• Journal of Information Technology Services
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• v.14 no.3
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• pp.49-65
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• 2015

As South Korean large business groups, also known as Chaebol, have broadened their influence in the domestic economy, it is important to analyze the influence of internal transactions among Chaebol affiliates on their performance. In this paper, relationship between internal transactions and efficiency of Chaebol affiliates has been analyzed. Top five Chaebol groups in South Korea are selected; they include Samsung, Hyundai Motors, LG, SK, and Lotte group. Based on internal transactions among affiliates, social networks are constructed for each Chaebol group to analyze centrality, network structures and cliques. Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) was conducted to examine the efficiency of the Chaebol affiliates. Then, correlations between the degree centrality and the efficiency of Chaebol affiliates were analyzed, and the network structures of Chaebol groups are presented. The result shows that positive correlations between degree centrality and efficiency are observed among four Chaebol Groups. This paper shows that the Social Network Analysis (SNA) techniques can be used in the empirical research for the analysis of internal transactions of Chaebol groups.

• Journal of Digital Convergence
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• v.19 no.9
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• pp.145-156
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• 2021

While the current literature has considered business group as a temporary form of organizations that only exists under the developing contries with under-developed financial markets. Chaebol, a form of businss group in Korea, has sustained as a major organization form in Korea. To fill the current gap in the literature and practice, I suggest a theoretical model of Chaebol scion's entrepreneurial firm growth mechanisms. First, I posit that social, structural, and psychological factors motivate Chaebol scions to engage in entrepreneurship. Second, I suggest that five mechanisms, including business opportunity, financial support, recruitment, marketing, and inter-organizational collaboration, will facilitate entrepreneurial firm growth. By constituting a model of Chaebol scion's entrepreneurial firm growth, the current theoretical paper advances the literature on business group and entrepreneurship with indicating Korean Chaebol's new expansion possibilities.

• The Journal of Asian Finance, Economics and Business
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• v.8 no.5
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• pp.749-759
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• 2021

We investigate the relationship between ownership control disparity and future firm value in high-technology industries, and whether the effect of ownership control disparity on future firm value is differentiated when high-tech industry firms belong to chaebol groups. Using 11,848 firm-year observations of Korean firms listed on the stock market from 2006 to 2019, we employ univariate analysis and Heckman 2 stage analysis to test our hypotheses. We define high-technology industries as ICT industries based on the Korean Standard Industrial Classification. We measure future firm value using average Tobin's q for the next three years and ownership control disparity using the shareholding ratio of affiliated companies. Our univariate test results show that mean of Tobin's q is higher in ICT firms than non-ICT firms and firms largely owned by affiliates. In multivariate test, we find that the ICT firms with higher ownership control disparity are positively associated with future firm value. However, this association is lessened when firms belong to a chaebol group. Based on our findings, we suggest ownership control disparity has an additional positive effect on future firm in high-technology industries. The negative impact of chaebol groups on the association suggests the possibility of diversification discount in business group.

• Journal of Korea Trade
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• v.25 no.5
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• pp.74-92
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• 2021

Purpose - Utilizing a large sample of Korean firms, this study examines international diversification impacts on corporate tax avoidance and whether firms affiliated with large business groups (known in Korean as "chaebol") reinforce the relationship between international diversification and tax avoidance. Design/methodology - This paper hypothesizes that 1) international diversification is likely to increase tax avoidance, 2) the positive effect of international diversification on tax avoidance is likely to be more pronounced for chaebol firms. We examine the hypotheses by using Korean firms listed in the Korean stock market between 2011 and 2016. We employ the number of foreign subsidiaries and the entropy index as proxies for international diversification and CASH ETR and GAAP ETR as proxies for tax avoidance. Findings - Our findings are summarized as follows. First, we have found that as firms are more internationally diversified, tax avoidance increases. It means that international diversification can be employed as a method of reducing the tax burden. Second, firms affiliated with chaebol are strengthened by the positive relation between international diversification and tax avoidance. It is interpreted that chaebol firms have more effective opportunities to reduce taxes than other firms. When entering foreign markets, they can share experience and resources to decrease taxation within the large business group. Originality/value - This study provides empirical evidence regarding the tax effect of international diversification. Unlike prior studies, international diversification is positively related to tax avoidance in Korea. In addition, we present additional evidence on the chaebol effects of international diversification on tax avoidance, in which they have an advantage to reduce taxes using transfer pricing through related party transactions, income shifting to low tax rate countries, and establishing subsidiaries in tax havens.

• The Journal of Asian Finance, Economics and Business
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• v.3 no.3
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• pp.5-15
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• 2016

This study examines whether Korean rating agencies such as Korea Investors Service (KIS), National Information & Credit Evaluation (NICE), and Korea Ratings Corporation (KR), incorporate corporate governance into their corporate bond ratings in Korea. We find that the Korean rating agencies assign higher ratings to the bonds issued by Chaebol (Korean business group) affiliated firms. Our results also indicate that those rating agencies give higher ratings to the bonds with greater foreign investor share ownership. Moreover, if the rating agencies value corporate governance, higher rated firms should issue bonds at lower yield to maturity. We discover that Chaebol affiliation is counted favorably by the rating agencies. We find that investors are willing to pay lower risk premium for bonds with higher institutional ownership, but higher risk premium to bonds with greater equity ownership in the form of depository receipts. Therefore, even if the rating agencies and investors in Korea consider corporate governance (Chaebol affiliation and ownership structure) an important determinant in bond ratings and the yields to maturity, they have opposite views on institutional ownership and share ownership in the form of depository receipts.

• The Journal of Asian Finance, Economics and Business
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• v.8 no.3
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• pp.287-296
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• 2021

This paper investigates the relationship between the ownership of the largest family blockholders and corporate risk. We also examine whether firms that belong to 30 main Chaebol groups lower corporate risk. We use panel analysis for companies listed on the Korea Exchange from 2005 to 2017. We use beta, volatility, and idiosyncratic risk as a proxy for corporate risk. We employ both the ownership of the largest family blockholders and firms that belong to 30 main Chaebol groups as a major independent variable. The results show that the ownership of the largest family blockholders is associated with low beta. In terms of the effects of the ownership of the largest family blockholders on beta, we find that a firm that belongs to the 30 main Chaebol group reinforces the lower beta. These results suggest that the ownership of the largest family blockholders and firms that belongs to 30 main Chaebol groups may be associated with low systematic risk in the Korean stock market. Our findings can provide meaningful information to investors and field officers who are interested in the relationship between firm risk and both the largest family blockholders' ownership and firms that belong to 30 main Chaebol groups.

• Asia-Pacific Journal of Business
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• v.12 no.1
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• pp.195-208
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• 2021

Purpose - The primary objective of this paper is to empirically examine whether the engagement of socially responsible activities in corporations affect the tendency of tax-avoidance by using the sample of Korean companies. We are particularly interested in Chaebol-affiliated firms, which are a special type of Korean conglomerates. Design/methodology/approach - This study is based on a sample of 5,496 firm-year observation data from 2011 to 2017 by using the ESG ratings from the Korea Corporate Governance Service(KCGS), a ESG rating agency in Korea. For our analysis, the firms were separated into 1,547 Chaebol-affiliated firms and other 3,949 firms. All financial and firm data were extracted from Fn-guide, which provides financial information for Korean listed firms. Findings - We find that CSR is generally positively related to the effective tax rate, which indicates a lower level of tax avoidance for more socially responsible firms. In particular, a positive relationship of social score with GAAP ETR was observed. Research implications or Originality - We find that the positive relationship is robust to the group of chaebol and non-chaebol affiliates unlike extant literature.

• Fashion & Textile Research Journal
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• v.23 no.5
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• pp.598-610
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• 2021

Korean textile and fashion companies have played a major role not only in developing the Korean economy since Korea's industrialization started in the early 1960s but also in providing opportunities to form and expand chaebols (conglomerates of family-owned businesses). This study reviewed and analyzed the historical development of chaebols, which started the fiber/textile/fashion business before the 1960s and maintained their chaebol status until 2010. The Samsung, Samyang, Kolon, Taekwang, Hyosung, LG, and SK groups were included in the study, and data were collected from diverse sources, including the publications and websites of the chaebol companies, newspapers, magazines, and research articles. The strategies of the companies at the corporate and group levels were examined based on the corporate lifecycle, which consists of existence, growth, maturity, rebirth, and decline stages. The results showed that all the analyzed companies actively engaged in product line expansion during the growth stage. Vertical integration, especially backward integration, was common during the growth stage. Some groups established new companies to manage additional product lines and integration, while others pursued growth strategies mainly at the corporate level. The rebirth stage occurred in only a few companies and groups. Some seemed to be going through the decline stage, and the rest of the groups exited the textile and fashion business.

• The Journal of Industrial Distribution & Business
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• v.8 no.5
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• pp.87-93
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• 2017

Purpose - This paper investigates whether managerial overconfidence is associated with firm-specific crash risk. Overconfidence leads managers to overestimate the returns of their investment projects, and misperceive negative net present value projects as value creating. They even use voluntary disclosures to convey their optimistic beliefs about the firms' long-term prospects to the stock market. Thus, the overconfidence bias can lead to managerial bad news hoarding behavior. When bad news accumulates and crosses some tipping point, it will come out all at once, resulting in a stock price crash. Research design, data and methodology - 7,385 firm-years used for the main analysis are from the KIS Value database between 2006 and 2013. This database covers KOSPI-listed and KOSDAQ-listed firms in Korea. The proxy for overconfidence is based on excess investment in assets. A residual from the regression of total asset growth on sales growth run by industry-year is used as an independent variable. If a firm has at least one crash week during a year, it is referred to as a high crash risk firm. The dependant variable is a dummy variable that equals 1 if a firm is a high crash risk firm, and zero otherwise. After explaining the relationship between managerial overconfidence and crash risk, the total sample was divided into two sub-samples; chaebol firms and non-chaebol firms. The relation between how I overconfidence and crash risk varies with business group affiliation was investigated. Results - The results showed that managerial overconfidence is positively related to crash risk. Specifically, the coefficient of OVERC is significantly positive, supporting the prediction. The results are strong and robust in non-chaebol firms. Conclusions - The results show that firms with overconfident managers are likely to experience stock price crashes. This study is related to past literature that examines the impact of managerial overconfidence on the stock market. This study contributes to the literature by examining whether overconfidence can explain a firm's future crashes.

• Journal of Korea Trade
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• v.25 no.4
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• pp.108-127
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• 2021

Purpose - On the basis of knowledge transfer theory, we empirically explored how three types of human resource (HR) innovation knowledge exchange within a Chaebol drive the global subsidiary performance of the headquarters (HQ) of a Chaebol's globally affiliated companies. Design/methodology - Using a sample of 176 Korean HQ firms of the top 53 Chaebols and 1,061 of their foreign manufacturing subsidiaries (n = 1,061), we tested the relationship between the exchange of explorative and exploitative sustainable HR innovation knowledge among HQ firms of Chaebols, their subsequent transfer of technical HR knowledge via technical schemas, and the subsequent impact on the global subsidiary performance. Findings - The Chaebols' decisions about the three strategic knowledge management options (i.e., the degree of exchange of explorative and exploitative technological HR innovation knowledge and the extent of HQ-subsidiary HR knowledge transfer) have highly significant relationships with the global subsidiary performance. The results help explains the conditions under which the explorative versus exchange of exploitative sustainable HR innovation knowledge pays off by showing the moderating role of the degree of HQ-to-subsidiary technical HR knowledge transfer, at least in the case of the Chaebol as one representative type of the emerging-market business groups. Originality/value - As the first of its kind in the field of sustainable HR innovation knowledge management at the business group level, the present study makes a clear contribution in demonstrating how the performance of Chaebols' manufacturing subsidiaries depends greatly on their strategy for management of knowledge, as reflected in the choices they make about sharing both explorative and exploitative sustainable HR innovation knowledge among HQ firms and the subsequent transfer of HQ's sustainable HR innovation knowledge to the foreign subsidiaries.