IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/bla/bstrat/v32y2023i7p4503-4518.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Business group affiliation and corporate sustainability performance in emerging economies: Evidence from South Korea

Author

Listed:
  • Ki‐Hoon Lee
  • Donghoon Shin
  • Minwoo Lee

Abstract

Does business group (BG) affiliation enhance corporate sustainability performance (CSP) in emerging economies? This paper focuses on the unique roles of BG affiliation in enhancing CSP amid increasing institutional pressures for more contributions to the society and stakeholders. The empirical evidence on the relationship between BG affiliation and CSP is inconclusive. Although BGs effectively insulate their affiliate firms from external shocks and pressures by internalizing various resources, they are vulnerable to institutional pressures for enhanced CSP. We argue that BG affiliates tend to have higher CSP than their non‐affiliated counterparts because their unique roles and history of BG development in emerging economies exert stronger institutional pressures on them. However, affiliate centrality and foreign ownership reduce the positive effect of BG affiliation on CSP in emerging economies because BG firms can exercise agency in response to institutional pressures.

Suggested Citation

  • Ki‐Hoon Lee & Donghoon Shin & Minwoo Lee, 2023. "Business group affiliation and corporate sustainability performance in emerging economies: Evidence from South Korea," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 32(7), pages 4503-4518, November.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:bstrat:v:32:y:2023:i:7:p:4503-4518
    DOI: 10.1002/bse.3378
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1002/bse.3378
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1002/bse.3378?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Jan Lepoutre & Nikolay Dentchev & Aimé Heene, 2007. "Dealing With Uncertainties When Governing CSR Policies," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 73(4), pages 391-408, July.
    2. Byungki Kim & Jinhan Pae & Choong-Yuel Yoo, 2019. "Business Groups and Tunneling: Evidence from Corporate Charitable Contributions by Korean Companies," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 154(3), pages 643-666, February.
    3. Almeida, Heitor & Wolfenzon, Daniel, 2006. "Should business groups be dismantled? The equilibrium costs of efficient internal capital markets," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 79(1), pages 99-144, January.
    4. Alvaro Plinio Pureza & Ki‐Hoon Lee, 2020. "Corporate social responsibility leadership for sustainable development: An institutional logics perspective in Brazil," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 27(3), pages 1410-1424, May.
    5. Ioannis Ioannou & George Serafeim, 2012. "What drives corporate social performance? The role of nation-level institutions," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 43(9), pages 834-864, December.
    6. Jongmoo Jay Choi & Hoje Jo & Jimi Kim & Moo Sung Kim, 2018. "Business Groups and Corporate Social Responsibility," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 153(4), pages 931-954, December.
    7. Young Kyun Chang & Won-Yong Oh & Jee Hyun Park & Myoung Gyun Jang, 2017. "Exploring the Relationship Between Board Characteristics and CSR: Empirical Evidence from Korea," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 140(2), pages 225-242, January.
    8. Alan Muller & Ans Kolk, 2010. "Extrinsic and Intrinsic Drivers of Corporate Social Performance: Evidence from Foreign and Domestic Firms in Mexico," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 47(1), pages 1-26, January.
    9. Jong-Seo Choi & Young-Min Kwak & Chongwoo Choe, 2010. "Corporate social responsibility and corporate financial performance: Evidence from Korea," Australian Journal of Management, Australian School of Business, vol. 35(3), pages 291-311, December.
    10. Lee, Ki-Hoon & Farzipoor Saen, Reza, 2012. "Measuring corporate sustainability management: A data envelopment analysis approach," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 140(1), pages 219-226.
    11. Leff, Nathaniel H, 1978. "Industrial Organization and Entrepreneurship in the Developing Countries: The Economic Groups," Economic Development and Cultural Change, University of Chicago Press, vol. 26(4), pages 661-675, July.
    12. Wang, Chengqi & Yi, Jingtao & Kafouros, Mario & Yan, Yanni, 2015. "Under what institutional conditions do business groups enhance innovation performance?," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 68(3), pages 694-702.
    13. An Buysschaert & Marc Deloof & Marc Jegers & An Rommens, 2008. "Is Group Affiliation Profitable in Developed Countries? Belgian Evidence," Corporate Governance: An International Review, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 16(6), pages 504-518, November.
    14. Tarun Khanna & Yishay Yafeh, 2007. "Business Groups in Emerging Markets: Paragons or Parasites?," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 45(2), pages 331-372, June.
    15. Won Oh & Young Chang & Aleksey Martynov, 2011. "The Effect of Ownership Structure on Corporate Social Responsibility: Empirical Evidence from Korea," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 104(2), pages 283-297, December.
    16. Andrew King & Michael Lenox, 2002. "Exploring the Locus of Profitable Pollution Reduction," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 48(2), pages 289-299, February.
    17. Michael N. Young & Mike W. Peng & David Ahlstrom & Garry D. Bruton & Yi Jiang, 2008. "Corporate Governance in Emerging Economies: A Review of the Principal–Principal Perspective," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 45(1), pages 196-220, January.
    18. Xiaowei Rose Luo & Chi-Nien Chung, 2013. "Filling or Abusing the Institutional Void? Ownership and Management Control of Public Family Businesses in an Emerging Market," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 24(2), pages 591-613, April.
    19. Roger Leonard Burritt & Katherine Leanne Christ & Hussain Gulzar Rammal & Stefan Schaltegger, 2020. "Multinational Enterprise Strategies for Addressing Sustainability: the Need for Consolidation," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 164(2), pages 389-410, June.
    20. Krishna Udayasankar, 2008. "Corporate Social Responsibility and Firm Size," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 83(2), pages 167-175, December.
    21. Sandra A. Waddock & Samuel B. Graves, 1997. "The Corporate Social Performance–Financial Performance Link," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 18(4), pages 303-319, April.
    22. Ki‐Hoon Lee & Beom Cheol Cin & Eui Young Lee, 2016. "Environmental Responsibility and Firm Performance: The Application of an Environmental, Social and Governance Model," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 25(1), pages 40-53, January.
    23. Sougata Ray & Bikramjit Ray Chaudhuri, 2018. "Business Group Affiliation and Corporate Sustainability Strategies of Firms: An Investigation of Firms in India," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 153(4), pages 955-976, December.
    24. Park, Choelsoon & Kim, Seonghoon, 2008. "Corporate governance, regulatory changes, and corporate restructuring in Korea, 1993-2004," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 43(1), pages 66-84, January.
    25. Zhixiang Liang & Michael Carney, 2020. "Business group persistence and institutional maturity: the role of management practices," Industrial and Corporate Change, Oxford University Press and the Associazione ICC, vol. 29(6), pages 1483-1503.
    26. Daphne W. Yiu & Yuan Lu & Garry D. Bruton & Robert E. Hoskisson, 2007. "Business Groups: An Integrated Model to Focus Future Research," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 44(8), pages 1551-1579, December.
    27. Daphne Yiu & Garry D. Bruton & Yuan Lu, 2005. "Understanding Business Group Performance in an Emerging Economy: Acquiring Resources and Capabilities in Order to Prosper," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 42(1), pages 183-206, January.
    28. Geoffrey G. Jones, 2015. "Business Groups Exist in Developed Markets Also: Britain Since 1850," Harvard Business School Working Papers 16-066, Harvard Business School.
    29. Hicheon Kim & Robert E. Hoskisson & William P. Wan, 2004. "Power dependence, diversification strategy, and performance in keiretsu member firms," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 25(7), pages 613-636, July.
    30. Abagail McWilliams & Donald Siegel, 2000. "Corporate social responsibility and financial performance: correlation or misspecification?," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 21(5), pages 603-609, May.
    31. Gregory Jackson & Androniki Apostolakou, 2010. "Corporate Social Responsibility in Western Europe: An Institutional Mirror or Substitute?," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 94(3), pages 371-394, July.
    32. Chang,Sea-Jin, 2003. "Financial Crisis and Transformation of Korean Business Groups," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9780521814355, January.
    33. Sadok El Ghoul & Omrane Guedhami & Yongtae Kim, 2017. "Country-level institutions, firm value, and the role of corporate social responsibility initiatives," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 48(3), pages 360-385, April.
    34. Judith L. Walls & Pascual Berrone & Phillip H. Phan, 2012. "Corporate governance and environmental performance: is there really a link?," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 33(8), pages 885-913, August.
    35. Doh, Jonathan & Husted, Bryan W. & Yang, Xiaohua, 2016. "Guest Editors’ Introduction: Ethics, Corporate Social Responsibility, and Developing Country Multinationals," Business Ethics Quarterly, Cambridge University Press, vol. 26(3), pages 301-315, July.
    36. Shin, Donghoon & Seidle, Russell & Okhmatovskiy, Ilya, 2016. "Making the foreign familiar: The influence of top management team and board of directors characteristics on the adoption of foreign practices," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 51(6), pages 937-949.
    37. Randall Morck & Bernard Yeung, 2003. "Agency Problems in Large Family Business Groups," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 27(4), pages 367-382, October.
    38. Michael Carney & Marc van Essen & Saul Estrin & Daniel Shapiro, 2018. "Business Groups reconsidered : beyond paragons and parasites," Post-Print hal-02312099, HAL.
    39. Melsa Ararat & Asli M. Colpan & Dirk Matten, 2018. "Business Groups and Corporate Responsibility for the Public Good," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 153(4), pages 911-929, December.
    40. Bum-Jin Park & Ki-Hoon Lee, 2021. "The sensitivity of corporate social performance to corporate financial performance: A “time-based†agency theory perspective," Australian Journal of Management, Australian School of Business, vol. 46(2), pages 224-247, May.
    41. Petra Christmann & Glen Taylor, 2001. "Globalization and the Environment: Determinants of Firm Self-Regulation in China," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 32(3), pages 439-458, September.
    42. Borda, Armando & Geleilate, José-Mauricio G. & Newburry, William & Kundu, Sumit K., 2017. "Firm internationalization, business group diversification and firm performance: The case of Latin American firms," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 72(C), pages 104-113.
    43. Parthiban David & Matt Bloom & Amy J. Hillman, 2007. "Investor activism, managerial responsiveness, and corporate social performance," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 28(1), pages 91-100, January.
    44. Pushpika Vishwanathan & Hans (J.) van Oosterhout & Pursey P. M. A. R. Heugens & Patricio Duran & Marc van Essen, 2020. "Strategic CSR: A Concept Building Meta‐Analysis," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 57(2), pages 314-350, March.
    45. Chinmay Pattnaik & James Chang & Hyun Shin, 2013. "Business groups and corporate transparency in emerging markets: Empirical evidence from India," Asia Pacific Journal of Management, Springer, vol. 30(4), pages 987-1004, December.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Won-Yong Oh & Hojae Ree & Young Kyun Chang & Igor Postuła, 2023. "Trees in the Forest: How Do Family Owners Make CSR Decisions in Business Groups?," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 187(4), pages 759-780, November.
    2. Melsa Ararat & Asli M. Colpan & Dirk Matten, 2018. "Business Groups and Corporate Responsibility for the Public Good," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 153(4), pages 911-929, December.
    3. Carney, Michael & Estrin, Saul & Van Essen, Marc & Shapiro, Daniel, 2017. "Business groups reconsidered: beyond paragons and parasites," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 87340, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    4. Kalpana Tokas & Kartik Yadav, 2023. "Foreign Ownership and Corporate Social Responsibility: The Case of an Emerging Market," Global Business Review, International Management Institute, vol. 24(6), pages 1302-1325, December.
    5. Valentina Marano & Steve Sauerwald & Marc Essen, 2022. "The influence of culture on the relationship between women directors and corporate social performance," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 53(7), pages 1315-1342, September.
    6. Hsi-Mei Chung & Sven Dahms & Pao T. Kao, 2021. "Emerging Market Multinational Family Business Groups and the Use of Family Managers in Foreign Subsidiaries," Management International Review, Springer, vol. 61(1), pages 57-89, March.
    7. Shahab, Yasir & Hussain, Tanveer & Wang, Peng & Zhong, Ma & Kumar, Satish, 2023. "Business groups and environmental violations: Evidence from China," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 85(C).
    8. Luis Alfonso Dau & Randall Morck & Bernard Yin Yeung, 2021. "Business groups and the study of international business: A Coasean synthesis and extension," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 52(2), pages 161-211, March.
    9. Woo, Donghyup & Suresh, Nallan C., 2022. "Voluntary agreements for sustainability, resource efficiency & firm performance under the supply chain cooperation policy in South Korea," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 252(C).
    10. Aguilera, Ruth V. & Crespí-Cladera, Rafel & Infantes, Paula M. & Pascual-Fuster, Bartolomé, 2020. "Business groups and internationalization: Effective identification and future agenda," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 55(4).
    11. Oh, Won-Yong & Chang, Young Kyun & Jung, Rami, 2019. "Board characteristics and corporate social responsibility: Does family involvement in management matter?," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 103(C), pages 23-33.
    12. Holmes, R. Michael & Hoskisson, Robert E. & Kim, Hicheon & Wan, William P. & Holcomb, Tim R., 2018. "International strategy and business groups: A review and future research agenda," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 53(2), pages 134-150.
    13. Sougata Ray & Bikramjit Ray Chaudhuri, 2018. "Business Group Affiliation and Corporate Sustainability Strategies of Firms: An Investigation of Firms in India," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 153(4), pages 955-976, December.
    14. Anish Purkayastha & Vishal K. Gupta, 2023. "Business group affiliation and entrepreneurial orientation: Contingent effect of level of internationalization and firm’s performance," Asia Pacific Journal of Management, Springer, vol. 40(2), pages 847-876, June.
    15. Gama, Marina Amado Bahia & Bandeira-de-Mello, Rodrigo, 2021. "The effect of affiliation structure on the performance of pyramidal business groups," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 124(C), pages 24-37.
    16. Xin Huang & Xianling Jiang & Wei Liu & Qian Chen, 2021. "Business Group-Affiliation and Corporate Social Responsibility: Evidence from Listed Companies in China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(4), pages 1-21, February.
    17. Lorenzo Dal Maso & Rodrigo Basco & Thomas Bassetti & Nicola Lattanzi, 2020. "Family ownership and environmental performance: The mediation effect of human resource practices," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 29(3), pages 1548-1562, March.
    18. Kuo-Pin Yang & Gavin M. Schwarz, 2016. "A Multilevel Analysis of the Performance Implications of Excess Control in Business Groups," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 27(5), pages 1219-1236, October.
    19. Saul Estrin & Svetlana Poukliakova & Daniel Shapiro, 2009. "The Performance Effects of Business Groups in Russia," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 46(3), pages 393-420, May.
    20. Choi, Young Rok & Yoshikawa, Toru & Zahra, Shaker A. & Han, Bong H., 2014. "Market-oriented institutional change and R&D investments: Do business groups enhance advantage?," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 49(4), pages 466-475.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:bla:bstrat:v:32:y:2023:i:7:p:4503-4518. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Wiley Content Delivery (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/10.1002/(ISSN)1099-0836 .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.