IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/reveco/v44y2016icp219-231.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Does control-ownership disparity matter to foreign investors in Korea?

Author

Listed:
  • Lee, Youkyoung
  • Cho, Myeonghyeon

Abstract

This study examines the effect of control-ownership disparity on foreign investors investing in Korean firms. Control-ownership disparity occurs when certain shareholders of a firm have actual voting power that exceeds the corresponding equity ownership. This may matter to foreign investors because the disparity gives rise to the risk of tunneling by the controlling shareholders. The empirical results show that foreign investors prefer firms with low control-ownership disparity, suggesting that they are sensitive to corporate governance of firms they invest in. More interestingly, foreign portfolio investors are more sensitive to control-ownership disparity than foreign strategic investors who are usually corporations in related industries. Further, the control-ownership disparity has stronger negative effects on foreign portfolio investors when they invest in Chaebol-affiliated firms than non-Chaebol firms.

Suggested Citation

  • Lee, Youkyoung & Cho, Myeonghyeon, 2016. "Does control-ownership disparity matter to foreign investors in Korea?," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 44(C), pages 219-231.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:reveco:v:44:y:2016:i:c:p:219-231
    DOI: 10.1016/j.iref.2016.04.007
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S105905601630020X
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.iref.2016.04.007?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. Bong‐Chan Kho & René M. Stulz & Francis E. Warnock, 2009. "Financial Globalization, Governance, and the Evolution of the Home Bias," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 47(2), pages 597-635, May.
    2. Klapper, Leora F. & Love, Inessa, 2004. "Corporate governance, investor protection, and performance in emerging markets," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 10(5), pages 703-728, November.
    3. Cronqvist, Henrik & Nilsson, Mattias, 2003. "Agency Costs of Controlling Minority Shareholders," Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, Cambridge University Press, vol. 38(4), pages 695-719, December.
    4. Kuan, Tsung-Han & Li, Chu-Shiu & Liu, Chwen-Chi, 2012. "Corporate governance and cash holdings: A quantile regression approach," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 24(C), pages 303-314.
    5. Brennan, Michael J & Cao, H Henry, 1997. "International Portfolio Investment Flows," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 52(5), pages 1851-1880, December.
    6. Franks, Julian & Mayer, Colin, 2001. "Ownership and Control of German Corporations," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 14(4), pages 943-977.
    7. Megumi Suto & Masashi Toshino, 2005. "Behavioural Biases of Japanese Institutional Investors: fund management and corporate governance," Corporate Governance: An International Review, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 13(4), pages 466-477, July.
    8. Mariassunta Giannetti & Andrei Simonov, 2006. "Which Investors Fear Expropriation? Evidence from Investors' Portfolio Choices," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 61(3), pages 1507-1547, June.
    9. Huberman, Gur, 2001. "Familiarity Breeds Investment," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 14(3), pages 659-680.
    10. O'Connor, Thomas & Kinsella, Stephen & O'Sullivan, Vincent, 2014. "Legal protection of investors, corporate governance, and investable premia in emerging markets," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 29(C), pages 426-439.
    11. Bushman, Robert & Chen, Qi & Engel, Ellen & Smith, Abbie, 2004. "Financial accounting information, organizational complexity and corporate governance systems," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 37(2), pages 167-201, June.
    12. Lucian A. Bebchuk & Reinier Kraakman & George Triantis, 2000. "Stock Pyramids, Cross-Ownership, and Dual Class Equity: The Mechanisms and Agency Costs of Separating Control from Cash-Flow Rights," NBER Chapters, in: Concentrated Corporate Ownership, pages 295-318, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    13. 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.
    14. Brickley, James A. & Lease, Ronald C. & Smith, Clifford Jr., 1988. "Ownership structure and voting on antitakeover amendments," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 20(1-2), pages 267-291, January.
    15. Morck, Randall K. (ed.), 2000. "Concentrated Corporate Ownership," National Bureau of Economic Research Books, University of Chicago Press, edition 1, number 9780226536781, November.
    16. Kang, Jun-Koo & Stulz, Rene M, 1996. "How Different Is Japanese Corporate Finance? An Investigation of the Information Content of New Security Issues," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 9(1), pages 109-139.
    17. Kang, Jun-Koo & Stulz, Rene M., 1997. "Why is there a home bias? An analysis of foreign portfolio equity ownership in Japan," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 46(1), pages 3-28, October.
    18. Liljeblom, Eva & Loflund, Anders, 2005. "Determinants of international portfolio investment flows to a small market: Empirical evidence," Journal of Multinational Financial Management, Elsevier, vol. 15(3), pages 211-233, July.
    19. Mark Grinblatt & Matti Keloharju, 2001. "How Distance, Language, and Culture Influence Stockholdings and Trades," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 56(3), pages 1053-1073, June.
    20. Wu, Meng-Wen & Shen, Chung-Hua & Lu, Chin-Hwa, 2015. "Do more foreign strategic investors and more directors improve the earnings smoothing? The case of China," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 36(C), pages 3-16.
    21. 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.
    22. Ahearne, Alan G. & Griever, William L. & Warnock, Francis E., 2004. "Information costs and home bias: an analysis of US holdings of foreign equities," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 62(2), pages 313-336, March.
    23. Kim, In Joon & Eppler-Kim, Jiyeon & Kim, Wi Saeng & Byun, Suk Joon, 2010. "Foreign investors and corporate governance in Korea," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 18(4), pages 390-402, September.
    24. Kim, Woochan & Sung, Taeyoon & Wei, Shang-Jin, 2011. "Does corporate governance risk at home affect investment choices abroad?," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 85(1), pages 25-41, September.
    25. 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.
    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. Kim, Daehwan & Iwasawa, Seiichiro, 2017. "Hot money and cross-section of stock returns during the global financial crisis," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 50(C), pages 8-22.
    2. Kang, Sanggyu & Chung, Chune Young & Kim, Dong-Soon, 2019. "The effect of institutional blockholders' short-termism on firm innovation: Evidence from the Korean market," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 57(C).
    3. Chauhan, Yogesh & Kumar, Surya B., 2019. "Does accounting comparability alleviate the informational disadvantage of foreign investors?11We thank the editor, Professor Carl R. Chen, and two reviewers for their comments that greatly improved th," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 60(C), pages 114-129.

    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. Kim, Woochan & Sung, Taeyoon & Wei, Shang-Jin, 2011. "Does corporate governance risk at home affect investment choices abroad?," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 85(1), pages 25-41, September.
    2. Renée Adams & Daniel Ferreira, 2008. "One Share-One Vote: The Empirical Evidence," Review of Finance, European Finance Association, vol. 12(1), pages 51-91.
    3. Abdioglu, Nida & Khurshed, Arif & Stathopoulos, Konstantinos, 2013. "Foreign institutional investment: Is governance quality at home important?," Journal of International Money and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 32(C), pages 916-940.
    4. Mike Burkart & Samuel Lee, 2008. "One Share - One Vote: the Theory," Review of Finance, European Finance Association, vol. 12(1), pages 1-49.
    5. Hsu, Audrey Wen-hsin & Liu, Sophia Hsin-Tsai, 2016. "Organizational structure, agency costs, and accrual quality," Journal of Contemporary Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 12(1), pages 35-60.
    6. Lee, Junyong & Lee, Kyounghun & Oh, Frederick Dongchuhl, 2023. "International portfolio diversification and the home bias puzzle," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 64(C).
    7. Chan, Kalok & Covrig, Vicentiu, 2012. "What determines mutual fund trading in foreign stocks?," Journal of International Money and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 31(4), pages 793-817.
    8. Heitor Almeida & Sang Yong Park & Marti Subrahmanyam & Daniel Wolfenzon, 2009. "The Structure and Formation of Business Groups: Evidence from Korean Chaebols," NBER Working Papers 14983, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    9. Torres, Juan Pablo & Jara Bertín, Mauricio & López-Iturriaga, Félix J., 2017. "Corporate control and firm value: The bright side of business groups," Journal of Family Business Strategy, Elsevier, vol. 8(2), pages 99-108.
    10. Edwards, Jeremy S.S. & Weichenrieder, Alfons J., 2009. "Control rights, pyramids, and the measurement of ownership concentration," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 72(1), pages 489-508, October.
    11. Pinar Sener, 2019. "Foreign investors' preferences for family involvement and corporate governance: evidence from Turkey," Economics Bulletin, AccessEcon, vol. 39(1), pages 237-246.
    12. Gur Aminadav & Elias Papaioannou, 2020. "Corporate Control around the World," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 75(3), pages 1191-1246, June.
    13. R. Balasubramanian & Brajesh Kumar, 2023. "Equity Home Bias in Emerging and Advanced Economies: Trend Before and During COVID-19," International Advances in Economic Research, Springer;International Atlantic Economic Society, vol. 29(4), pages 261-275, November.
    14. 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.
    15. Christian Leuz & Karl V. Lins & Francis E. Warnock, 2010. "Do Foreigners Invest Less in Poorly Governed Firms?," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 23(3), pages 3245-3285, March.
    16. Boubaker, Sabri & Derouiche, Imen & Lasfer, Meziane, 2015. "Geographic location, excess control rights, and cash holdings," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 42(C), pages 24-37.
    17. Mishra, Anil V. & Ratti, Ronald A., 2011. "Governance, monitoring and foreign investment in Chinese companies," Emerging Markets Review, Elsevier, vol. 12(2), pages 171-188, June.
    18. Hari Venkatesh & Jyoti Kumari & Gourishankar S. Hiremath & Hiranmoy Roy, 2021. "Foreign Institutional Investors: Fair-Weather Friends or Smart Traders?," Journal of Quantitative Economics, Springer;The Indian Econometric Society (TIES), vol. 19(2), pages 291-316, June.
    19. Mishra, Anil V. & Ratti, Ronald A., 2013. "Home bias and cross border taxation," Journal of International Money and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 32(C), pages 169-193.
    20. repec:dau:papers:123456789/5922 is not listed on IDEAS
    21. Randall Morck, 2009. "The Riddle of the Great Pyramids," NBER Working Papers 14858, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Foreign portfolio investors; Foreign strategic investors; Corporate governance; Control-ownership disparity;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • 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
    • F21 - International Economics - - International Factor Movements and International Business - - - International Investment; Long-Term Capital Movements

    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:reveco:v:44:y:2016:i:c:p:219-231. 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/inca/620165 .

    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.