IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/jbfina/v32y2008i7p1416-1429.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

A flight to Q? Firm investment and financing in Korea before and after the 1997 financial crisis

Author

Listed:
  • Rousseau, Peter L.
  • Kim, Jong Hun

Abstract

We examine investment behavior among exchange-listed Korean manufacturing firms before and after the 1997 financial crisis using firm-level panel data. Starting with the standard Q-theory of investment, we augment it by allowing for a sales accelerator and the possibility of cash constraints, categorizing firms based on their age, size and affiliation to an industrial conglomerate (i.e., chaebol). We find that Tobin's Q is a robust determinant of investment in a pooled sample for 1992-2001, but that it became more important for small firms and less important for chaebol-affiliated firms after the crisis. Investment by chaebol firms also became more sensitive to the availability of internal cash balances after the crisis. We interpret this as reflecting a shift in the Korean economy to a stronger market orientation after the crisis and to a business climate in which the quality of potential projects became more important relative to capital market imperfections in determining the destination of investment funds.

Suggested Citation

  • Rousseau, Peter L. & Kim, Jong Hun, 2008. "A flight to Q? Firm investment and financing in Korea before and after the 1997 financial crisis," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 32(7), pages 1416-1429, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:jbfina:v:32:y:2008:i:7:p:1416-1429
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0378-4266(07)00363-9
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    ---><---

    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. Lucas, Robert E, Jr & Prescott, Edward C, 1971. "Investment Under Uncertainty," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 39(5), pages 659-681, September.
    2. Robert Dekle & Kenneth Kletzer, 2002. "Domestic Bank Regulation and Financial Crises: Theory and Empirical Evidence from East Asia," NBER Chapters, in: Preventing Currency Crises in Emerging Markets, pages 507-558, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    3. Bernanke, Ben & Gertler, Mark & Gilchrist, Simon, 1996. "The Financial Accelerator and the Flight to Quality," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 78(1), pages 1-15, February.
    4. Aivazian, Varouj & Booth, Laurence & Cleary, Sean, 2003. "Dividend policy and the organization of capital markets," Journal of Multinational Financial Management, Elsevier, vol. 13(2), pages 101-121, April.
    5. Borensztein, Eduardo & Lee, Jong-Wha, 2002. "Financial crisis and credit crunch in Korea: evidence from firm-level data," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 49(4), pages 853-875, May.
    6. 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.
    7. Laeven, Luc, 2002. "Financial constraints on investments and credit policy in Korea," Journal of Asian Economics, Elsevier, vol. 13(2), pages 251-269.
    8. Francisco Gallego Y. & Norman Loayza., 2000. "Financial Structure in Chile: Macroeconomic Developments and Microeconomic Effects," Journal Economía Chilena (The Chilean Economy), Central Bank of Chile, vol. 3(2), pages 5-30, August.
    9. Myers, Stewart C. & Majluf, Nicholas S., 1984. "Corporate financing and investment decisions when firms have information that investors do not have," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 13(2), pages 187-221, June.
    10. Steven M. Fazzari & R. Glenn Hubbard & Bruce C. Petersen, 1988. "Financing Constraints and Corporate Investment," Brookings Papers on Economic Activity, Economic Studies Program, The Brookings Institution, vol. 19(1), pages 141-206.
    11. Joao F. Gomes, 2001. "Financing Investment," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 91(5), pages 1263-1285, December.
    12. Stewart C. Myers & Nicholas S. Majluf, 1984. "Corporate Financing and Investment Decisions When Firms Have InformationThat Investors Do Not Have," NBER Working Papers 1396, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    13. 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.
    14. Erickson, Timothy & Whited, Toni M., 2002. "Two-Step Gmm Estimation Of The Errors-In-Variables Model Using High-Order Moments," Econometric Theory, Cambridge University Press, vol. 18(3), pages 776-799, June.
    15. Hayashi, Fumio & Inoue, Tohru, 1991. "The Relation between Firm Growth and Q with Multiple Capital Goods: Theory and Evidence from Panel Data on Japanese Firms," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 59(3), pages 731-753, May.
    16. Peter L. Rousseau & Jong Hun Kim, 2007. "Credit Markets and the Propagation of Korea's 1997 Financial Crisis," Southern Economic Journal, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 74(2), pages 524-545, October.
    17. Manuel Arellano & Stephen Bond, 1991. "Some Tests of Specification for Panel Data: Monte Carlo Evidence and an Application to Employment Equations," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 58(2), pages 277-297.
    18. 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.
    19. Kadapakkam, Palani-Rajan & Kumar, P. C. & Riddick, Leigh A., 1998. "The impact of cash flows and firm size on investment: The international evidence," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 22(3), pages 293-320, March.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Zubair, Siraz & Kabir, Rezaul & Huang, Xiaohong, 2020. "Does the financial crisis change the effect of financing on investment? Evidence from private SMEs," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 110(C), pages 456-463.
    2. Bereskin, Frederick L. & Kim, Bushik & Oh, Frederick Dongchuhl, 2015. "Do credit rating concerns lead to better corporate governance? Evidence from Korea," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 35(PB), pages 592-608.
    3. Liu, Yunxiao & Kim, Woochan & Sung, Taeyoon, 2021. "Investment efficiency of firms outside the business group," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 71(C).
    4. Ehab Yamani & David Rakowski, 2018. "Cash Flow and Discount Rate Risk in the Investment Effect: A Downside Risk Approach," Quarterly Journal of Finance (QJF), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 8(03), pages 1-40, September.
    5. 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.
    6. Dow, Sandra & McGuire, Jean, 2009. "Propping and tunneling: Empirical evidence from Japanese keiretsu," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 33(10), pages 1817-1828, October.
    7. Riskin Hidayat & Sugeng Wahyudi & Harjum Muharam & Fatlina Zainudin, 2020. "Institutional Ownership, Productivity Sustainable Investment Based on Financial Constrains and Firm Value: Implications of Agency Theory, Signaling Theory, and Asymmetry Information on Sharia Companie," International Journal of Financial Research, International Journal of Financial Research, Sciedu Press, vol. 11(1), pages 71-81, January.
    8. Özgür Arslan-Ayaydin & Chris Florackis & Aydin Ozkan, 2014. "Financial flexibility, corporate investment and performance: evidence from financial crises," Review of Quantitative Finance and Accounting, Springer, vol. 42(2), pages 211-250, February.
    9. Mr. Vadim Khramov, 2012. "Asymmetric Effects of the Financial Crisis: Collateral-Based Investment-Cash Flow Sensitivity Analysis," IMF Working Papers 2012/097, International Monetary Fund.
    10. Vo, Hong & Nguyen, Tien & Truong, Hang, 2023. "Economic policy uncertainty and corporate investment: An empirical comparison of Korean chaebol and non-chaebol firms," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 54(C).
    11. Lee, Sangwoo & Park, Kwangwoo & Shin, Hyun-Han, 2009. "Disappearing internal capital markets: Evidence from diversified business groups in Korea," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 33(2), pages 326-334, February.

    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. Koo, Jaewoon & Maeng, Kyunghee, 2005. "The effect of financial liberalization on firms' investments in Korea," Journal of Asian Economics, Elsevier, vol. 16(2), pages 281-297, April.
    2. Jaewoon Koo & Sunwoo Shin, 2004. "Financial Liberalization and Corporate Investments: Evidence from Korean Firm Data," Asian Economic Journal, East Asian Economic Association, vol. 18(3), pages 277-292, September.
    3. Gaurav Gupta & Jitendra Mahakud, 2019. "Alternative measure of financial development and investment-cash flow sensitivity: evidence from an emerging economy," Financial Innovation, Springer;Southwestern University of Finance and Economics, vol. 5(1), pages 1-28, December.
    4. Joanna Tyrowicz, 2007. "Blame No One ?Investment Decisions of the Polish Stock-Listed Companies," Brussels Economic Review, ULB -- Universite Libre de Bruxelles, vol. 50(4), pages 391-410.
    5. Günay, Hüseyin & Kılınç, Mustafa, 2015. "Credit market imperfections and business cycle asymmetries in Turkey," Journal of Empirical Finance, Elsevier, vol. 34(C), pages 79-98.
    6. Sevcan Yesiltas, 2009. "Financing Constraints and Investment: The Case of Turkish Manufacturing Firms," 2009 Meeting Papers 874, Society for Economic Dynamics.
    7. Laeven, Luc, 2000. "Does financial liberalization relax financing constraints on firms ?," Policy Research Working Paper Series 2467, The World Bank.
    8. Jean-Bernard Chatelain, 2003. "Structural modelling of financial constraints on investment: where do we stand?," Chapters, in: Paul Butzen & Catherine Fuss (ed.), Firms’ Investment and Finance Decisions, chapter 2, pages 40-58, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    9. Tomat, Gian Maria, 2008. "Modeling the Effects of Financial Constraints on Firm's Investment," Economics - The Open-Access, Open-Assessment E-Journal (2007-2020), Kiel Institute for the World Economy (IfW Kiel), vol. 2, pages 1-26.
    10. Gonzalo Castaneda, 2002. "Internal Capital Markets and Financing Choices of Mexican Firms Before and During the Financial Paralysis of 1995-2000," Research Department Publications 3146, Inter-American Development Bank, Research Department.
    11. Valentina Peruzzi, 2017. "Does family ownership structure affect investment-cash flow sensitivity? Evidence from Italian SMEs," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 49(43), pages 4378-4393, September.
    12. Shin, Hyun-Han & Kim, Yong H., 2002. "Agency costs and efficiency of business capital investment: evidence from quarterly capital expenditures," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 8(2), pages 139-158, March.
    13. Vidhan K. Goyal & Takeshi Yamada, 2004. "Asset Price Shocks, Financial Constraints, and Investment: Evidence from Japan," The Journal of Business, University of Chicago Press, vol. 77(1), pages 175-200, January.
    14. Goergen, Marc & Renneboog, Luc, 2001. "Investment policy, internal financing and ownership concentration in the UK," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 7(3), pages 257-284, September.
    15. Chiara Coluzzi & Annalisa Ferrando & Carmen Martínez-Carrascal, 2009. "Financing obstacles and growth: An analysis for euro area non-financial corporations," Working Papers 0836, Banco de España.
    16. Degryse, Hans & de Jong, Abe, 2006. "Investment and internal finance: Asymmetric information or managerial discretion?," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 24(1), pages 125-147, January.
    17. Carlos Carreira & Filipe Silva, 2010. "No Deep Pockets: Some Stylized Empirical Results On Firms’ Financial Constraints," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 24(4), pages 731-753, September.
    18. Jia Liu & Dong Pang, 2009. "Financial factors and company investment decisions in transitional China," Managerial and Decision Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 30(2), pages 91-108.
    19. Gaurav Gupta & Jitendra Mahakud & Vivek Verma, 2020. "CEO's education and investment–cash flow sensitivity: an empirical investigation," International Journal of Managerial Finance, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 17(4), pages 589-618, December.
    20. Jaewoon Koo & Kyunghee Maeng, 2006. "Foreign ownership and investment: evidence from Korea," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 38(20), pages 2405-2414.

    More about this item

    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:jbfina:v:32:y:2008:i:7:p:1416-1429. 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/jbf .

    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.