• KDI Journal of Economic Policy
• /
• v.41 no.3
• /
• pp.1-38
• /
• 2019

Given capital market imperfections, an entrepreneur can alleviate financial frictions by creating a pyramidal business group in which a parent firm offers its subsidiary firm internal finance. This endogenous creation of pyramidal business groups can beget asymmetric financial frictions between business-group firms and stand-alone firms. I build a model to show that these asymmetric financial frictions can have sizable effects on resource allocation. On one hand, the financial advantage of pyramidal business groups can foster productive firms by incorporating them as subsidiaries. On the other hand, the asymmetrically large amount of external capital controlled by pyramidal business groups can be expended by unproductive business-group firms and push up the equilibrium price of capital. The model suggests that with fine investor protection or low financial frictions, the benefits of pyramidal business groups can be dominated by their costs because the probability of fostering productive subsidiaries diminishes as the efficiency of external capital markets improves, while the prevalence of pyramidal business groups is not attenuated due to their continuing asymmetric financial advantage.

• East Asian Economic Review
• /
• v.27 no.2
• /
• pp.115-143
• /
• 2023

In this paper, we address how the monetary authority should react to financial market status and exchange rate movements in a small open economy New Keynesian model with financial frictions due to asymmetric information between savers and borrowers. We show that the small economy with financial frictions is more susceptible to the exogenous shocks under the fixed exchange rate regime than under the flexible exchange regime. The small economy experiences a more prolonged and deeper economic recession under the fixed exchange rate regime than under the flexible exchange rate regime. The monetary policy taking into account external finance premium is better than the interest rate rule without considering the financial market status.

• KDI Journal of Economic Policy
• /
• v.42 no.4
• /
• pp.59-90
• /
• 2020

U.S. monetary policy has been claimed to generate global spillover and to destabilize other small open economies. We analyze the effects of certain identified U.S. monetary shocks on gross capital flows in the Korean economy using the local projection method. Consistent with previous results on other small open economies, we initially confirm that U.S. interest rate hikes are dynamically correlated with foreign outflows and residents' inflows. That is, not only are they correlated with withdrawals by foreigners but they are also correlated with those by domestic (Korean) investors. The results are mostly driven by portfolio flows. Second, however, the marginal response to a U.S. monetary policy shock is, on average, subdued if we focus on the sample periods after the Global financial crisis of 2007-2008 (henceforth, global financial crisis). We conjecture a possible reason behind the change, an institutional change related to financial friction. If the degree of pledgeability of the value of net worth increases, the marginal responses by both investors would drop with a U.S. monetary policy shock, consistent with our findings.

• The Korean Journal of Financial Management
• /
• v.17 no.2
• /
• pp.143-173
• /
• 2000

본 논문에서는 기업특성변수를 고려하여 KOSPI 200을 구성하는 포함종목에 대응되는 대응 종목을 선정하고 두 집단간의 변동성차이를 비교 분석함으로써 KOSPI 200 선물거래가 주식시장의 변동성에 미치는 영향을 분석하였다. 분석의 신뢰성을 높이기 위하여 개별기업의 체계적 위험, 시장가치, 회전율, 주가수준 등의 특성변수들을 통제하였으며 대외의존도가 높은 한국의 경제적 특성을 고려하여 환노출의 영향도 통제하였다. 분석결과는 KOSPI 200 선물거래는 현물거래의 제약요인을 줄여주어 현물시장의 효율성을 제고시키고 단기변동성의 증가를 가져오는 역할을 하지 못하였음을 보여준다. 선물거래 도입 이후 현물시장의 변동성은 상대적으로 감소하는 모습을 보이고 있으며 외환위기 이후에 들어서야 변동성이 증가하는 모습을 보이고 있다. 그러나 선물거래 도입 이후에 현물시장의 변동성과 자기상관에 나타난 변화는 시장마찰 요인에 크게 영향을 받고 있으며, 규제완화가 상당히 이루어진 외환위기 이후에는 포함종목의 변동성이 이전기간에 비해 상대적으로 큰 폭으로 증가하였으며 시장마찰요인에 의한 영향도 크게 개선된 것으로 나타나고 있다.

• International Area Studies Review
• /
• v.22 no.3
• /
• pp.121-148
• /
• 2018

This paper examines the role of accounting conservatism on investment expenditure for non-financial Korean listed firms around the 2007-2008 global financial crisis using a differences-in-differences design. Specifically, this paper examines the association between an ex ante classification of firms by their level of accounting conservatism prior to the credit crisis and the ex post magnitude of the decline in investment. Consistent with prior literature, this study found that firms experienced a decline in their investment when hit by the financial crisis (Campello et al. 2010). And also this study found that firms with more conservative financial reporting experienced a smaller decline in investment activity following the financial crisis than did firms with less conservative financial reporting. Together, the results suggest that negative shocks to the supply of external finance hampers firm-level investment and that conservative financial reporting can lessen the sensitivity of firms' investment to such negative shocks. Next, this study shows that the magnitude of our findings is greater for firms more likely to suffer from underinvestment (as opposed to overinvestment). Firms that are financially constrained or have greater demand for external finance are more likely to experience underinvestment. Consistent with the predictions, this study finds stronger benefits of conservatism for firms that face relatively greater costs in raising external capital (i.e., financially constrained firms) or that have a relatively greater need to do so (i.e., firms that lack internal financial resources). This study also finds that the role for conservatism is greater in firms with a higher level of information asymmetry, consistent with the notion that conservatism mitigates financing frictions arising from information problems.

• KDI Journal of Economic Policy
• /
• v.36 no.2
• /
• pp.1-64
• /
• 2014

This paper attempts to search the driving forces of the Korean economy after 2000 by analyzing an estimated DSGE model and observing the degree of implementation regarding non-systematic parts of both the monetary and fiscal policy during the global financial crisis. Two types of trends, various cyclical factors and frictions are introduced in the model for an empirical analysis in which historical decompositions of key macro variables are quantitatively assessed after 2000. While the monetary policy during the global financial crisis have reacted systematically in accordance with the estimated Taylor rule relatively, the fiscal policy which was aggressively expansionary is not fully explained by the estimated fiscal rule but more by the large magnitude of non-systematic reaction.

• The Korean Journal of Financial Management
• /
• v.27 no.2
• /
• pp.63-84
• /
• 2010

We investigate whether FX hedging materially increases firm value by testing the valuation effect of Foreign Exchange Risk Insurance in Korea, using our sample of 84 listed firms with 617 observations between 2000 and 2008, Employing Tobin's Q as a proxy of firm value and foreign exchange risk insurance as a proxy of hedging instrument, we find a positive relation between firm value and the use of foreign exchange risk insurance. The hedging premium is statistically significant and is on average 7.4% of sample firm value. We also find our empirical results consistent with the preceding evidence that firm uses the hedging instrument in order to alleviate economic frictions and then hedging causes an increase in firm value.

• Journal of Distribution Science
• /
• v.13 no.3
• /
• pp.69-77
• /
• 2015

Purpose - The purpose of this study is to examine whether the cash policies of retail firms listed on Korean stock markets are consistent with the evidence provided in the study of Almeida et al. (2004). Liquidity management is an important issue for financially constrained firms relative to financially unconstrained firms. Because there are few sources of external funding, the optimal liquidity policies of financially constrained firms should reflect their own earnings or cash inflows to create opportunities for current and future real investments. According to this simple idea, we estimate the sensitivity of cash to cash flows and simply check whether the estimated sensitivity to cash flows of the cash retained by constrained retail firms is greater than that of the cash retained by unconstrained retail firms. Through this work, we aim to explain why the cash policies of the retail firms listed on the Korean stock markets differ from those of listed manufacturing enterprises. Research design, data, and methodology - To explain a firm's cash holdings, we use only three explanatory variables: earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT), Tobin's q, and size. All the variables are defined as the value of the numerator divided by aggregate assets. Thanks to this definition, it is possible to treat all the sample firms as a single large firm. The sample financial data for this study are collected from the retail enterprises listed on the KOSPI and KOSDAQ markets from 1991 to 2013. We can obtain these data from WISEfn, the financial information company. This study's methodology has its origin in Keynes's simple idea of precautionary liquidity demand: When a firm faces financial constraints, cash savings from earnings or cash inflows become important from the corporate finance perspective. Following this simple idea, Almeida et al. (2004) developed their theoretical model and found empirical evidence that the sensitivity of cash to cash flows varies systematically according to different types of financing frictions. To find more empirical evidence for this idea, we examined the cash flow sensitivity of the cash held by Korean retail firms. Results - Through several robustness tests, we empirically showed that financially constrained Korean retail firms display significant positive propensity to save cash from earnings before interest and taxes, while the estimated cash flow sensitivity of the cash held by unconstrained retail firms is not significant. Despite the relatively low earnings of retail firms, their sensitivity is three times greater than that of manufacturing enterprises. This implies that Korean retail firms have greater intentions of facilitating future investments rather than current investments. Conclusions - The characteristics of the cash policies of Korean retail firms differ from those of manufacturing firms. This contrast may be attributable to industry-oriented policy planning, regulations, and institutional differences. However, the industrial policymakers should observe signals of the long-term growth options of retail firms based on their high propensity to save from their cash inflows.