior research are highlighted, particularly the limited understanding of how these variables interact. This study is grounded in self-determination theory and incorporates a research model that examines these relationships through the mediating role of cognitive flexibility. Data were collected from 310 employees in South Korean firms and analyzed using structural equation modeling, providing robust empirical evidence. Key findings demonstrate that participative decision-making significantly enhances cognitive flexibility, which, in turn, mediates its impact on creativity and voice behavior. Direct effects were more pronounced for creativity, while cognitive flexibility played a stronger mediating role in fostering voice behavior. These results underscore the theoretical and practical importance of participative decision-making in fostering innovation and adaptability within organizations. Practical implications for managers and policymakers include fostering a participative culture to enhance employee creativity and voice behavior. Finally, this study discusses limitations, such as reliance on self-reported data, and provides directions for future research.

This study empirically examines the determinants of sustainable education finance by analyzing how income level, income inequality, fertility rate, and population density influence education expenditure as a share of GDP. Using annual data for 38 OECD countries from 1997 to 2021, the analysis applies fixed-effects and moment quantile regression (MMQR) models to capture both average and distributional dynamics. The results reveal a nonlinear inverted-U-shaped relationship between income and education spending, suggesting that fiscal commitment to education rises at early stages of development but tends to decline once income surpasses a certain threshold. Fertility rates show a significant negative association with education expenditure, while population density exhibits a positive effect. Moreover, the MMQR results highlight heterogeneity across countries, indicating that income growth has a stronger effect in economies with lower initial spending. These findings underscore the need for flexible, inclusive fiscal and institutional frameworks that adapt to national income levels and demographic transitions to ensure the long-term sustainability of education finance.

This study analyzes the short - term and long - term effects of home sale price and lease price on household consumption using quarterly data from 1990 to 2016. In particular, we analyzed the effect of housing prices on household consumption by dividing the households into two groups of households with more than two employees, as well as households with workers, self-employed households, and income groups (low-income, middle-income and high-income families). The main results of the empirical analysis are summarized as follows: Household consumption is affected by the change of home sale price and charter price in the long term compared to the short term. In households, compared to the self-employed households. In addition, households’ consumption of home prices (-0.44%) was much higher than that of households (+0.13%). It is highly probable that the steep rise in home sales prices and the surge in rental prices after the global financial crisis have been a stumbling block to household consumption and delayed economic recovery. Accordingly, it is necessary to make policy efforts to revitalize housing market transactions and stabilize rental prices.

Since 1999, North Korea’s economy has been recovering due to economic reforms, economic policies, inter-Korean economic cooperation, and support from the international community. The lack of statistical data is an obstacle in studying North Korea. Therefore, this study used statistical data of the Bank of Korea or substitution variables to obtain meaningful results on the effect of North Korean foreign trade on economic growth. North Korea’s foreign trade is basically an auxiliary means of building an independent economic base. However, the limits of closed foreign trade policies began to appear in the 1960s, as China and the Soviet Union cut aid and military and economic transfer policies. In the 1970s, the six-year plan was initiated internally, and socialist countries’ aid was turned into loans. In addition, the repayment period of the already received loan has come and it has suffered serious foreign debt crisis. As a result, North Korea established a company dedicated to foreign trade in order to increase exports and increase imports of foreign currency. In the 1980s, various policies were introduced to increase trade with capitalist countries or third world countries, and the share of North Korean trade was shifted from Europe to Asia. As a consequence of the collapse of the socialist power in the 1990s, foreign trade, which was an aid to the self-sustaining economy, has been steadily increasing since 1998, but continues to record trade deficits. However, after North Korea’s missile tests and the first nuclear test in 2006, North Korea’s diplomatic dependence on North Korea is increasing as trade with China increases. This study empirically analyzed the effects of North Korean foreign trade on North Korea’s economic growth by using yearly data from 1970 to 2016. As a result, North Korea’s trade was found to have a positive impact on economic growth. In particular, North Korea’s trade in the larger effect on economic growth provided a sustainable environment will get to be the trade expanding to the economic growth. North Korea may be the driving force of economic growth in this trade because it is difficult to achieve the economic growth of the internal force. North Korea will have to promote export-led economic policies, such as South Korea. North Korea has increased the influence of China on North Korea to China increased dependence of trade. In the long term, This result can be reduced the relationship between North Korea and South Korea and may be acting as a barrier to reunification. North Korea’s economically changes has already appeared to increased trade with North Korea in China. If the inter-Korean relations are improved North-South trade is active, we can guess that could happen is a big change in North Korea’s trade patterns. Therefore, the development of inter-Korean trade would be efficient. It is difficult to forecast the North Korean economy because of the rapid changes in the situation on the Korean Peninsula. However, as a result of this study, the effect of North Korea’s reform opening and foreign trade on economic growth may be large and positive. If the denuclearization is smoothly implemented and the international sanctions against North Korea are eased, the degree of isolation of North Korea in the international community will also weaken. The Korean government needs to establish policies for North Korea to open North Korea and look for ways to work with the international community.

Declining Fixed Investment and Increasing Financial Investment of Korean Corporations-Stagnant Fixed Investment, Financial Investment, Cash Flow, Tobin’s q, Global Financial Crisis