IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/irlaec/v71y2022ics0144818822000321.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The performance of corporate legal insider trading in the Korean market

Author

Listed:
  • Mazza, Paolo
  • Ruh, Benjamin

Abstract

In this paper, we investigate the performance of corporate legal insiders in the Korean market from January 2010 to December 2020. This market has received very little attention from the academic community, while being one of the leading emerging economies. As per prior studies, we consider mainly buy transactions in order to draw robust conclusions as to insiders’ performance, since sales transactions do not necessarily represent a strong signal from insiders, as different reasons could push an investor to close her position. Our three-level analysis allows us to conclude that corporate insiders in the Korean market do possess market timing skills that enable them to consistently outperform random, outside investors over time. However, we note that this market timing ability is, to a large extent, linked to the hierarchical level of the insider in question, and consequently to its access to more crucial information. This brings us to the conclusion that information asymmetry is not only important between corporate insiders and outsiders, but even within organizations.

Suggested Citation

  • Mazza, Paolo & Ruh, Benjamin, 2022. "The performance of corporate legal insider trading in the Korean market," International Review of Law and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 71(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:irlaec:v:71:y:2022:i:c:s0144818822000321
    DOI: 10.1016/j.irle.2022.106076
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0144818822000321
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.irle.2022.106076?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Gishan Dissanaike & Kim-Hwa Lim, 2015. "Detecting and Quantifying Insider Trading and Stock Manipulation in Asian Markets," Asian Economic Papers, MIT Press, vol. 14(3), pages 1-20, Fall.
    2. Stanislas Nivelleau de La Brunière & Jean-Come Haye & Paolo Mazza, 2020. "The performance of corporate legal insiders on the French stock market," Post-Print hal-02998232, HAL.
    3. Benesh, Gary A & Pari, Robert A, 1987. "Performance of Stocks Recommended on the Basis of Insider Trading Activity," The Financial Review, Eastern Finance Association, vol. 22(1), pages 145-158, February.
    4. Del Brio, Esther B. & Miguel, Alberto & Perote, Javier, 2002. "An investigation of insider trading profits in the Spanish stock market," The Quarterly Review of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 42(1), pages 73-94.
    5. Cornell, Bradford & Sirri, Erik R, 1992. "The Reaction of Investors and Stock Prices to Insider Trading," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 47(3), pages 1031-1059, July.
    6. Seyhun, H Nejat, 1990. "Overreaction or Fundamentals: Some Lessons from Insiders' Response to the Market Crash of 1987," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 45(5), pages 1363-1388, December.
    7. Bettis, J. C. & Coles, J. L. & Lemmon, M. L., 2000. "Corporate policies restricting trading by insiders," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 57(2), pages 191-220, August.
    8. Jana P. Fidrmuc & Marc Goergen & Luc Renneboog, 2006. "Insider Trading, News Releases, and Ownership Concentration," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 61(6), pages 2931-2973, December.
    9. Ausubel, Lawrence M, 1990. "Insider Trading in a Rational Expectations Economy," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 80(5), pages 1022-1041, December.
    10. Jeffrey F. Jaffe, 1974. "The Effect of Regulation Changes on Insider Trading," Bell Journal of Economics, The RAND Corporation, vol. 5(1), pages 93-121, Spring.
    11. Mazza, Paolo & Wang, Shiyu, 2021. "Corporate legal insider trading in China: Performance and determinants," International Review of Law and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 68(C).
    12. Lakonishok, Josef & Lee, Inmoo, 2001. "Are Insider Trades Informative?," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 14(1), pages 79-111.
    13. H. Nejat Seyhun, 1992. "Why Does Aggregate Insider Trading Predict Future Stock Returns?," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 107(4), pages 1303-1331.
    14. Fischer, Paul E, 1992. "Optimal Contracting and Insider Trading Restrictions," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 47(2), pages 673-694, June.
    15. André Betzer & Erik Theissen, 2009. "Insider Trading and Corporate Governance: The Case of Germany," European Financial Management, European Financial Management Association, vol. 15(2), pages 402-429, March.
    16. Leslie A. Jeng & Andrew Metrick & Richard Zeckhauser, 1999. "The Profits to Insider Trading: A Performance-Evaluation Perspective," NBER Working Papers 6913, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    17. Leland, Hayne E, 1992. "Insider Trading: Should It Be Prohibited?," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 100(4), pages 859-887, August.
    18. Aktas, Nihat & de Bodt, Eric & Van Oppens, Hervé, 2008. "Legal insider trading and market efficiency," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 32(7), pages 1379-1392, July.
    19. Fama, Eugene F, 1970. "Efficient Capital Markets: A Review of Theory and Empirical Work," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 25(2), pages 383-417, May.
    20. Park, Young S. & Lee, Jaehyun, 2010. "Detecting insider trading: The theory and validation in Korea Exchange," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 34(9), pages 2110-2120, September.
    21. Seyhun, H Nejat & Bradley, Michael, 1997. "Corporate Bankruptcy and Insider Trading," The Journal of Business, University of Chicago Press, vol. 70(2), pages 189-216, April.
    22. Baesel, Jerome B. & Stein, Garry R., 1979. "The Value of Information: Inferences from the Profitability of Insider Trading," Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, Cambridge University Press, vol. 14(3), pages 553-571, September.
    23. Michael Manove, 1989. "The Harm from Insider Trading and Informed Speculation," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 104(4), pages 823-845.
    24. Utpal Bhattacharya & Hazem Daouk, 2002. "The World Price of Insider Trading," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 57(1), pages 75-108, February.
    25. Seyhun, H. Nejat, 1986. "Insiders' profits, costs of trading, and market efficiency," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 16(2), pages 189-212, June.
    26. Rozeff, Michael S & Zaman, Mir A, 1988. "Market Efficiency and Insider Trading: New Evidence," The Journal of Business, University of Chicago Press, vol. 61(1), pages 25-44, January.
    27. Lin, Ji-Chai & Howe, John S, 1990. "Insider Trading in the OTC Market," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 45(4), pages 1273-1284, September.
    28. Ojah, Kalu & Muhanji, Stella & Kodongo, Odongo, 2020. "Insider trading laws and price informativeness in emerging stock markets: The South African case," Emerging Markets Review, Elsevier, vol. 43(C).
    29. Durnev, Art A. & Nain, Amrita S., 2007. "Does insider trading regulation deter private information trading? International evidence," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 15(5), pages 409-433, November.
    30. Seyhun, H Nejat, 1988. "The Information Content of Aggregate Insider Trading," The Journal of Business, University of Chicago Press, vol. 61(1), pages 1-24, January.
    31. Nivelleau De La Brunière, Stanislas & Haye, Jean-Come & Mazza, Paolo, 2020. "The performance of corporate legal insiders on the French stock market," International Review of Law and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 61(C).
    32. Chauhan, Yogesh & Kumar, K. Kiran & Chaturvedula, Chakrapani, 2016. "Information asymmetry and the information content of insider trades: Evidence from the Indian stock market," Journal of Multinational Financial Management, Elsevier, vol. 34(C), pages 65-79.
    33. Givoly, Dan & Palmon, Dan, 1985. "Insider Trading and the Exploitation of Inside Information: Some Empirical Evidence," The Journal of Business, University of Chicago Press, vol. 58(1), pages 69-87, January.
    34. Dye, Ronald A, 1984. "Inside Trading and Incentives," The Journal of Business, University of Chicago Press, vol. 57(3), pages 295-313, July.
    35. Finnerty, Joseph E., 1976. "Insiders' Activity and Inside Information: A Multivariate Analysis," Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, Cambridge University Press, vol. 11(2), pages 205-215, June.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Mazza, Paolo & Wang, Shiyu, 2021. "Corporate legal insider trading in China: Performance and determinants," International Review of Law and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 68(C).
    2. Ryu, Doojin & Yang, Heejin & Yu, Jinyoung, 2022. "Insider trading and information asymmetry: Evidence from the Korea Exchange," Emerging Markets Review, Elsevier, vol. 51(PA).
    3. Luke M. Bennett & Wei Hu, 2023. "Filtration enlargement‐based time series forecast in view of insider trading," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 37(1), pages 112-140, February.
    4. Millicent Chang & Xiaolin Qian & Jing Yu & Yvonne See, 2017. "Does director trading change the information environment?," Australian Journal of Management, Australian School of Business, vol. 42(2), pages 205-229, May.
    5. Wisniewski, Tomasz P. & Bohl, Martin T., 2005. "The Information Content of Registered Insider Trading Under Lax Law Enforcement," International Review of Law and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 25(2), pages 169-185, June.
    6. Rebecca Pham & Marcel Ausloos, 2022. "Insider trading in the run‐up to merger announcements. Before and after the UK's Financial Services Act 2012," International Journal of Finance & Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 27(3), pages 3373-3385, July.
    7. Laurel Franzen & Xu Li & Oktay Urcan & Mark E. Vargus, 2014. "The Market Response To Insider Sales Of Restricted Stock Versus Unrestricted Stock," Journal of Financial Research, Southern Finance Association;Southwestern Finance Association, vol. 37(1), pages 99-118, February.
    8. Aktas, Nihat & de Bodt, Eric & Van Oppens, Hervé, 2008. "Legal insider trading and market efficiency," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 32(7), pages 1379-1392, July.
    9. Stanislas Nivelleau de La Brunière & Jean-Come Haye & Paolo Mazza, 2020. "The performance of corporate legal insiders on the French stock market," Post-Print hal-02998232, HAL.
    10. Michael Firth & T. Y. Leung & Oliver M. Rui, 2011. "Insider Trading in Hong Kong: Tests of Stock Returns and Trading Frequency," Review of Pacific Basin Financial Markets and Policies (RPBFMP), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 14(03), pages 505-533.
    11. Hans Degryse & Frank Jong & Jérémie Lefebvre, 2014. "An Empirical Analysis of Legal Insider Trading in The Netherlands," De Economist, Springer, vol. 162(1), pages 71-103, March.
    12. Ozlem Akin & Nicholas S. Coleman & Christian Fons-Rosen & José-Luis Peydró, 2016. "Political Connections: Evidence From Insider Trading Around TARP," Working Papers 935, Barcelona School of Economics.
    13. Ozlem Akin & Nicholas S. Coleman & Christian Fons‐Rosen & José‐Luis Peydró, 2021. "Political connections and informed trading: Evidence from TARP," Financial Management, Financial Management Association International, vol. 50(3), pages 619-644, September.
    14. Nivelleau De La Brunière, Stanislas & Haye, Jean-Come & Mazza, Paolo, 2020. "The performance of corporate legal insiders on the French stock market," International Review of Law and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 61(C).
    15. Fidrmuc, Jana P. & Korczak, Adriana & Korczak, Piotr, 2013. "Why does shareholder protection matter for abnormal returns after reported insider purchases and sales?," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 37(6), pages 1915-1935.
    16. Tavakoli, Manouchehr & McMillan, David & McKnight, Phillip J., 2012. "Insider trading and stock prices," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 22(1), pages 254-266.
    17. Arturo Bris, 2005. "Do Insider Trading Laws Work?," European Financial Management, European Financial Management Association, vol. 11(3), pages 267-312, June.
    18. Lo, Keng-Hsin & Wang, Kehluh & Liao, Tsai-Ling, 2006. "Insider transfer trading of banking companies around exchange listing," Journal of Financial Intermediation, Elsevier, vol. 15(2), pages 215-234, April.
    19. Tirapat, Sunti & Visaltanachoti, Nuttawat, 2013. "Opportunistic insider trading," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 21(1), pages 1046-1061.
    20. Ian Tonks, 2010. "Discussion of To Trade or Not To Trade: The Strategic Trading of Insiders around News Announcements," Journal of Business Finance & Accounting, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 37(3‐4), pages 408-421, April.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Insider; Korea; Simulation; Trader’s behavior; Position;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • K00 - Law and Economics - - General - - - General (including Data Sources and Description)
    • K22 - Law and Economics - - Regulation and Business Law - - - Business and Securities Law
    • G14 - Financial Economics - - General Financial Markets - - - Information and Market Efficiency; Event Studies; Insider Trading
    • G18 - Financial Economics - - General Financial Markets - - - Government Policy and Regulation
    • C12 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Econometric and Statistical Methods and Methodology: General - - - Hypothesis Testing: General
    • C15 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Econometric and Statistical Methods and Methodology: General - - - Statistical Simulation Methods: General

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:irlaec:v:71:y:2022:i:c:s0144818822000321. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/irle .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.