Exploring Objective and Subjective Correlates with the Vitality of Agro-Industrial Complex Companies in Korea

Abstract

Empirical studies on agro-industrial complexes are few. Facing the issue of their sustainability, the vitality of the complex is analyzed in South Korean settings through structural equation modeling of the survey data of 600 companies. Unlike the existing literature on regional economics, the survey evaluates objective characteristics at the local, complex, and company levels while incorporating psychometrics, subjective qualities of the local environment, the complex itself, infrastructure, networking, and supportive policy. Among the objective characteristics, significant variables in the employment and sales models turn out to be consistent and mainly at the company level. Among the subjective variables, employment size and sales are associated with the qualities of infrastructure and supportive policy. Specifically, potential employees will be attracted by accessible transportation systems to neighboring major cities rather than convenience facilities within the complex. Sales may be improved by providing direct support for the marketing of each company compared to indirect support regarding agro-industrial complexes, infrastructure, and networking.