경영자 유형 및 재벌기업의 소유구조가 연구개발(R&D)지출 행태에 미치는 영향

Because R&D activities are characterized by high uncertainty and information asymmetry, there may be the agency problems in determining R&D expenditures behavior. Previous studies have examined the relationship between R&D expenditure behavior and the characteristics of individual firm CEOs. However, since Korean firms have a unique governance structure called the chaebol group, the governance structure at the individual firm level cannot fully explain the R&D expenditure behavior. We examine whether the R&D expenditure behavior of firms differs according to the CEO types, and whether the chaebol's ownership structure affects these differences. The results show that the firms run by the professional CEOs have lower R&D intensity than the others. However, the professional CEOs’ firms in chaebol group have higher R&D intensity than other professional CEOs’ firms, suggesting that the chaebol group has a moderating effect on the agency problems in R&D expenditures. We also find that expensed R&D expenditures could be significantly reduced to achieve the profit goal. However, while owner CEOs in chaebol firms did not reduce expensed R&D expenditures to achive the profit goal, professional CEOs in chaebol firms were adjusting expensed R&D expenditures. This study has an academic contribution that suggests the moderating effect of the ownership structure of chaebol group as well as the influence of the managerial characteristics of individual firms on the R&D expenditures behavior. In addition, there is a pratical contribution that the chaebol group mitigates the reduction in R&D expenditures of professional CEOs to avoid the risk through control and support.