The Impact of the Asian Economic Crisis on Global Strategic Alliances of Korean Firms

The Korean economy has gone through rapid economic development and government policies have supported export and global expansion. As a result, Korean firms faced with resource deficiency domestically have actively engaged in international alliances to secure resources from foreign firms. As Korean firms have accelerated their globalization, they became vulnerable to unprecedented external shocks such as the Asian economic crisis in late 1997. This study examines the impact of the crisis on international alliance activity of Korean firms. Changes in partner's nationality, alliance goal, and frequencies in high-tech and low-tech industries are compared between the pre-crisis and the post-crisis periods.