Family Firms, Chaebol Affiliations, and Corporate Social Responsibility

Abstract

This study analyzes the corporate social responsibility (CSR) activities of family-owned firms by investigating public companies in Korea. By nature of their governance structures, which are aligned with the interests of their shareholders and management, family firms are managed from a long-term perspective based on a sense of ownership. While CSR implementation entails investment costs, it ultimately increases firm value by enhancing the firm’s reputation and brand image. As such, family firms are expected to be more active than non-family firms regarding CSR investments. We conducted an empirical analysis based on the Korean Economic Justice Institute Index (KEJI Index) from the Citizens’ Coalition for Economic Justice and found that family firms’ CSR scores were higher than those of non-family firms. This indicates that family firms are relatively more active in their CSR activities, as they are managed from a long-term viewpoint. However, family firms classified as large-scale corporate groups (chaebols) had lower CSR activity levels. This is because when family firms are classified as corporate groups, they can enjoy monopolistic market positioning through their subsidiaries, and are thus more likely to utilize the resources originally required for CSR in other projects that conform to the pursuit of firm interests.