The Ownership of the Largest Family Blockholders and Korean Firm Risk

This paper investigates the relationship between the ownership of the largest family blockholders and corporate risk. We also examine whether firms that belong to 30 main Chaebol groups lower corporate risk. We use panel analysis for companies listed on the Korea Exchange from 2005 to 2017. We use beta, volatility, and idiosyncratic risk as a proxy for corporate risk. We employ both the ownership of the largest family blockholders and firms that belong to 30 main Chaebol groups as a major independent variable. The results show that the ownership of the largest family blockholders is associated with low beta. In terms of the effects of the ownership of the largest family blockholders on beta, we find that a firm that belongs to the 30 main Chaebol group reinforces the lower beta. These results suggest that the ownership of the largest family blockholders and firms that belongs to 30 main Chaebol groups may be associated with low systematic risk in the Korean stock market. Our findings can provide meaningful information to investors and field officers who are interested in the relationship between firm risk and both the largest family blockholders’ ownership and firms that belong to 30 main Chaebol groups.