• Economic Analysis
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• v.25 no.2
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• pp.132-176
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• 2019

We use a time-varying parameter vector auto regression (TVP-VAR) model to understand the impact of U.S. monetary policy normalization on Korean financial markets and capital accounts. The U.S. monetary policy is represented by the federal funds rate, term premium and credit spread. During the U.S. monetary contraction period of 2004 to 2006, changes in the federal funds rate presented negative pressure on Korean financial markets. The changes in federal funds rate also led to a simultaneous contraction in inward and outward capital flows. However, the effects of a federal funds rate shock has been reduced since 2015. On the other hand, the effects of U.S. term premiums is getting stronger after the period of quantitative easing (QE). The influence of the U.S. credit spread also significantly increased after the global financial crisis. Simulation results show that a rise in the U.S. credit spread, which can be triggered by a contractionary monetary policy, can pose a larger adverse impact on the Korean economy than a rise in the federal funds rate itself. As for capital flows, a U.S. monetary policy contraction causes an outflow of foreign investment, but the repatriation of overseas investment by Korean residents can offset this outflow.

• The Korean Journal of Financial Management
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• v.27 no.2
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• pp.35-62
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• 2010

This paper examines the existence of the fund performance persistence and the smart money effect in Korean stock market and tests the flow-induced price pressure (FIPP) hypothesis, that is, fund flows affect individual stock returns and mutual fund performance. This paper also tests whether the FIPP effect can cause the performance persistence using the monthly returns and stock holdings data of 2,702 Korean mutual funds from January 2002 to June 2008. The empirical results indicate that the performance persistence exists significantly for a long time but the smart money effect does not. The hedge portfolio constructed by buying funds with the highest past 12 months performance and selling funds with the lowest past 12 months performance earns 0.11%~1.05% monthly abnormal returns, on average, in 3 years from portfolio formation month, but the hedge portfolio constructed by buying funds with the highest past net fund inflows and selling funds with the lowest past net fund inflows cannot earn positive monthly abnormal returns and the size of negative abnormal returns of the portfolio increase as time goes on. We find the evidence that the FIPP hypothesis is significantly supported. We first estimate the FIPP measure for each individual stock using the trading volume resulting from past fund flows and then construct the hedge portfolio by buying stocks with the highest FIPP measure and selling stocks with the lowest FIPP measure. That portfolio earns significantly positive abnormal return, 1.01% at only portfolio formation month and cannot earn significant abnormal returns after formation month. But, the FIPP effect cannot cause the performance persistence because, within the same FIPP measure group, funds with higher past performance still earn higher monthly abnormal returns than those with lower past performance by 0.08%~0.77%, on average, in 2 years. These results imply that the main cause of the performance persistence in Korean stock market is the difference of fund managers' ability rather than the FIPP effect.

• The Journal of the Korea Contents Association
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• v.17 no.6
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• pp.504-513
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• 2017

This study investigated one of the controversial issues on debate or even controversial between policy makers at the government and corporate levels: To examine any financial determinants on the cash holdings of the firms in the advanced and emerging capital markets. Futhermore, it focused on the large representative firms headquartered in the U.S. and the Republic of Korea, taking into account scarcity of the previous literature concentrated on the comparative studies on this particular subject. Several legitimate, but robust econometric estimations such as static and dynamic panel data models and Tobit regression, were applied to investigate possible financial factors ono the cash liquidity. Given the continued debates or arguments on the excess cash reserves between interest partied at the government and corporate levels in the advanced and/or emerging capital markets, and more accelerated capital transfers among associated nations by engaging in the arrangements of the FTAs, the results of the study may provide a vision to search for the optimal level of corporate cash holdings for firms in the two nations.

• International Area Studies Review
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• v.15 no.1
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• pp.291-314
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• 2011

We examine the motives of foreigner's investments in the Korean bonds by maturity and try to prove that market impacts are different by their investment maturity. Foreign investors initially focused on short-term bonds, but have expanded to mid- to long-term bonds since 2010. The previous studies found that covered interest arbitrage was the main reason for foreign investment. However, there should be some other reasons as their investment in mid- to long-term bonds might have nothing to do with arbitrage. In the empirical analysis, we found that foreign investment in bonds with less than 2 year maturity is driven by arbitrage as previous studies. However, investment in bonds with 2-5 year maturity is sensitive to the FX volatility and the stock market performance compared with the U.S. and investment in bonds with more than 5 year maturity is driven by the CDS premium differential between Korea and PIIGS countries. The more foreigners have invested mid- to long-term bonds, the stronger downward pressure has been on the bond yields. In addition, foreign investors indirectly affected the spreads. Meanwhile, the government should prepare some policy measures since concerns over side effects such as the Korean won appreciation and an abrupt capital outflow are arising.