韓國 菜蔬種子産業의 構造와 行爲 分析 : 菜蔬種子企業의 引受合倂이 菜蔬種子産業에 미치는 影響을 中心으로

다국어 초록 (Multilingual Abstract)

The vegetable seed industry is a technology-intensive and high value-added industry. The spread of bio-technology and the technological development in the vegetable seed sector have made the sector one of the most value-added industry in the entire agricultural sector. The multinational companies in the developed world, based on their huge capital, advanced technology and government support, are enlarging their markets all over the world. The so-called "Seed War"- the international competition to acquire market and vegetable germplasm - is becoming fierce. In addition, the international norm to protect the rights and intellectual property of new plant breeders is ever being reinforced. The vegetable seed industry is expected to become a knowledge-based industry accompanying the technology, capital, knowledge and information, and it would be treated as the basis of a nation's competitiveness.
Despite its short history, Korea's vegetable seed industry has developed remarkably over the past decades, in the areas of plant breeding technology, hybrid innovation, vegetable production, exports and imports.
The development of high-quality new varieties of seeds has increased the vegetable production, raising farmers' income. The developmentew seed varieties, with the help of advanced farming technology, has also enabled consumers to buy vegetable products throughout the year.
The vegetable seed sector, however, has faced difficulties resulting from structural changes and its inability to adapt to the changing environment. Structural weakness has been the culprit of the problems in Korean seed industry. Major problems include small market size, low R&D investment, inadequate system to protect breeder's right, etc. The sector has attracted little attention in spite of its importance, resulting in the mergers and acquisitions(M&A) of its major seed companies by foreign multinational companies.
This study aims to explore the structure and practices of the Korean vegetable industry. The focus is on the M&A of seed companies, which concerns many people and is deemed to have great implications on the Korean vegetable seed industry. The major purpose of this study is to analyze the cause and effect of the M&A of seed companies, and to provide suggestions to further develop Korean vegetable seed industry. The scope of this study is largely confined to the domestic market, particularly focusing on the 14 vegetable seed markets, including hot pepper, Chinese cabbage, radish, onion and cucumber. Various research methods were used, from document review to surveys and interviews of firm managers, sellers, farmers, and experts. In addition, econometric method was used to analyze the impact of production changes.
This study is composed of six chapters. The first section deals with the background, previous studies, purposes, contents and methods of the study. The second section describes the structure of the seed industry. The third section handles the cause and current situation of the M&A among seed companies, and the fourth section analyzes the impacts of the M&A. The section five offers suggestions on ways to advance the Korean vegetable seed industry, followed by summary and conclusion in section six.
The concept of vegetable seed can be defined as "an agricultural seed possessing the contents and traits suitable for vegetable production". Meanwhile the vegetable seed industry can be defined as "the industry of which separate analysis is possible, taking each firms's practices into account". With the development of the sector, it requires less intervention of the government. But still the interaction between the government and private sector is not only inevitable but essential. The major indicators used in the study include market share, entry barriers, product differentiation, and profitability. The Korea's vegetable seed market volume is estimated to be around 130 billion won. Estimation of the vegetable seed market size requires objective criteria, including the export market. The vegetable production in 1999 amounted to 3,920 thousand liters, of which domestic production accounted for 1,060 thousand liters or 73%, foreign production accounting for the remainder. Radish and Chinese cabbage seeds accouted for 83.3% of total vegetable seed production. There has been a downward trend in total domestic vegetable seed production and further reduction is expected, while foreign seed production has sharply increased. Reasons for the decline in the domestic vegetable seed production include the deteriorating production conditions due to the high production costs, among others. The oversupply of vegetable seed is expected to persist over the long term. Major vegetable seeds produced in foreign areas include radish, spinach, and red pepper. Major importing countries of foreign seed products are China, Italy, and New Zealand. Vegetable seed exports increased continuously to reach 17.3 million dollars in 1999, or 717 thousand liters on volume basis. The major exporting items include radish, Chinese cabbage, and red pepper. From 1970 to 1999, radish and Chinese cabbage seeds accounted for 57.7% and 13.7% of the total exports, respectively. Major exporting countries were Japan, India, and China. Japan accounted for more than 50% of the total seed exports. By firms, Hungnong Seed Company took up more than 50% of the total exports, accounting for 56.8% in 1999. Vegetable imports sharply increased amounting to 12.9 million dollars, or 889 thousand liters on volume basis, in 1999.
The major imported seeds include onion, spinach, green onions, tomato, and carrots. Among many importing countries, Japan has been the largest, accounting for 86.7% in 1999. The number of importing companies is about 28, but most vegetable seeds are imported in small amount. The number of seed producing companies is 52, but most of them are very small except for five or six companies. The total number of employees in the seed sector is about 1,500, and total sales reached 130 to 150 billion won, total capital stood at 60 billion won. The volume of the seed sector in Korea are very small compared to those of developed countries. The total number of vegetable seed retailers amounted to about 3,200 but their sales volume are small. In addition, the product items handled are too fragmented, resulting in inefficiency in marketing.
There are many problems facing the vegetable seed industry. They include small market size, fragmented and small-sized companies, insufficient system to protect new varieties of plants, low level of R&D investment, ineffective response to internalization, low policy priority, and lack of vitality in the sector. These are associated with rapid liberalization, which was accelerated during the IMF foreign exchange crisis, resulting in M&A of major seed companies. Evaluating the vegetable sector is not a simple task, but in terms of international competitiveness, Korean vegetable seed sector ranks low, except for a few technology in major seed commodities. Korea's degree of R&D investment, volume of germplasm, market size, the number of employees, all seemed to be lower than those of developed countries.
The characteristics of M&A in this sector are twofold, namely, the integration of seed firms and the investment by foreign firms. It is horizontal firm integration from the viewpoint of market structure analysis, but the major player in the integration is foreign companies rather than domestic ones. Foreign companies have invested in seed companies with a view to controlling managerial power based on their capital, technology and advanced managerial skills. Therefore, the cause and effect of M&A have been analyzed from the viewpoint of foreign direct investment. The FDI theory could be explained in a variety of ways but Dunning's eclectic theory has been the most prevalent and widely accepted theory. There are multiple motivations behind foreign direct investment, such as abundant raw material, market expansion, and management control. Foreign investment through M&A has increased rapidly since 1990 due to liberalization of market, trade, investment regime, and deregulation. FDI in the Korean seed sector began in 1997 with Sakata Company's merger with Chungwon seed company, followed by the mergers by Seminis with Heungnong and Chungang Seed Company, and the mergers between Novartis and Seoul seed company. The size of investment differ by company but most of the multinational companies invested in local company with 100 % ownership. Among the various methods of analyzing FDI, surveying method was used in this study. There are a number of causes of foreign direct investment in vegetable seed companies, but major factors include market size expansion, temporary investment to reach out to the Asian market, utilization of advanced plant breeding technology, transfer of managerial skill, government policies, and infrastructure and production costs. Among these, transitional investment to reach out to the Asian market seems to be the most important factor of FDI in Korea's seed companies. Other factors such as high technology in the seed technology, and positive governmental policy to foreign investment have been also rel evant. However, there seems to be no special advantages in the Korean market in terms of infrastructure and production costs.
The impact of M&A in the seed industry have been analyzed from three aspects: firstly, the impact on the conduct and performance of seed companies in terms of business area, companies' target, managerial strategies, product differentiation, and R&D investment; secondly, the impact on market structure and price level changes; and thirdly, the impact on vegetable seed production, imports and exports. Significant changes were found, in the first aspect, namely, the impact on companies' indicators, especially, companies' target, managerial strategies, financial structures, business processes, and human management skills have improved. Most companies have made positive efforts to differentiate their products. R&D investment has also increased in most cases, while on the other hand, the merged companies' expenditure on advertising dropped, compared to domestic companies. The number of employees has increased in domestic firms, while it decreased in merged companies. Meanwhile capital increased for both groups. As for profitability, merged companies experienced losses, while domestic firms turned profits.
As for the second aspect, impact on vegetable seed price level and market structure, no special changes were found since M&A began in 1997. The number of vegetable seed producing firms and market size did not change significantly. No special entry barriers have been made since M&A began. Especially, the market dominance and market concentration ratio remained unchanged during the same period. The CRk and Herfindahl index also remained unchanged. The price level of major vegetable seeds did not show significant change either. In the vegetable seed marketing sector, some positive results were seen, such as decreasing discount sales and dumping sales, and increasing cash sales. This, in turn, enhanced the efficiency of the sector.
As for the third aspect, impact on vegetable seed production, and export and import levels, an econometric method using time series data analysis was applied. The results differ by commodity, and the degree of variability considerably differed among vegetable seeds. Total domestic vegetable seed production showed downward trend since 1997, but the impact of each commodity vary by seeds. It is difficult to make conclusive statement on the impact of vegetable seed companies's M&A. But at least so far, some positive developments are witnessed compared to the previous period. It is difficult to say the M&A have had only negative impact on the Korean vegetable seed industry. Still, some restrictions remain due to the limited data availability, the study method, and the time constraint.
The Korean vegetable seed industry has transformed into a knowledge-based, technology-intensive, and high value-added industry. The prospect of Korea's vegetable seed industry seems bright, according to survey results, in which 78.5% of the respondents answered positively. This translates into the fact that much more emphasis has to be put on the vegetable seed sector. The R&D investment is the most important role of the government in the sector. Major government tasks include replacing the government's role, adjusting government policy, increasing R&D investment, and improving germplasm management, putting in place the system to protect the rights of new varieties, strengthening international competitiveness, and enlarging organization and function of the sector. Meanwhile, the seed companies are required to rationalize management, increase R&D investment, enhance international competitiveness, and increase exports.
Globalization has been a formidable force in recent years. M&A among vegetable seed companies seems to be one type of foreign investment. However, the M&A of vegetable seed companies does not necessarily bring about negative impact on the industry. There are some positive impacts, such as the elimination of existing inefficiencies and barriers. In addition, a number of obstacles to the development of seed industry are expected to be either removed or eased in coming years. It is therefore necessary to handle the M&A issues from the viewpoint of international trade and investment liberalization based on industrial policy, rather than to approach emotionally. In conclusion, this will be a positive opportunity for the Korean vegetable seed industry, if it appropriately takes advantage of the current situation.

목차 (Table of Contents)

• 제1장 서 론
• 제1절 연구의 배경과 필요성 = 1
• 제2절 선행 연구의 검토 = 3
• 제3절 연구의 내용과 방법 = 6
• 1. 연구의 목적과 구성 = 6
• 2. 연구방법과 자료조사 = 8
• 제4절 연구의 범위와 한계 = 10
• 제2장 한국 채소종자산업의 구조
• 제1절 채소종자산업의 개념과 분석지표 = 12
• 1. 채소종자 = 12
• 2. 채소종자 산업의 발전단계 = 14
• 3. 채소종자 산업의 분석지표 = 18
• 제2절 채소종자산업의 경제 사회적 기능 = 22
• 1. 채소종자산업의 역할 = 22
• 2. 채소종자산업의 발전 과정과 여건변화 = 30
• 제3절 채소종자산업의 구조 = 37
• 1. 채소종자 시장의 규모와 생산 및 수출입 현황 = 37
• 2. 채소종자 기업의 구조 = 60
• 3. 채소종자 산업의 문제점 = 66
• 4. 채소종자산업의 국제경쟁력 = 71
• 제3장 채소종자기업 인수합병의 현황과 요인분석
• 제1절 인수합병의 현황 = 76
• 1. 인수합병의 성격 = 76
• 2. 인수합병의 내역 = 84
• 제2절 인수합병의 요인 분석 = 89
• 1. 국내 시장규모와 주변시장 진출의 거점 역할 = 90
• 2. 국내 채소육종기술의 이용 = 95
• 3. 기업 경영관리 미흡과 정부의 정책 = 99
• 4. 생산요소와 하부구조 = 102
• 제4장 채소종자기업 인수합병의 영향 분석
• 제1절 기업의 행위와 성과지표의 변화 = 110
• 1. 기업목표와 경영전략 = 110
• 2. 제품 차별화와 연구개발 = 115
• 3. 인력과 자본금규모 = 122
• 4. 수익성, 활동성, 성장성 = 125
• 제2절 채소종자 시장구조와 가격의 변화 = 128
• 1. 진입장벽과 시장규모 = 128
• 2. 시장점유율과 시장집중도 = 130
• 3. 채소종자의 가격 변화 = 134
• 4. 채소종자의 유통변화 = 138
• 제3절 채소종자의 생산과 수출입 추이 = 143
• 1. 분석방법 = 143
• 2. 시계열 모형의 도출과 분석 = 145
• 3. 분석결과와 검증 = 148
• 4. 평균변화율 검토 = 150
• 제4절 인수합병의 기타 영향 = 151
• 제5장 채소종자산업의 발전방향과 과제
• 제1절 채소종자산업에 대한 정책적 과제 = 156
• 1. 정부 역할의 재정립과 정책 범위의 조정 = 156
• 2. 연구개발 투자 확대와 유전자원 관리 개선 = 158
• 3. 품종보호제도의 정착과 국제적 대응능력 제고 = 161
• 4. 종자 관련 조직과 제도 개선 = 163
• 제2절 채소종자기업의 경영합리화 과제 = 166
• 1. 기업의 혁신과 경영 합리화 = 166
• 2. 전문화와 연구개발 투자 강화 = 167
• 3. 채소종자의 수출증대 = 168
• 제6장 요약 및 결론 = 170
• 참 고 문 헌 = 177
• 부 록 = 191
• ABSTRACT = 217