Do foreign investors make firms more transparent? Evidence from Korea

In this study, we investigate whether foreign equity participation enhances the level of transparency in Korean listed firms’ accounting information. Using panel data on the Korean listed firms during the 1999–2019 period, we find that foreign ownership has a positive effect on the accounting transparency of firms. This suggests that foreign investors effectively monitor the earnings management activities of a firm and contribute to increasing the quality of accounting information. In addition, this positive impact of foreign equity ownership is more pronounced in non-chaebol firms than in chaebols. We further show that foreign investors reinforce the effect of changes in accounting systems on the transparency of Korean firms. Finally, firms with enhanced transparency by foreign investors perform better in the future. Overall, our study highlights the importance of foreign investors for enhancing accounting transparency in the Korean stock market. (JEL F21, F65, G15, G30, M40)