Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society (한국산학기술학회논문지)

The Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society (한국산학기술학회)
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Financial Leverage of Korean Business Conglomerates "Chaebols" in the Post-Asian Financial Crisis

아시아 금융위기 이후의 한국 재벌기업들의 부채비율 고찰

  • Kim, Han-Joon (Dept. of Business Administration, Hoseo University)
  • 김한준 (호서대학교 사회과학대학 경영학과)
  • Received : 2011.01.19
  • Accepted : 2011.02.10
  • Published : 2011.02.28
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Abstract

This study is to perform several major analyses to find any differences in the leverage between the pre- and post-period of the currency crisis. Moreover, another aspect is to investigate a financial aspect which has received relatively little attention to the firms and/or industries in the emerging capital markets in comparison to those in the advanced markets. The purpose of this empirical study is to confirm whether or not, it is myth or reality that Korean business conglomerate, chaebol, firms with subsidized financing from government-owned domestic financial institutions in the pre-financial turmoil, may still maintain their higher leverage, even after the crisis. It was found that firms belonging to the chaebol in Korea maintained higher average book-value and market-value based debt ratios, relative to their counterparts not belonging to the chaebol across all of the tested models. There were positive relationships of IND3(=the chemical industry) and Ind5(=the construction industry) to the book-value leverage. This study identified that there were no differences in the explanatory variables included, between the tested models (that is, without and with including the present value of an operating lease) related to each debt ratio. Since the Korean government continue to improve the corporate governance of the domestic firms in terms of accounting transparency and corporate ownership, it would be more efficient, if utilizing this "new" ratio considering an operating lease as an effective measurement of the level of leverage. In terms of the capital structure, it may also be possible for foreign firms to utilize and benefit from the results obtained in this study when operating their new businesses in Korea, given the economic circumstances such as the ongoing progress of the Korea-America FTA or the Korea-China FTA.

본 연구의 배경은 아시아 외환위기 발생시점 기준, 사전 및 사후 기간 상호 간의 국내 대기업들의 부채비율 변화에 대한 차이점을 발견하기 위해 분석하는 것이다. 본 연구의 목적은 정부로부터 타인자본 조달 시 상대적으로 우선순위를 유지하였다고 주장되는 재벌기업 중심의 대기업들이, 금융위기 이후에도 연구표본자료에 포함된 대응기업들과 비교에서 지속적으로 높은 부채비율을 유지하는가에 대한 가설을 검증하는 것이다. 재벌에 속하는 기업들은 평균적으로 높은 장부가 대비 그리고 시장가 대비 부채비율을 상대기업들과 비교하여, 표본기간동안 유지하였음이 판명되었고, '시간' 대용 더미변수인 2002년과 2003년의 변수들은 (장부가 기준의) 부채비율과 역(-)의 상관관계를 보였다. 새로운 회계처리기준(K-IFRS)를 고려하여, 현재까지 대차대조표의 부외항목으로만 산정되는 영업리스 금액을 자산과 부채에 새로이 포함하여 산정한 부채비울 기준으로 분석한 결과, 모델에 포함된 설명변수들 기준, 차이가 없음을 통계적으로 발견하였다. 정부는 그 동안 지속적으로 기업회계의 투명성과 기업소유구조를 중심으로 한 기업지배구조의 개선에 관한 정책을 수행하여 왔으며, '새로운' 부채비율에 대한 정의는 기업의 부채를 측정하는 점에 더욱 효율적 일 수 있다고 판단한다. 또한, 현재 진행 중인 한국-미국 간 그리고 한국-중국 간 등의 자유무역협정(FTA)이 시행될 경우, 다국적 기업들의 국내 현지법인 설립 시, 본 논문의 결과는 동 법인들이 적정 부채비울을 구성하는 점에 응용될 수 있음을 시사한다고 판단한다.

Keywords

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