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		| Francois  HERMET | 
	
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		| ''CURRENCY CRISIS AND BALANCE  SHEET CHANNEL EFFECT. The Korean Experience'' | 
	
		| ( 2003, Vol. 6 No.12 ) | 
	
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		| Some theoretical crisis models of third generation incorporate the "balance sheet effect" emphasized by Bernanke and Gertler (1989) and many papers since. In a crisis context this mechanism, based on asymmetric information in  the credit market, describes how a currency depreciation affects domestic firms' investment.  This paper proposes an empirical validation of  this  theoretical prediction. To this end, we study the investment behaviour of  477 Korean manufacturing firms, particularly  during the 1997 Asian crisis.  However, contrary to many studies in which cash flow account variable is used as  proxy for entrepreneurs'' net worth, our analysis focuses on a more relevant variable, the  cash stock, to measure these internal funds. The preliminary results stipulate that firms'' balance sheets in the aftermath of the Asian crisis, are more robust in explaining investment than before the crisis. It is further shown that this relationship is more relevant for small firms. | 
	
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		| Keywords: | 
	
		| JEL: F3 - International Finance: General D2 - Production and Organizations: General
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		| | Manuscript Received : Oct 07 2003 |  | Manuscript Accepted : Nov 20 2003 | 
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