Comparison Study on Shareholder Wealth and Ownership Structure in China and Korea

Ownership structure which is the base of corporate governance is mainly related to two aspects, concentration of ownership and composition of ownership. Ownership structure determines concentration of ownership and roles of different share owners thereby influences economic behaviors of share owners and behavior effects. Ownership structure directly influences inter surveillance mechanisms. In this paper, we examine the effect of governance variables and firm characteristics such as ownership structure, leverage, size on the firm value (stock return) and the determinants of the change of firm value during post-crisis down period in Korea and China. And as a result, we find that ownership structure can be the main force to the changes in firm value in emerging markets. Our results will support the relationship between corporate governance and firm value in East Asia such as China and Korea. JEL classification: G14, G15, G21, G32, G33