국내 제약 및 바이오 상장기업의 무형자산 집중도 차이에 따른 ESG 성과 격차 규명

Abstract

As the world transition from shareholder capitalism to stakeholder capitalism, ESG plays a crucial role in corporate sustainability. The focus on financial performance has shifted to the importance of non-financial performance. Both the domestic and international academic communities have conducted numerous studies on the relationship between ESG and business performance. Most studies have primarily focused on the connection between ESG and financial performance or firm value, as well as the relationship between environmental, social, and governance factors and financial performance or firm value. This exploratory study examines the impact of intangible capital concentration on ESG performance, an aspect that has been largely overlooked in existing ESG research but is recognized as significant by today's companies. To achieve this objective, we conducted an independent sample t-test to examine the differences in ESG performance based on variations in R&D intensity and advertising expenditure intensity among 80 domestic pharmaceutical and bio listed companies. The analysis results demonstrated that companies with high R&D intensity exhibited superior overall performance, environmental performance, and governance performance compared to companies with low R&D intensity. Additionally, companies with high advertising expenses showed higher social performance than companies with low advertising expenses. This study reveals that different types of intangible assets have distinct impacts on various ESG dimensions, providing valuable insights for decision-makers regarding the utilization of intangible assets to enhance a company's ESG performance. In essence, from an academic perspective, the significance of this study lies in suggesting the need for future research to investigate the relationship between ESG and different intangible assets of a company, thus extending the scope of the study.