IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/corfin/v23y2013icp311-331.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Business group affiliation, ownership structure, and the cost of debt

Author

Listed:
  • Byun, Hae-Young
  • Choi, Sunhwa
  • Hwang, Lee-Seok
  • Kim, Robert G.

Abstract

This paper examines the relation between business group affiliation and the cost of debt capital. The co-insurance effect associated with business groups can reduce the cost of debt, while expropriation by controlling shareholders can raise the cost of debt. We find that firms affiliated with major Korean business groups (i.e., chaebols) enjoy a substantially lower cost of public debt than do independent firms, consistent with the co-insurance argument. We also examine several factors that influence the relation between group affiliation and the cost of debt, including a firm's uncertainty about the future payoffs of debtholders, pledgeable income, group-level resources, and position in the group structure. The results are all consistent with the co-insurance explanation. Our study highlights that the role of business groups in the debt market is distinct from the role of ownership structure.

Suggested Citation

  • Byun, Hae-Young & Choi, Sunhwa & Hwang, Lee-Seok & Kim, Robert G., 2013. "Business group affiliation, ownership structure, and the cost of debt," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 23(C), pages 311-331.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:corfin:v:23:y:2013:i:c:p:311-331
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jcorpfin.2013.09.003
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0929119913000862
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.jcorpfin.2013.09.003?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. Paligorova, Teodora & Xu, Zhaoxia, 2012. "Complex ownership and capital structure," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 18(4), pages 701-716.
    2. Galai, Dan & Masulis, Ronald W., 1976. "The option pricing model and the risk factor of stock," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 3(1-2), pages 53-81.
    3. Kim, E Han & McConnell, John J, 1977. "Corporate Mergers and the Co-insurance of Corporate Debt," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 32(2), pages 349-365, May.
    4. Almeida, Heitor & Wolfenzon, Daniel, 2006. "Should business groups be dismantled? The equilibrium costs of efficient internal capital markets," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 79(1), pages 99-144, January.
    5. Sattar A. Mansi & William F. Maxwell & Darius P. Miller, 2004. "Does Auditor Quality and Tenure Matter to Investors? Evidence from the Bond Market," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 42(4), pages 755-793, September.
    6. Radhakrishnan Gopalan & Sudarshan Jayaraman, 2012. "Private Control Benefits and Earnings Management: Evidence from Insider Controlled Firms," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 50(1), pages 117-157, March.
    7. Anderson, Ronald C. & Mansi, Sattar A. & Reeb, David M., 2003. "Founding family ownership and the agency cost of debt," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 68(2), pages 263-285, May.
    8. Tarun Khanna & Krishna Palepu, 2000. "Is Group Affiliation Profitable in Emerging Markets? An Analysis of Diversified Indian Business Groups," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 55(2), pages 867-891, April.
    9. Ronald W. Masulis & Peter Kien Pham & Jason Zein, 2011. "Family Business Groups around the World: Financing Advantages, Control Motivations, and Organizational Choices," Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 24(11), pages 3556-3600.
    10. Shin, Hyun-Han & Park, Young S., 1999. "Financing constraints and internal capital markets: Evidence from Korean 'chaebols'," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 5(2), pages 169-191, June.
    11. Lin, Chen & Ma, Yue & Xuan, Yuhai, 2011. "Ownership structure and financial constraints: Evidence from a structural estimation," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 102(2), pages 416-431.
    12. Djankov, Simeon & La Porta, Rafael & Lopez-de-Silanes, Florencio & Shleifer, Andrei, 2008. "The law and economics of self-dealing," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 88(3), pages 430-465, June.
    13. Ashbaugh-Skaife, Hollis & Collins, Daniel W. & LaFond, Ryan, 2006. "The effects of corporate governance on firms' credit ratings," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 42(1-2), pages 203-243, October.
    14. Claessens, Stijn & Fan, Joseph P.H. & Lang, Larry H.P., 2006. "The benefits and costs of group affiliation: Evidence from East Asia," Emerging Markets Review, Elsevier, vol. 7(1), pages 1-26, March.
    15. Johnson, Simon & Boone, Peter & Breach, Alasdair & Friedman, Eric, 2000. "Corporate governance in the Asian financial crisis," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 58(1-2), pages 141-186.
    16. Cheung, Yan-Leung & Rau, P. Raghavendra & Stouraitis, Aris, 2006. "Tunneling, propping, and expropriation: evidence from connected party transactions in Hong Kong," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 82(2), pages 343-386, November.
    17. Bae, Kee-Hong & Baek, Jae-Seung & Kang, Jun-Koo & Liu, Wei-Lin, 2012. "Do controlling shareholders' expropriation incentives imply a link between corporate governance and firm value? Theory and evidence," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 105(2), pages 412-435.
    18. Stijn Claessens & Simeon Djankov & Joseph P. H. Fan & Larry H. P. Lang, 2002. "Disentangling the Incentive and Entrenchment Effects of Large Shareholdings," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 57(6), pages 2741-2771, December.
    19. Gil S. Bae & Youngsoon S. Cheon & Jun-Koo Kang, 2008. "Intragroup Propping: Evidence from the Stock-Price Effects of Earnings Announcements by Korean Business Groups," Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 21(5), pages 2015-2060, September.
    20. Anderson, Ronald C. & Mansi, Sattar A. & Reeb, David M., 2004. "Board characteristics, accounting report integrity, and the cost of debt," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 37(3), pages 315-342, September.
    21. Hutton, Amy P. & Marcus, Alan J. & Tehranian, Hassan, 2009. "Opaque financial reports, R2, and crash risk," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 94(1), pages 67-86, October.
    22. Tarun Khanna & Yishay Yafeh, 2007. "Business Groups in Emerging Markets: Paragons or Parasites?," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 45(2), pages 331-372, June.
    23. Friedman, Eric & Johnson, Simon & Mitton, Todd, 2003. "Propping and tunneling," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 31(4), pages 732-750, December.
    24. Jiang, Guohua & Lee, Charles M.C. & Yue, Heng, 2010. "Tunneling through intercorporate loans: The China experience," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 98(1), pages 1-20, October.
    25. Rafael La Porta & Florencio Lopez‐De‐Silanes & Andrei Shleifer, 1999. "Corporate Ownership Around the World," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 54(2), pages 471-517, April.
    26. Faccio, Mara & Lang, Larry H. P., 2002. "The ultimate ownership of Western European corporations," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 65(3), pages 365-395, September.
    27. Heitor V. Almeida & Daniel Wolfenzon, 2006. "A Theory of Pyramidal Ownership and Family Business Groups," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 61(6), pages 2637-2680, December.
    28. Jeong†Bon Kim & Cheong H. Yi, 2006. "Ownership Structure, Business Group Affiliation, Listing Status, and Earnings Management: Evidence from Korea," Contemporary Accounting Research, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 23(2), pages 427-464, June.
    29. Almeida, Heitor & Park, Sang Yong & Subrahmanyam, Marti G. & Wolfenzon, Daniel, 2011. "The structure and formation of business groups: Evidence from Korean chaebols," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 99(2), pages 447-475, February.
    30. Ronald C. Anderson & David M. Reeb, 2003. "Founding-Family Ownership and Firm Performance: Evidence from the S&P 500," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 58(3), pages 1301-1327, June.
    31. Claessens, Stijn & Djankov, Simeon & Lang, Larry H. P., 2000. "The separation of ownership and control in East Asian Corporations," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 58(1-2), pages 81-112.
    32. Tarun Khanna & Yishay Yafeh, 2005. "Business Groups and Risk Sharing around the World," The Journal of Business, University of Chicago Press, vol. 78(1), pages 301-340, January.
    33. Lin, Chen & Ma, Yue & Malatesta, Paul & Xuan, Yuhai, 2012. "Corporate ownership structure and bank loan syndicate structure," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 104(1), pages 1-22.
    34. Chen, Sheng-Syan & Wang, Yanzhi, 2012. "Financial constraints and share repurchases," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 105(2), pages 311-331.
    35. Shi, Charles, 2003. "On the trade-off between the future benefits and riskiness of R&D: a bondholders' perspective," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 35(2), pages 227-254, June.
    36. Francis, Jennifer & LaFond, Ryan & Olsson, Per & Schipper, Katherine, 2005. "The market pricing of accruals quality," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 39(2), pages 295-327, June.
    37. Kang, Jun-Koo & Lee, Inmoo & Na, Hyun Seung, 2010. "Economic shock, owner-manager incentives, and corporate restructuring: Evidence from the financial crisis in Korea," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 16(3), pages 333-351, June.
    38. Marianne Bertrand & Paras Mehta & Sendhil Mullainathan, 2002. "Ferreting out Tunneling: An Application to Indian Business Groups," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 117(1), pages 121-148.
    39. Gopalan, Radhakrishnan & Nanda, Vikram & Seru, Amit, 2007. "Affiliated firms and financial support: Evidence from Indian business groups," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 86(3), pages 759-795, December.
    40. Ferris, Stephen P. & Kim, Kenneth A. & Kitsabunnarat, Pattanaporn, 2003. "The costs (and benefits?) of diversified business groups: The case of Korean chaebols," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 27(2), pages 251-273, February.
    41. Lewellen, Wilbur G, 1971. "A Pure Financial Rationale for the Conglomerate Merger," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 26(2), pages 521-537, May.
    42. Jae‐Seung Baek & Jun‐Koo Kang & Inmoo Lee, 2006. "Business Groups and Tunneling: Evidence from Private Securities Offerings by Korean Chaebols," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 61(5), pages 2415-2449, October.
    43. Jensen, Michael C. & Meckling, William H., 1976. "Theory of the firm: Managerial behavior, agency costs and ownership structure," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 3(4), pages 305-360, October.
    44. Takeo Hoshi & Anil Kashyap & David Scharfstein, 1991. "Corporate Structure, Liquidity, and Investment: Evidence from Japanese Industrial Groups," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 106(1), pages 33-60.
    45. Khanna, Tarun, 2000. "Business groups and social welfare in emerging markets: Existing evidence and unanswered questions," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 44(4-6), pages 748-761, May.
    46. Lin, Chen & Ma, Yue & Malatesta, Paul & Xuan, Yuhai, 2011. "Ownership structure and the cost of corporate borrowing," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 100(1), pages 1-23, April.
    47. Hoshi, Takeo & Kashyap, Anil & Scharfstein, David, 1990. "The role of banks in reducing the costs of financial distress in Japan," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 27(1), pages 67-88, September.
    48. Jarrad Harford & Sattar A. Mansi & William F. Maxwell, 2012. "Corporate Governance and Firm Cash Holdings in the U.S," Springer Books, in: Sabri Boubaker & Bang Dang Nguyen & Duc Khuong Nguyen (ed.), Corporate Governance, edition 127, pages 107-138, Springer.
    49. Higgins, Robert C & Schall, Lawrence D, 1975. "Corporate Bankruptcy and Conglomerate Merger," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 30(1), pages 93-113, March.
    50. Toni M. Whited & Guojun Wu, 2006. "Financial Constraints Risk," Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 19(2), pages 531-559.
    51. Inder K. Khurana & K. K. Raman, 2003. "Are Fundamentals Priced in the Bond Market?," Contemporary Accounting Research, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 20(3), pages 465-494, September.
    52. Fan, Joseph P. H. & Wong, T. J., 2002. "Corporate ownership structure and the informativeness of accounting earnings in East Asia," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 33(3), pages 401-425, August.
    53. Chava, Sudheer & Purnanandam, Amiyatosh, 2011. "The effect of banking crisis on bank-dependent borrowers," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 99(1), pages 116-135, January.
    54. MARA FACCIO & RONALD W. MASULIS & JOHN J. McCONNELL, 2006. "Political Connections and Corporate Bailouts," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 61(6), pages 2597-2635, December.
    55. Lee, Li Way, 1977. "Co-Insurance and Conglomerate Merger," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 32(5), pages 1527-1537, December.
    56. Denis, David J. & Mihov, Vassil T., 2003. "The choice among bank debt, non-bank private debt, and public debt: evidence from new corporate borrowings," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 70(1), pages 3-28, October.
    57. Sattar A. Mansi & David M. Reeb, 2002. "Corporate Diversification: What Gets Discounted?," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 57(5), pages 2167-2183, October.
    58. Yu, Fan, 2005. "Accounting transparency and the term structure of credit spreads," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 75(1), pages 53-84, January.
    59. Kee‐Hong Bae & Jun‐Koo Kang & Jin‐Mo Kim, 2002. "Tunneling or Value Added? Evidence from Mergers by Korean Business Groups," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 57(6), pages 2695-2740, December.
    60. Matthew T. Billett & Tao-Hsien Dolly King & David C. Mauer, 2004. "Bondholder Wealth Effects in Mergers and Acquisitions: New Evidence from the 1980s and 1990s," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 59(1), pages 107-135, February.
    61. Baek, Jae-Seung & Kang, Jun-Koo & Suh Park, Kyung, 2004. "Corporate governance and firm value: evidence from the Korean financial crisis," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 71(2), pages 265-313, February.
    62. Ronald C. Anderson & David M. Reeb, 2003. "Founding‐Family Ownership and Firm Performance: Evidence from the S&P 500," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 58(3), pages 1301-1328, June.
    63. Lin, Chen & Ma, Yue & Malatesta, Paul & Xuan, Yuhai, 2013. "Corporate ownership structure and the choice between bank debt and public debt," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 109(2), pages 517-534.
    64. Bernard S. Black & Hasung Jang & Woochan Kim, 2006. "Does Corporate Governance Predict Firms' Market Values? Evidence from Korea," The Journal of Law, Economics, and Organization, Oxford University Press, vol. 22(2), pages 366-413, October.
    65. Steven N. Kaplan & Luigi Zingales, 1997. "Do Investment-Cash Flow Sensitivities Provide Useful Measures of Financing Constraints?," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 112(1), pages 169-215.
    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. Viswanathan Nagarajan & Pitabas Mohanty & Apalak Khatua, 2023. "Financing effects of corporate diversification: A review," Review of Managerial Science, Springer, vol. 17(7), pages 2555-2585, October.
    2. Joseph P. H. Fan & Li Jin & Guojian Zheng, 2016. "Revisiting the Bright and Dark Sides of Capital Flows in Business Groups," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 134(4), pages 509-528, April.
    3. Chandera, Yane & Utama, Cynthia Afriani & Husodo, Zaäfri Ananto & Setia-Atmaja, Lukas, 2018. "The co-insurance effect hypothesis and the cost of bank loans: Evidence from Indonesian pyramidal business groups," Global Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 37(C), pages 100-122.
    4. Khosa,Amrinder & Ahmed,Kamran & Henry,Darren, 2019. "Ownership Structure, Related Party Transactions, and Firm Valuation," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9781108492195.
    5. Bena, Jan & Ortiz-Molina, Hernán, 2013. "Pyramidal ownership and the creation of new firms," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 108(3), pages 798-821.
    6. Buchuk, David & Larrain, Borja & Muñoz, Francisco & Urzúa I., Francisco, 2014. "The internal capital markets of business groups: Evidence from intra-group loans," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 112(2), pages 190-212.
    7. Sumon Kumar Bhaumik & Andros Gregoriou, 2010. "‘Family’ Ownership, Tunnelling And Earnings Management: A Review Of The Literature," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 24(4), pages 705-730, September.
    8. Liu, Yunxiao & Kim, Woochan & Sung, Taeyoon, 2021. "Investment efficiency of firms outside the business group," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 71(C).
    9. Paligorova, Teodora & Xu, Zhaoxia, 2012. "Complex ownership and capital structure," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 18(4), pages 701-716.
    10. Bansal, Shashank & Thenmozhi, M., 2020. "Does Concentrated Founder Ownership Affect Related Party Transactions? Evidence from an Emerging Economy," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 53(C).
    11. Christopher Hansen & Joern Block & Matthias Neuenkirch, 2020. "Family Firm Performance Over The Business Cycle: A Meta‐Analysis," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 34(3), pages 476-511, July.
    12. Bernard Yeung & Randall Morck & Daniel Wolfenzon, 2004. "Corporate Governance, Economic Entrenchment and Growth," Working Papers 04-21, New York University, Leonard N. Stern School of Business, Department of Economics.
    13. Luis Alfonso Dau & Randall Morck & Bernard Yin Yeung, 2021. "Business groups and the study of international business: A Coasean synthesis and extension," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 52(2), pages 161-211, March.
    14. Claessens, Stijn & Yurtoglu, B. Burcin, 2013. "Corporate governance in emerging markets: A survey," Emerging Markets Review, Elsevier, vol. 15(C), pages 1-33.
    15. Attig, Najah & Chen, Ruiyuan & El Ghoul, Sadok & Guedhami, Omrane & Kwok, Chuck & Pittman, Jeffrey, 2020. "Are insiders equal? Evidence from earnings management in closely held East Asian firms," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 54(C).
    16. Morck, Randall & Deniz Yavuz, M. & Yeung, Bernard, 2011. "Banking system control, capital allocation, and economy performance," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 100(2), pages 264-283, May.
    17. Randall Morck, 2009. "The Riddle of the Great Pyramids," NBER Working Papers 14858, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    18. Audrey Wenhsin Hsu & Sophia Hsintsai Liu, 2018. "Parent-subsidiary investment layers and the value of corporate cash holdings," Review of Quantitative Finance and Accounting, Springer, vol. 51(3), pages 651-681, October.
    19. Beaver, William H & Cascino, Stefano & Correia, Maria & McNichols, Maureen F., 2023. "Bankruptcy in groups," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 118590, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    20. Pier Luigi Marchini & Tatiana Mazza & Alice Medioli, 2018. "The impact of related party transactions on earnings management: some insights from the Italian context," Journal of Management & Governance, Springer;Accademia Italiana di Economia Aziendale (AIDEA), vol. 22(4), pages 981-1014, December.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Business groups; Ownership; Cost of debt capital; Co-insurance;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • G12 - Financial Economics - - General Financial Markets - - - Asset Pricing; Trading Volume; Bond Interest Rates
    • G32 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance - - - Financing Policy; Financial Risk and Risk Management; Capital and Ownership Structure; Value of Firms; Goodwill
    • G34 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance - - - Mergers; Acquisitions; Restructuring; Corporate Governance

    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:corfin:v:23:y:2013:i:c:p:311-331. 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/jcorpfin .

    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.