During the 1997 Korean financial crisis, firms with higher ownership concentration by
unaffiliatedforeign investors experienced a smaller reduction in their share value. Firms that
hadhigher disclosure quality andalternative sources of external financing also sufferedless. In
contrast, chaebol firms with concentratedownership by controlling family shareholders
experienceda larger drop in the value of their equity. Firms in which the controlling
shareholders’ voting rights exceeded cash flow rights and those who borrowed more from the
main banks also hadlower returns. Our results suggest that change in firm value during a crisis
is a function of firm-level differences in corporate governance measures.