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The East Asia crisis and corporate finances : the untold micro story

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Pomerleano, Michael

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Abstract

Explanations of the causes of the Asian crisis have focused on macroeconomic factors leading to the crisis. This paper offers a complementary corporate distress perspective linking the crisis to corporate finances. Key ratios for companies in various countries are presented in the paper. The global benchmarking imposes a consistent cross-border analysis of financial risk and performance, and sheds light on the crisis. The study provides a statistical review of the financial practices and performance of corporates in Asia: Hong Kong, Indonesia, Korea, Malaysia, Philippines, Taiwan, and Thailand benchmarked against financials of corporates in other countries: Latin America, and industrialized countries: France, Germany, Japan and USA. A thematic point that comes across in all the results of the corporate financial analysis is unsustainable rapid (and probably excessive) investment in fixed assets financed by excessive borrowing in some Asian countries- e.g., Indonesia, Korea and Thailand. The East Asian investment-spending spree resulted in poor profitability, reflected in low, and declining return on equity, and return on capital employed. It leads to the conclusion that at the core of the corporate crisis were financial excesses that violated prudent financial practices, and eventually lead to the inevitable financial distress we are witnessing. Therefore, the empirical findings presented in the paper lend credence to the view advanced by Krugman that crony capitalism was at the core of the crisis. Crony capitalism was manifested in supportive bad policies-e.g., implicit government guarantees, and poor banking supervision- that lead to poor credit allocation decisions in the banking dominated financial system. Preliminary findings suggest as well vast differences in Economic Value Added between countries- developing and developed alike. The conclusions from an economic value added approach indicate that in an era of increasing capital mobility, corporates are not adhering to global standards in creating shareholder value. The analysis leads to policy conclusions.

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Paper provided by The World Bank in its series Policy Research Working Paper Series with number 1990.

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Date of creation: 31 Oct 1998
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Handle: RePEc:wbk:wbrwps:1990

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Keywords: Banks&Banking Reform; Payment Systems&Infrastructure; Economic Theory&Research; International Terrorism&Counterterrorism; Environmental Economics&Policies; Financial Intermediation; Economic Theory&Research; Banks&Banking Reform; International Terrorism&Counterterrorism; Environmental Economics&Policies;

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References listed on IDEAS
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  1. Steven Radelet & Jeffrey Sachs, 1998. "The Onset of the East Asian Financial Crisis," NBER Working Papers 6680, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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(explanations, Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.)

  1. Kang-Kook Lee & James Crotty, 2004. "Was the IMF's Imposition of Economic Regime Change Justified? A Critique of the IMF's Economic and Political Role in Korea During and After the Crisis," Working Papers wp77, Political Economy Research Institute, University of Massachusetts at Amherst. [Downloadable!]
  2. Claessens, Stijn & Djankov, Simeon & Lang, Larry, 1998. "Corporate growth, financing, and risks in the decade before East Asia's financial crisis," Policy Research Working Paper Series 2017, The World Bank. [Downloadable!]
  3. Paul Lejot & Douglas Arner & Liu Qiao & Mylene Chan & Mshall Mays, 2003. "Asia's Debt Capital Markets: Appraisal and Agenda for Policy Reform," Working Papers 192003, Hong Kong Institute for Monetary Research. [Downloadable!]
  4. Prasetyantoko, Agustinus, 2008. "Financing Policies and Firm Vulnerability in Indonesia," MPRA Paper 6533, University Library of Munich, Germany. [Downloadable!]
  5. Campbell R. Harvey & Karl V. Lins & Andrew H. Roper, 2001. "The Effect of Capital Structure When Expected Agency Costs are Extreme," NBER Working Papers 8452, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  6. Giancarlo Corsetti & Paolo Pesenti & Nouriel Roubini, 1998. "Paper tigers? A model of the Asian crisis," Research Paper 9822, Federal Reserve Bank of New York. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  7. Paul J. Heytens & Cem Karacadag, 2001. "An Attempt to Profile the Finances of China's Enterprise Sector," IMF Working Papers 01/182, International Monetary Fund. [Downloadable!]
  8. Douglas W. Diamond & Raghuram G. Rajan, 2000. "Banks, Short Term Debt and Financial Crises: Theory, Policy Implications and Applications," NBER Working Papers 7764, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  9. Fabrizio Mattesini, 2003. "Financial Intermediation as a Source of Aggregate Instability," CEIS Research Paper 35, Tor Vergata University, CEIS. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  10. Agustinus, Prasetyantoko, 2007. "Foreign Ownership and Firm Financing Constraint in Indonesia," MPRA Paper 6500, University Library of Munich, Germany. [Downloadable!]
  11. Arturo Bris & Yrjö Koskinen & Vicente Pons, 2001. "Corporate Financial Policies and Performance Prior to Currency Crises," William Davidson Institute Working Papers Series 386, William Davidson Institute at the University of Michigan Stephen M. Ross Business School. [Downloadable!]
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  12. Harvie, Charles, 2004. "East Asian SME Capacity Building, Competitiveness and Market Opportunities in a Global Economy," Economics Working Papers wp04-16, School of Economics, University of Wollongong, NSW, Australia. [Downloadable!]
  13. Bris, Arturo & Koskinen, Yrjö, 2000. "Corporate Leverage and Currency Crises," Working Paper Series in Economics and Finance 367, Stockholm School of Economics, revised 02 Jul 2001. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  14. Impavido, Gregorio & Musalem, Alberto R., 2000. "Contractual savings, stock, and asset markets," Policy Research Working Paper Series 2490, The World Bank. [Downloadable!]
  15. Giancarlo Corsetti & Paolo Pesenti & Nouriel Roubini, 1998. "What Caused the Asian Currency and Financial Crisis? Part II: The Policy Debate," NBER Working Papers 6834, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  16. Bris, Arturo & Koskinen, Yrjö & Pons, Vicente, 2001. "Corporate Financial Policies and Performance Around Currency Crises," Working Paper Series in Economics and Finance 467, Stockholm School of Economics, revised 06 Nov 2001. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  17. SAU, Lino, 2001. "Stato del Credito, Effetto Cash-flow ed Instabilità
    [State of Credit, Cash-flow Effect and Instability]
    ," MPRA Paper 3641, University Library of Munich, Germany. [Downloadable!]
  18. Agustinus, Prasetyantoko, 2007. "Corporate Responses to Currency Depreciations: Evidence from Indonesia," MPRA Paper 6502, University Library of Munich, Germany. [Downloadable!]
  19. Nils Hakansson, 1999. "The Role of a Corporate Bond Market in an Economy -- and in Avoiding Crises," Research Program in Finance, Working Paper Series 1008, Research Program in Finance, Institute for Business and Economic Research, UC Berkeley. [Downloadable!]
  20. Nils H. Hakansson, 1999. "The Role of a Corporate Bond Market in an Economy - and in Avoiding Crises," Research Program in Finance Working Papers RPF-287, University of California at Berkeley. [Downloadable!]
  21. Charumilind, Chutatong & Kali, Raja & Wiwattanakantang, Yupana, 2002. "Crony Lending: Thailand before the Financial Crisis," CEI Working Paper Series 2002-4, Center for Economic Institutions, Institute of Economic Research, Hitotsubashi University. [Downloadable!]
  22. Charumilind, Chutatong & Kali, Raja & Wiwattanakantang, Yupana, 2003. "Connected Lending: Thailand before the Financial Crisis," CEI Working Paper Series 2003-19, Center for Economic Institutions, Institute of Economic Research, Hitotsubashi University. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
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