The objective of this study was to establish whether global macroeconomic indicators affect the profitability of Korean shipping companies by using panel regression analysis. OROA (operating return on assets) and ROA (ratio of net profit to assets) were selected as proxy variables for profitability. OROA and ROA were used as dependent variables. The world GDP growth rate, interest rate, exchange rate, stock index, bunker price, freight, demand and supply of the world shipping market were set as independent variables. The size of the firm was added to the control variable. For small-sized firms, OROA was not affect by macroeconomic indicators. However, ROA was affected by variables such as interest rates, bunker prices, and size of firms. For medium-sized firms, OROA was affected by demand, supply, GDP, freight, and asset variables. However, macroeconomic indicators did not affect ROA. For large-sized firms, freight, GDP, and stock index (SCI; Shanghai Composite Index) have an effect on OROA. ROA was analyzed to be influenced by bunker price and SCI.

Abstract
 1. Introduction
 2. Literature review
 3. Data and sample
  3.1 Data
  3.2 Sample
  3.3 Grouping
 4. Empirical analysis
  4.1 Research model
  4.2 Stationarity tests of time series
  4.3 Quantile regression analysis based on assets
  4.4 Quantile regression analysis based on sales
 5. Conclusion
 References

• Myoung-Hee Kim(Division of Shipping Management, Korea Maritime and Ocean University)
• Ki-Hwan Lee(Division of Shipping Management, Korea Maritime and Ocean University) Corresponding author