Corporate Governance in Korea: A Decade after the Financial Crisis

Abstract:     
Korea has significantly improved its quality of corporate governance since the 1997 financial crisis. Most notable are improved corporate transparency, better alignment of managerial incentives to shareholder value, and more effective oversight by the board. A number of players also have emerged as key external monitors and enforcers of good governance. There remain, however, substantial differences between non-chaebol and chaebol affiliated firms and also across chaebol. This paper describes these differences and the current state of Korean corporate governance.

Keywords: corporate governance, chaebol, Korea financial crisis

JEL Classifications: G32, G34, G38

Working Paper Series