최고경영자와 이사회 특성 및 다각화에 따른 연구개발 투자와 재무구조간 관련성

This paper examines the relationship between research and development(R&D) investment and firm’s capital structures and proposes that the effect of R&D investments on capital structures is influenced by internal and external environment of corporations. Specifically, I expect the negative effects of R&D investment on firm’s financial leverage. Also it hypothesizes that how the CEO, board of directors, and diversification level moderate the effects of R&D on financial leverage. I perform the moderate regression analysis using a sample of Korean manufacturing firms listed in 2010 and the results of this study show that R&D investment tend to have lower leverage. I also find the results as follows. First, the negative effect of R&D on leverage is weaker for the firms with family CEOs or with higher ownership of CEO. Second, the relationship between R&D and leverage become stronger in the firms with higher level of business diversification. Third, international diversifications mitigate the R&D investment -financial leverage relationship. As innovative activities increase, it is crucial for companies to choose optimal capital structures that could keep financial costs low while providing sufficient financial resources for maintaining a continuous and uninterrupted rate of R&D. I expect that the findings of this study would expand upon previous research on the relationship between R&D investment and capital structures by inducing the implication that the internal and external environments of firms may affect a firm’s risk propensity in strategy-making that, in turn, moderates financing decisions for R&D investments.