소액주주 의결권 보호제도가 외국인 투자자 지분율에 미치는 영향

This study aims to investigate the impact of minority shareholders’ voting rights protection on foreign investors ownership in Korea. Using longitudinal data during 2013-2017, the study examined the effect of cumulative voting system and electronic voting system on foreign investors ownership. The findings are as follows. First, foreign total ownership is positively related to the introduction of cumulative and electronic voting system, suggesting that minority shareholder protection can incentivize foreign shareholders to invest. Second, foreign block ownership is positively related to the introduction of cumulative and electronic voting system. This result implies that minority shareholder protection motivates foreign shareholders to invest as a blockholder who are more likely to participate in management. This study proves that foreign investors value the soundness of corporate governance in investment decision making. This study provides important implications for the recent discussion on the legalization of the voting protection systems for minority shareholders and the improvement of the corporate governance structure of Korean firms.