• The Journal of Asian Finance, Economics and Business
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• v.6 no.1
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• pp.21-31
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• 2019

This paper examines how corporate social responsibility is related to the degree of asymmetric information in the Korean financial market. Recent theory argues that there is a negative relationship between a firm's corporate social responsibility and its information asymmetry. To test this hypothesis, we use the environment, social and governance (ESG) score, published by the Korean Corporate Governance Service, to proxy a firm's management practices toward socially responsible activities. In the entire sample of the Korean firms, we find contrasting results; the ESG score shows negative relationships with the price impact measure but statistically insignificant relationships with the dispersion of analyst forecasts. However, the ESG score shows negative relationships with both measures when we exclude chaebol affiliates from the sample. These findings are robust when we examine environmental, social and corporate governance scores separately. This set of results argues for the extant theory, expecting a negative relationship between a firm's engagement in corporate social responsibility and asymmetric information. It further argues for the importance of firm characteristics in determining the influence of socially responsible activities.

• Journal of the Korea Convergence Society
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• v.13 no.4
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• pp.233-244
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• 2022

One of the most noteworthy topics in recent corporate management is ESG(Environmental, Social, Governance). Although there are many companies that have declared ESG management, KT has declared full-fledged ESG management in 2021 and is sharing its sustainable management strategy with stakeholders. In addition, KT is strengthening ESG management by issuing ESG bonds for the first time in the domestic ICT industry. At a time when the information technology industry became more important due to COVID-19, this study attempted to examine KT's ESG management goals and strategies by dividing them into environmental, social, and governance areas. KT was aiming to achieve environmental integrity through 'environmental management', 'green competence', 'energy resources', and 'eco-friendly projects' in the environmental field. In addition, in the social field, genuine creating social value was pursued through 'social contribution', 'co-growth', and 'human rights management'. Finally, in the governance area, it was aiming for a transparent corporate management system to pursue economic reliability through 'ethics and compliance' and 'risk management'. In particular, KT was promoting its own ESG management by promoting strategies to solve environmental and social problems using AI and BigData technologies based on the characteristics of a digital platform company. This study aims to derive implications for ESG strategy establishment and ESG management development direction through KT's ESG management case in relation to ESG management, which has emerged as a hot topic.

• Journal of Environmental Science International
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• v.31 no.12
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• pp.1117-1126
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• 2022

This study analyzed the effect of Corporate Social Responsibility and ESG (Environmental, Social and Governance) score on information asymmetry from the perspective of investors, who are important stakeholders of the company. For KOSPI-listed companies from 2017 to 2020, the effect of ESG overall score and each item score (E, S, G) on the bid-ask spread, which is a proxy for information asymmetry, was confirmed. The results are as follows. First, the increase in corporate CSR activities resulted in lowering information asymmetry of investors. It was found that the higher the ESG score, an indicator of CSR activity, the lower the bid-ask spread, which is a proxy variable for information asymmetry. Second, as a result of analysis using ESG scores for each section, information asymmetry decreased as companies with higher scores in the environmental (E) and social (S) aspects, while the governance (G) score did not have a statistically significant effect. The analysis confirmed that corporate CSR activities can contribute to improving market efficiency by resolving information asymmetry of investors and convergence of the stock market into a state of equilibrium. This means that the company's CSR activities are reflected in the investment decision-making, which suggests that the company should consider the investor as a stakeholder in decision-making related to CSR activities.

• Journal of Distribution Science
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• v.12 no.8
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• pp.113-121
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• 2014

Purpose - Recently, the number of corporations that practice environmental and social responsibility, besides engaging in traditional profit-seeking activities, has been growing steadily, as interest in Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is increasing. Recent research on CSR practices has identified the relationship between CSR activities and corporate value as one of the main issues in this respect. Considering that donations constitute a large proportion of a company's charitable activities, we considered the extent of donation expenses as a charitable activity in order to mitigate sample selection bias. Specifically, we analyzed the impact of donation expenses on firm value, while investigating if this impact varied in response to the level of corporate governance of firms. Research design, data, and methodology - We used non-financial firms listed on the Korean Stock Exchange, having their fiscal year end in December, and the sample period was 2006-2013. For the dependent variable, Tobin's q was used as the corporate value, and for the independent variable, donations were measured as the donation-expense-to-sales ratio. Corporate governance scores, as rated by the Korea Corporate Governance Service, were used to measure corporate governance levels because they consider the overall aspects of governance, including ownership structure, the board of directors, and the audit mechanism of individual companies. To examine the impact of donations on a company in relation to the level of corporate governance, we estimated regression models using the interaction terms of the governance dummy and donation variables. Then, we further estimated the regression models of two sub-samples that were classified according to the level of corporate governance. Similar to previous studies, the study uses variables that affect firm value, such as R&D expenditure, advertising expenses, EBITDA, debt-to-equity ratio, sales growth, company age, and company size as control variables. Results - The empirical results show that firm value significantly increased in response to an increase in donation expenses. Upon including the interaction terms of governance level dummy variables and donations, the coefficients of the interaction terms show significant positive values, while those of donation variables show significant negative values. In the strong governance sub-sample, the relationship between the donation expenses and corporate value was statistically positive (+) and significant. However, in the weak governance sub-sample, the relationship between the donation expenses and corporate value was statistically insignificant and negative (-). Conclusions - The empirical results suggest that donation expenses are significantly linked to an enhanced corporate value if firms have a good corporate governance structure. However, if the corporate governance structure is weak, the same relationship is not necessarily observed. The results of this study show that if a firm has high corporate governance, CSR practices enhance the company's reputation such that it has a positive (+) relationship with corporate value. If a firm has weak corporate governance, on the other hand, CSR practices are recognized as an agency cost and do not increase corporate value.

• Clean Technology
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• v.28 no.2
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• pp.193-200
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• 2022

The term environmental, social and governance (ESG) was first used in the 2003 United Nations Environmental Programme Finance Initiative (UNEP FI). Among the three areas of ESG, environment refers to the impact of companies on the environment. Environmental factors address climate change policies and attempts to reduce emissions, waste and natural resource consumption. Social factors refer to the direction in which a company can improve the social impact of stakeholder includes employees, customers, communities, and governments involved in direct or indirect interaction with the organization itself and the company. Governance factors refer to stakeholders who make major decisions, the composition of the board of directors, their diversity and independence, and the internal policies that set limits and expectations for decision-making. Research related to ESG management is part of corporate social responsibility, sustainability, corporate or financial performance, and social responsibility investment. Through case studies and data-based empirical studies, it was confirmed that ESG management companies had positive results for most of the ESG related fields. Through literature analysis of domestic and international ESG history, introduction background, and management performance, this paper presents theoretical, practical implications by confirming that ESG's introduction and operation strategies are strong competitive strategies that directly affect corporate growth by creating attractive factors.

• Journal of Environmental Health Sciences
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• v.45 no.4
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• pp.295-309
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• 2019

Eight years have passed since the Korean government's medical agency officially reported that the fatal lung disease found in some hospitals in 2011 was caused by chemical disinfectants used in household humidifiers, marking the introduction of the humidifier disinfectant disaster. Over the past eight years, a medical-scientific approach has been taken by the Korean government in its efforts to solve the problems in terms of relief of and compensation for the potential victims. One of the unintended consequence of this approach has been the fact that the number of "official victims" recognized by the government is quite small compared to the total number of applicants who claim to be suffering from the humidifier disinfectant disaster. This is mainly due to the fact that the medical-scientific approach relies on excessively strict, rigid, and narrow medical-scientific criteria provided by medical experts for judging the degree of applicants' bodily damage from the use of humidifier disinfectants. As a result, this medical-scientific approach is becoming increasingly criticized by patients' organizations mainly composed of rejected applicants. Based on the analysis of the limits of this medical-scientific approach and after clarifying the social implications of the disaster from a sociological perspective, this paper proposes certain social approaches focused on participatory governance as a means of dealing with the current issue. Finally, the paper emphasizes that the act of taking social responses to the humidifier disinfectant disaster should also be considered a process of enlarging and deepening democracy in Korea.

• Industry Promotion Research
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• v.9 no.3
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• pp.57-75
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• 2024

This study examined how ESG activities of convenience stores, affect consumers' store loyalty. Using 300 valid samples of convenience store users collected through an online specialized agency (Company M), this study empirically analyzed the effects of environmental (E), social (S), and governance (G) activities among ESG on trust and store loyalty, and the mediating effects of trust and the moderating effects of eco-friendly values, social media activity, and consumer-company identification. The results of the analysis showed that, first, governance activities had a positive effect on trust, and environmental activities and trust had a positive effect on store loyalty, but social activities had no effect Second, trust had a moderating effect only on the relationship between governance activities and store loyalty, and third, in the relationship between ESG activities and trust, eco-friendly values and social media activity had moderating effects on environmental, social, and governance activities, and consumer-company identification had moderating effects on environmental and governance activities, but not on social activities. Therefore, convenience store brands should further strengthen their environmental and social activities to build consumer trust, especially environmental activities, which only directly affect store loyalty, so they should be more cautious and proactive. In addition, intensive marketing activities are needed to build trust among consumers who have high eco-friendly values, social media activity, and consumer-company identification. Therefore, this study confirms the critical view of consumers despite the social contribution activities of convenience store brands, and suggests that in order to improve them, it is necessary to strengthen social activity efforts, actively participate in ESG activities of on-site franchisees who are customer contact points, and educate employees.

• International journal of advanced smart convergence
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• v.12 no.3
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• pp.157-162
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• 2023

This study analyzed the relationship between ESG performance and corporate value using panel data from Chinese equipment manufacturing companies spanning from 2012 to 2021, and it also examined whether ownership structure moderates this relationship. We have contributed to filling the gap in existing research. The main conclusions of this study are as follows: Firstly, similar to previous researches, ESG performance was found to have a positive and statistically significant impact on corporate value. Secondly, when the three dimensions of ESG - Environmental (E), Social (S), and Governance (G) - were analyzed separately, it was observed that E and S have a positive and statistically significant impact on corporate value, while G has a negative and statistically significant impact. Thirdly, ownership concentration emerged as a significant moderating factor in explaining the connection between ESG performance and corporate value. Lastly, when the three dimensions of ESG were analyzed separately, ownership concentration was found to serve as a positive moderating factor in the relationship between corporate value and E and S, but it did not play a statistically significant role for G.

• Asia Marketing Journal
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• v.25 no.4
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• pp.207-218
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• 2024

Considering the rising interest in environmental, social, and governance (ESG) globally, various studies have shown that ESG practice increases firm value; however, there is still much debate. This study focuses on the relationship between ESG practice and firm value. Further, we identify the mechanisms constituting this relationship to address relevant research gaps. Specifically, this study examines the connection between ESG practice and corporate valuation, emphasizing the mediating role of a company's reputation. Using panel analysis of data from 145 Korean firms (2014-2021), the study reveals that ESG practices notably enhance firm value, signaling their significance to stakeholders. Corporate reputation acts as a bridge between ESG efforts and value, with corporate reputation's influence varying across industries. This research presents broad implications for both academic and industrial fields, highlighting the strategic importance of ESG in enhancing firm value.

• International Journal of Advanced Culture Technology
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• v.12 no.3
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• pp.317-324
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• 2024

In terms of corporate sustainability management, the footwear industry is still at a very early stage compared to other sectors, and footwear, especially sneakers, is not as far along as apparel due to the nature of the product. As a result, there is a lack of research on sustainability in the sneaker industry in the academic community. Thus, this study analyzed the sustainability practices of three leading brands in the sneaker market, adidas, allbirds, and NIKE, in order to provide basic data for expanding sustainability in the sneaker industry. The study found that the characteristics of sustainable management in sneaker brands are economic efficiency, environmental circularity, social integration, and governance soundness. Sustainable management is increasingly recognized as an essential task in modern society, and as the sneaker market expands, the demand for CSM from relevant brands will grow accordingly. Therefore, the results of this study will help to set policy directions for sneaker brands pursuing sustainable management.