Does Corporate Sustainability Management Affect Investment Efficiency?

Purpose - We aim to verify whether CSM activities increase investment efficiency, and to verify whether the influence of CSM activities on investment efficiency is discriminatory depending on whether or not they belong to chaebol. Design/methodology/approach - Using 4,701 Korean firm-year observations over the 2011-2017 period, we used multiple regression analysis. CSM is measured by the evaluation score of the Korea Corporate Governance Service (KCGS). Findings - Our study confirms that CSM is a significantly positive relationship with investment efficiency. This shows that, as a result of CSM, the increased earnings quality acts as an incentive to increase investment efficiency. Next, in analysis of a dataset into two groups (a chaebol, non-chaebol), the results show that the relationship between CSM and investment efficiency differs among detailed indicator activities depending on whether or not they belong to chaebol. Research implications or Originality - It is significant that this study focused on and analyzed CSM as a determinant of investment efficiency, and examined the effects of whether or not it belongs to chaebol in the relationship between CSM and investment efficiency. Our results, which suggested that CSM can increase investment efficiency, are expected to provide important implications not only for managers but also for investors and supervisors.