• East Asian Economic Review
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• v.23 no.4
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• pp.353-379
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• 2019

This paper aims to determine factors causing the stagnation of Korean firms' fixed investment after the global financial crisis, using panel data for the period of 1999-2016. Fixed investment remained sensitive to cash flow and Tobin's q although their effects decreased after the global financial crisis. A decreasing trend of cash flow and an increase in Tobin's q since the early 2000's imply that the worsening cash flow was a major factor behind the sluggish investment after the crisis. Meanwhile, debt-equity ratio remained significant for non-chaebol affiliated firms, reflecting disparity in access to external financing. Volatility of stock returns also became insignificant after the crisis, casting doubt on the argument that uncertainty was a major factor contributing to the decline of fixed investment. Analysis of financial investment confirmed the significant effect of cash flow, larger than that on financial investment than on fixed investment. In particular, debt repayment and other financial investment, except share repurchase, were sensitive to cash flow. However, the substitution of fixed investment by financial investment is a consequence, rather than a cause of declining fixed investment.

• The Journal of Asian Finance, Economics and Business
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• v.7 no.3
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• pp.9-15
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• 2020

This paper investigates how economic freedom affected firm investment in Vietnam. In the globalization decade, economic freedom has been an important policy to support economic development in Vietnam. Improvements in economic freedom, such as capital freedom and domestic credit freedom, allow firms to access external finance more easily, so that the firm's investment depends less on internal cash flow. In a developing country, on the drawbacks, many small and medium firms likely have more challenges if the government would not give any subsidies. The higher level of freedom may exacerbate the financing constraints of less competitive firms. We analyze unique firm-level data from 2006 to 2016, which includes listed firms on two major stock exchanges and unlisted firms in the Unlisted Public Company Market. The article also considers how economic freedom affects small firms and large firms differently. Our results show that capital freedom and domestic credit freedom played an important role in investments for Vietnamese firms. However, we cannot find evidence that overall economic freedom relaxed the financial constraints on firms. Additionally, we suggest that small firms likely gain more advantage in access to external finance than do larger firms when the government removes restrictions from capital movement and the domestic credit market.

• Journal of Technology Innovation
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• v.24 no.1
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• pp.1-24
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• 2016

This study examined 142 electronic components, video, audio, and communications equipment manufacturers (KSIC 32) out of all the SMEs that responded to the Survey on Technology of the Small and Medium Enterprises in both 2005 and 2007 and empirically analyzed how the external resources utilization and the absorptive capability affected the management and the innovation performance in two years as well as how the absorptive capability moderated these relationships. According to the results of analysis, the external resources utilization, as measured by the technology collaboration and the governments R&D subsidies, did not have a significant impact on performance whereas R&D investment showed a positive (+) influence on the sales and R&D personnel ratio, negative (-). On the other hand, the moderating effect of absorptive capability varied by measurement method and independent variables. That is, when a technology collaboration takes place, the performance improved with the increase of R&D investment but R&D personnel ration had an opposite effect. The companies whose performance improved as the government R&D subsidies increase are those with low R&D investment or high R&D personnel ratio. These results demonstrate that the SME's external resources utilization cannot replace the internal and that the absorptive capability needs to be accumulated to maximize the effectiveness of external resources utilization. Also, the technology collaboration requires SME's aggressive investment in R&D and the government R&D subsidies turn out to be more helpful for the companies that already have the R&D personnel but have been unable to develop their own technology due to insufficient funds. This study has limitations in that it was conducted within the limited industry categories and samples, but has overcome those of the existing researches by identifying causal relationships through the use of longitudinal data.

• KDI Journal of Economic Policy
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• v.37 no.1
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• pp.19-44
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• 2015

This paper examines the effect of the global financial crisis on corporate investment in Korea. Specifically, the crisis was considered to have possibly constrained firm-level investment as the negative shock to the credit supply dramatically unfolded. As Duchin et al. (2010) demonstrated, if a negative supply-side shock is evident during a crisis period, larger cash holdings before the crisis will lead to fewer constraints to corporate investment, or vice versa. In order to investigate the supply-side effect of the crisis, we use firm-level financial data, including firms listed on the Korean stock market as well as small and medium-sized enterprises. We find that corporate investment declined significantly after the crisis, even if we control for factors associated with the demand side, such as contemporaneous capital productivity and cash flow. More importantly, the decline is positively and significantly related to cash holdings before the crisis, implying the negative effect of a credit supply shock. Small and medium enterprises experienced relatively sharp investment declines compared to those of larger firms, and the relationship between pre-crisis cash amounts and the degree of investment decline is greater than that in large firms. Additionally, we examine whether the negative effect persists up to the present, finding evidence that the cash-investment relationship continues in small and medium-sized enterprises.

• Journal of Korea Trade
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• v.24 no.3
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• pp.55-72
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• 2020

Purpose - In this paper, we provide recommendations for Korea's long-term direction and strategic measures to attract inward foreign direct investment (FDI) in response to Japan's export regulations. In doing so, we analyze the current situation and characteristics of trade between Korea and Japan, focusing on the parts and materials industry, which is particularly affected by Japan's trade regulations. Design/methodology - Based on the analysis of five successful inward FDI cases (e.g. Toray, IGK, Delkor, GlobalWafers, DuPont) and statistic trend review in the parts and materials industry, we consider various factors pertaining to successful inward FDI in Korea and propose valuable investment attraction strategies. Findings - For a successful investment attraction strategy, we studied some statistical trends in the internal and external environments of the parts and materials industry and successful investment attraction cases in Korea. We have found that in order to increase the probability of success in attracting investment, we need a mid-to long-term strategy considering multiple factors such as "Production-oriented, Demand-linked, Global Value Chain (VGC) linked, and Policy-linked investment attraction." Originality/value - We suggest several specific measures and important strategic implications for the Korean government and firm's managers to attract inward FDI successfully.

• The Journal of Asian Finance, Economics and Business
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• v.8 no.10
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• pp.361-371
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• 2021

This research aims to analyze the effects of managerial overconfidence and corporate governance on investment decisions. Besides, it also tries to discover the effect of internal financing mediation between managerial overconfidence and corporate governance on investment decisions. This study employed panel data from 44 manufacturing companies from 2014 to 2019, out of a total of 117, thus the total observations are 264. The hypothesis was verified through structural equation modeling (Smart PLS 2). The study revealed as follows: 1) Managerial overconfidence has a positive and significant effect on internal financing, while corporate governance has a negative and significant effect on internal financing, 2) managerial overconfidence, internal financing, and corporate governance have a positive and significant effect on investment decisions, 3) internal financing partially mediated the effect of managerial overconfidence on investment decisions, However, internal financing does not mediate the effect of corporate governance on investment decisions. The findings in this study will help company managers implement good corporate governance to improve investment efficiency. In addition, managers can reduce the proportion of retained earnings and increase the proportion of dividend payout ratios, and increase the use of external sources of funds in making investments to minimize agency costs and manager's opportunistic behavior.

• Journal of Technology Innovation
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• v.20 no.1
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• pp.45-73
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• 2012

In this paper, we analyse empirically the effects of financial characteristics on the relationship between R&D investment and market value of firms listed on Korea Exchange. The main results of this study can be summarized as follows. Firm size increase the market valuation of R&D investment because it provides economies of scale, easier access to capital market, and R&D cost spreading. Market share also positively effects the relationship between R&D investment and firm value. Alternatively, free cash flow has a negative effect on the relationship between R&D investment and firm value because firms with high free cash flow could be tempted to use the free cash flow to undertake negative NPV projects. The dependence on external finance is a handicap negatively assessed by the market when firms undertake R&D projects due to the higher information asymmetry associated with this kind of project. Labor intensity has a negative effect on the relationship between R&D investment and firm value because the abnormal profits arising from R&D investment are diluted among employees. Capital intensity also has a negative effect on the relationship between R&D investment and firm value due to the greater financial constraints faced by capital intensive firms. In conclusion, several financial characteristics(firm size and market share) positively effect the relationship between R&D investment and firm value, while others(free cash flow, dependence on external finance, labor intensity, and capital intensity) exert a negative effect. Therefore, we conclude that the effectiveness of R&D investment depends on these financial characteristics.

• The Journal of the Korea Contents Association
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• v.20 no.12
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• pp.136-144
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• 2020

Previous studies report that labor investment inefficiency occurs as the information asymmetry becomes severe and the agency problem between managers and external investors increases. Therefore, it is highly likely that managers will make opportunistic decisions that can damage corporate value in companies with high labor investment inefficiency. This study examines whether the value relevance of accounting information decreases as labor investment inefficiency increases as it is less likely that investors in the market use the accounting information of companies in which labor investment decisions are made inefficiently. Labor investment efficiency is measured as the difference between the actual level of labor investment and the expected level of optimal labor investment. Larger difference between the actual level of labor investment and the expected level of optimal labor investment is considered as higher inefficiency in labor investment. Using data of firms listed on the Korea Stock Exchange from 2002 to 2018, empirical results show that the value relevance of earnings decreases as the inefficiency of labor investment increases. This research provides empirical evidence on whether investment inefficiency in labor, which is an important factor in the competitiveness of a company, reduces the information usefulness of reported earnings.

• The Journal of the Korea Contents Association
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• v.18 no.1
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• pp.132-142
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• 2018

This study attempts to identify the external and internal factors which affect collaboration motives and investigates their respective impacts from the perspective of foreign direct investment(FDI). Although there has been much research on collaboration motives, so far, few studies have associated collaboration motives with FDI. The findings suggest that while price competitiveness and cost structure uncertainty have a positive and significant impact on collaboration motives, the gross added value to property as well as plant and equipment have a significant negative impact. Furthermore, in the case of gross added value to both property and plant and equipment, managers tend to collaborate with others to enhance the value of these factors. For both FDI and non-FDI firms, internal factors such as price competitiveness and investment within three years are significant determinants for the decision to collaborate. The difference between FDI and non-FDI firms is that for the former, the gross added value to property, an internal factor, is a critical factor, while for the latter, the cost structure uncertainty, an external factor, is critical for collaboration. To summarize, this study suggests the following managerial implication: the enhancement of the internal competency of a firm broadens the window of opportunity for collaboration with others, and consequently provides a chance to boost management efficiency.

• The Journal of Fisheries Business Administration
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• v.53 no.1
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• pp.73-84
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• 2022

The purpose of this study is the impact of national fishing port investment and typhoons on fisheries disaster damage. The dependent variables were the amount of damage to fishing ports, fishing boats, fisheries enhancement, external facilities, mooring facilities, functional facilities, fishing port and typhoons. The analysis period is from 2002 to 2018. Since the error term is in a simultaneous correlation, it was efficiently estimated by analyzing it with a seemingly unrelated regression (SUR) method. As a result of the analysis, external facilities have not significance to all models. Investing in mooring facilities increased the amount of damage to fishing ports for five years. Investing in functional facilities reduced the amount of damage to fishing ports and aquaculture over five years. Typhoons have significance to all models, and the amount of damage increased every time a typhoon occurred. Based on these results, as the influence of typhoons increases, it seems necessary to establish preventive measures. Timely investment and maintenance to enable the role and function of national fishing ports are considered important.