Choice of entry timing and scale by foreign banks in Japan and Korea

This paper investigates the factors which explain the entry of relatively large banks into foreign markets. A theoretical framework linking entry and degree of commitment to a bank's competitive or ownership advantages and the potential benefits and costs of being in a specific foreign market is developed. This framework is used to specify a prognostic entry timing model and models of the form and scale of presence. The implications of the models are then tested using survival time analysis, multinomial logit and regression and data on foreign banks in Japan and Korea.