earticle

영어

Corporate social responsibility activities are dealt with in the field of management strategy. There are many studies that show that corporate social responsibility(CSR) activities will have a positive impact on performance. This study analyzes the roles and effects of the CSR in Korean listed companies based on the theoretical discussion on the social responsibility activities of previous studies. This study analyzed the effects of social responsibility activities of corporate philanthropy, consumer protection and environmental management on corporate soundness and financial performance of 387 listed companies. In addition, the listed companies were divided into two groups based on their assets to explore the moderating effects of firm size. A structural equation model for five hypotheses was established and confirmed using path analysis. The indicator used is the Korea Economic Justice Index (KEJI) presented by the Citizens’ Coalition for Economic Justice(CCEJ). Based on the economic justice index, the path between return on assets (ROA), return on equity (ROE) and return on sales (ROS) was designed. The quantification of the indicators of the social responsibility activities of the analyzed companies followed the standardization method suggested by CCEJ. The hypothesis test adopted the PLS method based on the structural equation model. The results showed that corporate philanthropy had no direct impact on soundness. On the other hand, consumer protection and environmental management have positive effects on corporate soundness, and soundness also has a positive effect on financial performance. Theoretical and practical implications of this study are found in the analysis that the company-wide activities on customer and social problems, such as consumer protection and environmental management, have a significant impact on soundness. The results of comparative analysis among the groups showed that there was no difference in the path between corporate social responsibility and financial performance according to asset size. This implies that there is no significant relationship between the size of companies and social responsibility activities in Korea. In other words, it is a result of the fact that corporate social responsibility remain at the general level. This study has theoretical implications as a precedent study in the future research that variously analyzes the effects of social responsibility activities in consideration of company size and industry. Based on the results of the analysis, the theoretical and practical implications of this study using the economic justice index were discussed.

한국어

기업의 사회적 책임 활동은 경영전략 분야에서 주요하게 다루어지고 있다. 기업의 사회적 책임 활동이 성과에 긍정적 영향을 미칠 것이라는 연구도 다수 있었다. 본 연구는 기존 연구의 사회적 책임 활동에 대한 이론적 논의를 기반으로 한국 상장기업을 대상으로 해당 활동의 역할과 효과를 분석하였다. 상장기업 387개를 대상으로 사회공헌, 소비자보호, 환경경영의 사회적 책임 활동이 기업 건전성과 재무성과에 미치는 영 향을 분석하였다. 또한, 상장기업을 자산 기준으로 두 개의 집단으로 나누어 규모에 따른 조절효과를 탐색하였다. 5개 가설에 대한 구조방정식 모형을 설정하고 경로분석을 사용하여 이를 확인하였다. 측정 지표는 경제정의시민실천연합이 제시한 경제정의지수(KEJI)를 사용하였다. 경 제정의지수를 기반으로 총자산이익율(Return On Assets), 자기자본수익률(Return On Equity), 매출액 순이익률(Rerurn On Sales)에 이르는 경 로를 설계하였다. 분석 결과 사회공헌 활동은 건전성에 직접적 영향이 없었다. 반면 소비자보호, 환경경영은 기업 건전성에 긍정적 영향을 주 는 것으로 나타났으며, 건전성은 또한 재무성과에 정(+)의 영향을 미쳤다. 집단 간 비교분석 결과에서는 자산 규모에 따른 사회적 책임활동과 재무성과 사이의 경로에 차이가 없는 것으로 나타났다. 분석 결과를 기반으로 경제정의지수를 활용한 본 연구의 이론적, 실무적 시사점을 논하 였으며, 연구 한계와 향후 연구방향을 제시하였다.