• The Korean Journal of Financial Management
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• v.27 no.1
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• pp.89-120
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• 2010

In this paper, we analyse empirically the relations between ownership structure and cash holdings of firms listed on Korea Securities Market and Kosdaq Market of Korea Exchange. The main results of this study can be summarized as follows. Cash holdings increase as large shareholder's equity holdings increase. Cash holdings increase as the difference between first largest shareholder's and second largest shareholder's equity holdings increase, and cash holdings increase as the ownership concentration increase. Managerial ownership exert a non-linear effects on cash holdings. So to speak, at lower level of managerial ownership, managers hold more cash to pursue their own interests at the expense of minority shareholders, but at higher level of managerial ownership, the interests of managers and shareholders are aligned, and also at highest level of managerial ownership, managers hold more cash to pursue their own interests at the expense of minority shareholders. Cash holdings increase larger in owner-controlled firm than in management-controlled firm. These results support the expropriation of minority shareholders hypothesis that large shareholders can extract private benefits from corporate resources under their control at the expense of minority shareholders. This paper contributes to defining information value of large shareholder's equity holdings on cash holdings for a firms' other stakeholders such as investors and creditors, and to strengthening a legal and institutional safeguard for external minority shareholders. Ownership concentration might have negatively affected the evolution of the legal and institutional frameworks for corporate governance and the manner in which economic activity is conducted. It could be a formidable barrier to future policy reform.

• Industry Promotion Research
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• v.9 no.3
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• pp.1-11
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• 2024

At shareholders' meetings, minority shareholders are inferior in information to owners and majority shareholders, and they are often excluded from important decision-making. As a result, the rights and interests of minority shareholders are often damaged, which acts as a factor that hinders corporate value. The electronic voting system is expected to encourage minority shareholders to participate in management decision-making, which is expected to help increase corporate value. The results of the analysis in this study are summarized as follows. First, it was found that there was no difference between the earnings persistence of companies that introduced the electronic voting system and the earnings persistence of companies that did not. Second, we found no evidence that the introduction of the electronic voting system would increase the value of firms. Third, the effect of earnings persistence on corporate value of companies that adopted the electronic voting system was no different from that of firms that did not adopt it.

• The Journal of Asian Finance, Economics and Business
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• v.7 no.8
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• pp.451-459
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• 2020

This study aims to examine the relationship of the four factors that increase the protection of minority shareholder investment. The factors are non-controlling shareholders, corporate governance, free cash flow, and shareholder wealth. The data for this study is obtained from the 2017 annual reports of 136 Thai public companies listed in the Market of Alternative Investment of Thailand (MAI). The analysis uses a multiple regression model to determine which factors encourage and which inhibit the protection of minority shareholder investment. The study tests four hypotheses. The results rejected H1 because non-controlling shareholders have negatively correlated with minority shareholder investment protection (beta -0.155 and p-value 0.050). The results accepted H2, H3 and H4 as follows. H2: corporate governance has positively correlated with minority shareholder investment protection (beta 0.17 and p-value 0.031). H3: free cash flow has positively correlated with minority shareholder investment protection (beta 0.214 and p-value 0.007). H4: shareholder wealth has positively correlated with minority shareholder investment protection (beta 0.318 and p-value 0.000). The major findings suggest strong minority shareholder investment protection was enhanced by increasing corporate governance, free cash flow and shareholder wealth. The protection of minority shareholder investment needs to reduce non-controlling shareholding pattern.

• Journal of Distribution Science
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• v.20 no.3
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• pp.53-58
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• 2022

Purpose: Controlling and minority shareholders sometimes have conflicting interests. Controlling shareholders who do not have adequate monitoring can exhibit a strong tendency to maximize their personal wealth. In this case, cash holdings can be the easiest means for them to pursue their personal interests. This study examined whether the largest shareholder's ownership proportion affected the speed at which firms adjust their cash holdings to target levels in Korean distribution and service companies. Research design, data, and methodology: The study uses regression analysis to examine 834 firm-year samples listed on the KOSPI between 2013 and 2018 in the distribution and service sectors. Results: The largest shareholder's ownership is positively related to a firm's cash holdings adjustment speed. That is, the larger the largest shareholder's ownership, the faster the firm adjusts its cash holdings to achieve the target level. Conclusions: This study contributes to the literature by providing evidence that the cash holdings adjustment speed in Korean service and distribution companies is affected by the largest shareholder's ownership. As the agency problem between controlling and minority shareholders in Korea is a major issue, minority owners' sensitivity to agency costs may help restrict controlling owners' ability to maximize their personal wealth.

• The Journal of Fisheries Business Administration
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• v.33 no.2
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• pp.99-125
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• 2002

Fisheries cooperative requires dual characteristics in performing its original function. Economic characteristic as an business enterprise and democratic characteristic as cooperative entity need to complete its objectives and survive in the complex rapidly-changing environment. After IMF crisis, fisheries cooperative received enormous government's financial support and credit-business department is perfectly under government's control. Regional fisheries cooperative also faces business failure, therefore pure cooperative movement can't save the fisheries cooperative. Economic characteristic as an business enterprise is more emphasized than democratic characteristic as cooperative entity in recent years. The theory of corporate ownership and governance can be applied to explain the ownership and governance of fisheries cooperative because fisheries cooperative is now similar to an business enterprise. During the IMF crisis the board, the auditors and the minority shareholders in business enterprise were revealed to be powerless against the mighty influence of controlling shareholders. Unconstrained discretion exercised by those controlling shareholders not only led to the firms'insolvency, but also brought down the country's financial system. During the past few years, Korea has experienced many institutional changes regarding its corporate governance structure. The introduction of outside directors, the strengthening of minority shareholders' rights, and enhanced accounting transparency are achieved to improve the efficiency of economic system. Investors, including institutional and individual, also seem to be more aware of governance issues now. Credit-business department of fisheries cooperative is recommended to introduce the institutions same as the case of the corporate governance structure. Fisheries cooperative except economic and credit-business department requires other prescriptions because it is emphasized as democratic cooperative entity. But we should be careful to interpret the ownership and governance structure because they are products of nations, eras and organizations.

• The Journal of Asian Finance, Economics and Business
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• v.9 no.9
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• pp.61-73
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• 2022

The article examines the ownership structure and dividend payout behavior of India-listed firms using a panel regression approach. It focuses on family ownership and examines why dividend payouts of family firms differ from non-family firms. The study finds that family firms dominate and have concentrated ownership using data from the NSE-listed regular dividend-paying firms. Although family ownership concentration is high among Indian firms, these firms are not concerned about distributing cash as dividends. Instead, these firms focus on retaining and passing on control from one generation to the next. The evidence shows that family firms pay low dividends and have higher leverage than non-family counterparts. The results support the entrenchment of minority shareholders and the proposition that a high payout signals a reduction in the information asymmetry and level of risk. The study further illustrates that cash dividends tend to reduce the level of risk perceived; however, (cash dividend) leads to the deterioration firm's liquidity and aid in the shrinking of cash among emerging market firms. The originality of the paper lies in factoring ownership concentration while explaining the dividend behaviour from an emerging markets perspective, characterized by high private benefits and weak protection for external minority shareholders.

• International Area Studies Review
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• v.13 no.1
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• pp.241-263
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• 2009

This paper explores the impacts of ownership structure on performance of listed firms in China using 1994-2002 data. Using a new ownership classification scheme, this paper analyzes the impact of three factors, the ownership identity, equity ownership by the controlling shareholder, and equity ownership by the minority shareholders, on the performance of firms. Panel regression analysis shows that the firms controlled by the government are outperformed by firms controlled by private owners, supporting the hypothesis that the state pursues political objectives such as excess employment rather than profit maximization or the hypothesis that political interference by the Party or government may cause high political costs. Regression results also show that higher equity ownership by the controlling shareholder improves firm performance in private controlled firms and partially in marketized corporate controlled firms. The results also show that higher equity ownership by relatively large shareholders (from top 2 to top 10 shareholders) leads to better performance in marketized corporate controlled firms and partially in private controlled firms.

• Journal of the Korea Convergence Society
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• v.10 no.8
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• pp.217-226
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• 2019

This study examines the effect of the wedge between voting rights and cash flow rights of controlling shareholders on the implied cost of equity. Prior studies posit that controlling shareholder's voting rights exceeding cash flow rights causes expropriating minority shareholders. Using date from 793 group-affiliated Korean firms for 10 years from 2005 to 2016, the result shows that there is a positive and significant relationship between controlling shareholders' wedge and implied cost of equity. This result implies that investors regard the controlling shareholders' wedge as potential agency cost in which they require additional risk premium because controlling shareholders have a strong incentive to pursue their private interests trough tunneling practices.

• Journal of Distribution Science
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• v.14 no.8
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• pp.51-57
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• 2016

Purpose - If control-ownership disparity is large, managers will not actively reduce costs; rather, they will maintain unutilized resources or possess surplus resources even when sales decrease with the purpose of increasing personal utility from status, power, compensation, and prestige. These managers' utility maximizing tendencies cause cost stickiness. We examine whether asymmetric behavior related to costs becomes stronger when there is a large disparity between ownership and control rights. Research design, data, and methodology - We construct a regression model to examine the relationship between control-ownership disparity and cost stickiness. STICKY, a dependent variable representing cost stickiness is a value found using the method of Weiss (2010), and Disparity is an interest variable that shows control-ownership disparity. Results - This study is based from the unique situations in Korea, in which high control-ownership disparity is common in firms. Large control-ownership disparity was found to increase cost stickiness of corporations. Conclusions - The results of this study imply that controlling shareholders may be regarded as a threat to the interests of minority shareholders and corporate values especially when controlling shareholders have significant influence over managers or the power to make managerial decisions as owners of a corporation.

• The Journal of Asian Finance, Economics and Business
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• v.5 no.4
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• pp.127-133
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• 2018

Corporate social responsibility (CSR) is one of the strategies for managing firms' business activities but may have heterogeneity depending on ownership structures. This study investigates the association between group-affiliation and CSR activities. Drawing on a theory from the prior research, this study predicts that group-affiliated firms are less likely to invest on CSR activities. For instance, prior research finds that controlling shareholders expropriate the values of minority shareholders. As one of the motivations of investing on CSR activities is the harmonization among the stakeholders, it leads to the prediction that firms controlled by large shareholders are less likely to engage in CSR activities. Second, group-affiliated firms under poor financial performance benefit from other group members through sharing their financial resources. Thus, there is less incentive for managers of group-affiliated firms to increase their financial performance by conducting CSR. By leveraging firms listed in Korean stock market and CSR score from Korea Economic Justice Institute, the result shows that the group-affiliation is negatively related to CSR activities. The result is consistent in case of applying propensity score-matched sample. Based on the findings of this study, this paper contributes to the related literature by showing the significant association between group-affiliation and CSR decisions.