Hyun-Han Shin

Are Internal capital Markets Efficient

Using segment information from Compustat, we find that the investment by a segment of a diversified firm depends on the cash flow of the firms other segments, but significantly less than it depends on its own cash flow. The investment by segments of highly diversified firms is less sensitive to their cash flow than the investment of comparable single-segment firms. The sensitivity of a segments investment to the cash flow of other segments does not depend on whether its investment opportunities are better than those of the firms other segments.

Financing constraints and internal capital markets: Evidence from Korean 'chaebols'

Abstract We compare the investment–cash flow sensitivity of Korean chaebols (conglomerates) and non-chaebol firms. We show that investment–cash flow sensitivity is low and insignificant for chaebol firms but is high and significant for non-chaebol firms. On the other hand, a chaebol firms investment is significantly related to the growth opportunities but that of a non-chaebol firm is not. A chaebol firms investment is significantly affected by the cash flow of other firms within the same chaebol even though they are independent legal entities. With these findings, we argue that there is an internal capital market in a chaebol and the internal capital market reduces the financing constraints of the chaebol. However, the operation of the internal capital market does not improve the efficiency of allocation of scarce funds in the Korean economy since we find that chaebols invest more than non-chaebol firms despite their relatively poor growth opportunities.

Exposure to currency risk by US multinational corporations

Abstract Despite evidence that large US multinational corporations are hedging their exchange rate risk exposure, existing literature on the measurement of exchange rate risk does not give us a tool to measure the effect of such hedging activities of multinational firms. This paper revisited the measurement of exchange rate risk exposure using the cumulative translation adjustment as a trade-weighted dollar index faced by individual companies. We find that especially small multinational firms are exposed to foreign exchange risk and benefit from a weakening in the international value of the US dollar. The results also indicate that hedging activities by large firms are not so effective to eliminate exchange risk. Two industries in particular show a highly significant relation between changes in the cumulative translation account and equity returns, however, with an opposite sign, i.e. positive for electrical equipment and negative for primary metals.

Governance System Effectiveness Following the Crisis: the case of Korean business group headquarters

Various corporate governance initiatives were adopted in Korea following a major corporate governance failure, identified as a direct cause of the Asian Financial Crisis of 1997-1998. Our findings indicate that, before the crisis, the likelihood of replacing poorly performing CEOs was not related to business group (chaebol) affiliation. However, after the Asian Financial Crisis, we find CEO turnover sensitivity to performance is greater in chaebol firms than in stand-alone firms. These findings indicated improved monitoring following reforms initiated by the Korean government, NGOs and other capital market participants. These findings have implications for the effectiveness of corporate governance in US firms following governance restructuring imposed by the SEC, the government and various market participants. Copyright (c) 2006 The Authors; Journal compilation (c) 2006 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

Firm Value and Geographic Competitive Advantage: Evidence from the U.S. Pharmaceutical Industry*

This paper examines the effects of geographic sources of competitive advantage on firm value among publicly traded pharmaceutical companies in the United States. A central argument is that firm value responds positively to geographic factors. We hypothesize that firm value is influenced by the degree of industry clustering, university and industrial R&D spending, the presence of related or supporting industries, and the proximity of competitors. The empirical results lend support to our hypotheses. Even after controlling for the firm value determinants used by Fama and French (1998), geographic variables explain a significant part of the cross-sectional variation in firm value.

The Intensity and Externality Effects of Information Technology Investments on National Productivity Growth

This study investigates the relation between information technology (IT) expenditures and national productivity based on a production estimation approach by using a pooled time-series country-level data set for the period from 1992 to 2000. The results, which confirm the findings of earlier studies on country-level IT investment effect, show IT has significant and positive effects on national productivity growth. We find that IT intensity improves the positive effect of IT investment on national productivity growth and that the existence of IT externalities, through which spillovers of knowledge and innovation occur, may eventually lead to long-run persistent national productivity growth.

Why Does Capital No Longer Flow More to the Industries with the Best Growth Opportunities

With functionally efficient capital markets, we expect capital to flow more to the industries with the best growth opportunities. As a result, these industries should invest more and see their assets grow more relative to industries with the worst growth opportunities. We find that industries that receive more funds have a higher industry Tobin’s q until the mid-1990s, but not since then. Since industries with a higher funding rate grow more, there is a negative correlation not only between an industry’s funding rate and industry q but also between capital expenditures and industry q since the mid-1990s. We show that capital no longer flows more to the industries with the best growth opportunities because, since the middle of the 1990s, firms in high q industries increasingly repurchase shares rather than raise more funding from the capital markets.

Does Capital Flow More to High Tobin's Q Industries?

We examine whether capital flows more to high Tobins q industries and find that it flows more to high q industries from 1971 until 1996 but not from 1997 to 2014. This change is due to a decrease in the q-sensitivity of equity funding resulting mostly from the increased q-sensitivity of repurchases after 1996. The increase in intangible assets, the aging of American firms, and the impact of the China shock explain much of the change in the q-sensitivity of equity funding and repurchases. The results are robust to how q is estimated and to a non-q measure of growth opportunities.

BANK CREDITOR STRUCTURE AND BANK RISK DURING LIQUIDITY CRISES: A SURVEY WITH POLICY IMPLICATIONS

Abstract This chapter surveys papers and the related literature on the relationship between banks’ creditor structure and bank risk during the period of liquidity crises. Departing from the conventional banking literature, which points to deteriorating asset quality to be the culprit for the amplified bank risk in the midst of financial crises, the studies in the aftermath of the global financial crisis look into the liability side of the bank balance sheet as a potential source for the augmented bank risk during the financial crisis when there is a liquidity contraction. Recent studies theorize and provide empirical evidence that banking institutions with a greater share of large lenders and an economy with high noncore bank liabilities in the banking sector may experience heightened bank risk or country risk. We also search for policy implications from this survey.