• The Journal of Fisheries Business Administration
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• v.53 no.2
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• pp.21-41
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• 2022

The effect of change in exchange rates on an economy is very important, especially, to a small open economy like South Korea. I explore whether Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) have positive influences on exchange rate-pass through import price of import market for fishery products in South Korea. Competition among FTA partners is enhanced after FTAs are effective. I expect that the extent to which are exchange rate pass-through (hereafter, ERPT) into import price of fishery products (in terms of Korea currency) would be reduced since the import market for fishery products in South Korea is an oligopolistic market. Specifically, I investigate two research questions with six South Korea's FTA partners-Norway, Thailand, Peru, U.S., China and Vietnam. First, whether the extent to which are exchange rate pass-through into import price of fishery products from six FTA partners would decrase in the post-FTA era; seconds, the size of reduction has a negative relation with the size of their market share in the import market for fishery products in South Korea if it decreases. The empirical results indicate that the degree of ERPT into import price from other FTA partners than Norway has been reduced after FTA, statistically and significantly; however, I do not find the evidence that the size of reduction is related to their market share. The findings in this study imply that FTAs have negative effects on producers' economic welfare in South Korea's fishery industry by reducing the extent to which are exchange rate pass-through as well as reducing tariff barriers.

• KDI Journal of Economic Policy
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• v.26 no.2
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• pp.281-314
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• 2004

This paper theoretically formulated and empirically explored the relationship between exchange rate pass-through (ERPT) for (average) market price and an individual country's price, using steel products data in the US market, with special reference to two major steel exporting countries, Korea and Japan. It was found that the direction of market ERPT can be different from that of individual ERPT that each exporter experiences, due to strategic interactions among producers and different parameters. Vector error correction (VEC) models and impulse response analysis were used with the statistical inference based on the bootstrap-after- bootstrap of Kilian (1998) for short-run, and the fully modified estimation of Phillips and Hansen (1990) was used for long-run. Empirical results indicate that market ERPT in the US market due to changes in Korea-US exchange rates is different from those due to changes in Japan-US exchange rates. The framework developed in this study indicates that this phenomenon is attributed to either (i) the two countries have individual ERPTs of different magnitudes and directions for the products in the US market, or (ii) the pricing strategies of the other exporters' (to the US steel market) respond differently depending on whether the price of the product from Korea changes or that from Japan does. As each exporter's ERPT can be significantly different, and market response to each country's ERPT can be also different, this study concludes that it is crucial for an exporter to understand how competitors in the market respond to changes in its price, as well as to understand how its price changes when the relevant exchange rate fluctuates.

• KDI Journal of Economic Policy
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• v.31 no.2
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• pp.235-266
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• 2009

This paper investigates changes in the extent of exchange rate pass-through to export price in Korea. First, empirical results show that export prices have become less responsive to the exchange rate since the financial crisis in 1997. The decline of exchange rate pass-through to export prices suggests that Korean exporters are more likely to use profit margins to absorb part of the impact of exchange rate changes, consistent with pricing to market phenomenon. Second, this paper finds asymmetries in the response of export prices to exchange rate changes. In the post-crisis period. appreciations are more likely to be offset by markup adjustment than depreciations. Third, this paper documents that a significant portion of the decline of exchange rate pass-through is a result of both increased volatility of exchange rate and increased competition with China in the world market.

• KDI Journal of Economic Policy
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• v.27 no.1
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• pp.185-209
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• 2005

This study examines ERPT with asymmetric response and both import and export market shares, using wool trade data. The study found that, asymmetric response may be as common as symmetric response. In addition, the responses (both in price and quantity demanded) to the changes in exchange rate are considerably different across goods, and even for the homogenous goods, across countries. In case of depreciation, the export price changes more than appreciation case in general, and as a result the destination price changes less. It is also found that the cases of excessive or perverse pass-through are found more frequently than reported by previous studies. This finding points out that strategic behavior of firms or unexpected response to exchange rate fluctuation takes place more frequently than we commonly expect or take, in particular at disaggregated levels. When the model considers asymmetric responses of the export price to appreciation and depreciation (of exporter's currency), the estimation provided that for 39 trade cases out of 83, export price responded to appreciation and depreciation in different fashions, although the normal response was the dominating phenomenon with 99 cases or about 60% out of 166 cases. Market shares affected the extent and direction of responses in select cases. These findings will have important implications for policy makers and traders.

• East Asian Journal of Business Economics (EAJBE)
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• v.6 no.4
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• pp.1-12
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• 2018

Purpose - This paper tests the effect of the structure of manufacturing and marketing subsidiary network on FX exposure of Korean MNEs. Furthermore, the moderating effect of pass-through ability on the relationship between the subsidiary network and FX exposure is explored. Research design and methodology - This study utilizes a sample of 309 Korean MNEs constructed from database offered by KOTRA and KIS-VALUE. Results - As operational flexibility arising from having operations in multiple locations provides an option for firms to tackle FX exposure, greater breadth of manufacturing subsidiary network reduces FX exposure, and greater depth increases FX exposure. However, both the breadth and depth of marketing subsidiary network decrease FX exposure due to the firm's higher level of market presence and knowledge to devise an appropriate marketing strategy that can buffer adverse exchange rate movement. Such an effect is intensified when MNE's have FX exposure pass-through ability stemming from differentiated good. Conclusions - Empirical findings suggest that types and structure of Korean MNEs' foreign subsidiary network are closely related to the level of FX exposure they are experiencing. Also, they can utilize marketing subsidiary network more efficiently when having a higher R&D intensity.