지속가능경영보고서 발간과 원가 하방경직성

This study empirically analyzes the effect of publishing sustainability reports on corporate cost stickiness. Sustainability reports are considered as an important communication tool to inform stakeholders that a company is managing its business in a sustainable manner across environmental, social and governance(ESG) dimension. This study examines whether the publication of such reports influences the asymmetry of selling, general, and administrative expenses(SGA) in response to changes in sales. Based on the cost stickiness model of Anderson et al. (2003), which is widely used in empirical research on cost stickiness, this study analyzes firms listed on the KOSPI market from 2021 to 2023. The publishing sustainability reports are checked through data and manual work on the ESG portal of the Korean Exchange. The results show that firms publishing sustainability reports exhibit more pronounced cost stickiness; the decrease in reduction rate of SGA expenses during sales declines is smaller than the increase during sales growth. This suggests that such firms are more committed to ESG activities, which are considered long-term investments. It may also indicate that these firms are reluctant to reduce resources, possibly to maintain managerial influence. This study contributes to the academic literature by providing empirical evidence that sustainability reporting affects corporate cost behavior, It also extends the scope of cost behavior research into the realm of non-financial information, particularly sustainability reports.