Professor Thummim Cho of Korea University Business School received the SK Award for research examining how expectations of a firm’s future market power are reflected in stock prices and firm value. 

I am honored to receive the SK Award for this paper. This research was conducted in collaboration with young scholars in the United States and the United Kingdom and was made possible through the strong research support of Korea University Business School. I will strive to repay the school’s generous support with even deeper and more rigorous research in the future. 

• Paper Title : Present Value of Future Market Power 
• Journal : Review of Financial Studies 
• Publication Date : February 16, 2026 
• Summary of Key Findings : 

This paper demonstrates that a firm’s future market power is not easily captured by current profitability alone, and that stock prices reflect expectations about how strong that market power will become over time. In other words, the study bridges research on market power in industrial organization and firm valuation in finance. 

For example, in Korea, assessing which firms are likely to gain greater market power or market share in the future requires looking beyond current profits or market share to also consider how the stock market evaluates each firm’s potential for expanding its future dominance. 

The empirical approach is relatively straightforward. First, the Campbell–Shiller identity is modified to derive a decomposition of firm value into several components, including expected future market power, growth, investment, and discount rates. The study then uses firm-level data and stock prices to infer the market’s expectations about the future. The results show that, among U.S. firms, expectations of future market power account for a substantial portion of firm value increases. This process is accompanied by a reallocation toward firms with stronger market shares, as well as an intensification of dominance within firms. 

▶ View the original paper: Present Value of Future Market Power