기부금 지출은 기업의 사회적 책임활동(CSR)을 반영하는가? ：조세회피를 중심으로

[Purpose] This study is to examine the tax evasion tendency of charity giving companies in Korea by empirically analyzing the relationship between tax avoidance and charity expenditure that is classified as representative corporate social responsibility (CSR) activities. [Methodology] This study empirically analyzed the relationship between charity expenditure and tax avoidance for listed companies during the sample period from 2015 to 2018. [Findings] First, charity giving and tax avoidance have nonlinear U－shaped relation. This evidence suggests Korean CSR firms view tax payment as contributing to social welfare. However, excessive charity giving could be an indicator of agency problem intended for the manager’s private gains. Second, the U－shaped relation between tax avoidance and charity giving exhibits statistically insignificant in the sample with higher foreign stock holding ratio. On the contrary, the U－shaped relation between tax avoidance and charity giving exhibits statistically significant in the sample with lower foreign stock holding ratio. Third, charity giving and investment(employment) have nonlinear and inverted U－shaped relation. This suggests Korean CSR firms which spend charity giving are also active in other social economic activities such as investment and employment. [Policy Implications] These results suggest that excessive charity giving is related manager’s opportunistic behavior for their private gains and also results in not dedicating resources to socially responsible activities.