본 연구에서는 기부금 및 접대비의 지출이 기업성과에 미치는 영향에 대하여 개발한 간단한 이론모형을 토대로 실증연구에 필요한 가설을 도출하였으며, 1992년도부터 2007년도까지 KOSPI 기업을 대상으로 실증분석을 실시하였다. 연구결과, 우리나라의 기부금 및 접대비의 지출은 기업성과에 긍정적인 영향을 미치는 것으로 나타났으며, 접대비 한도 초과도 기업성과에 부정적이지 않음을 밝혀내었다. 다만, 부도기업의 기부금 지출은 건실기업과 차이가 없었으나, 부도기업의 접대비 지출은 기업성과에 매우 부정적인 영향을 미치는 것으로 나타났다. 또한, 한도 초과 접대비 지출은 그러한 부정적인 영향을 더욱 악화시키는 것으로 나타났다. 기부금은 직접적으로 기업의 영업과 관련이 없는 지출이지만 간접적으로 기업의 이미지를 제고하여 성과에도 긍정적인 영향을 미칠 수 있음을 시사하고 있다.
In this paper, we investigate a couple of specific types of corporate expenses, contribution and catering expenses using KOSPI data from 1992 to 2007. We develop theoretical models and derive hypotheses based on the models. While contribution expenses by firms are considered desirable, catering expenses in Korea has mostly been treated as unethical, possibly due to its improperly named account used by the Korean Corporate Tax Law. Both expenses are sometimes used as illegal loopholes to manipulate taxable income and thus they set the maximum level of allowances for tax deduction. Thus, we formally test the profit maximization hypothesis vs. the management entrenchment hypothesis in the uses of both types of expenses of Korean firms, for the cases which are generally considered to support the latter hypothesis. For this study, we apply three types of econometrics models: ordinary least squares model, random effects model and fixed effects model for panel data as in this type of data with cross-sectional as well as time-series factors, and perform Breusch-Pagan Lagrange multiplier tests for the existence of serial correlation over years in the data for random effects model over ordinary least squares model, and Hausman tests for fixed effects model over random effects model. The statistical tests select fixed effects model as the most appropriate one of all. In order to check the existence of multicollinearity problems among independent variables, we also perform the tests for variance inflation factor together with other traditional statistical tests such as F tests, mean comparison tests, etc. for proper statistical tests. From our empirical study, we have found that both types of expenses contribute to profitability of firms, measured with ROA or returns on assets, even though they are reported as expenses in the current period and widely assumed to be misappropriated by the management without clear relations with revenues of firms, that the firms that used catering expenses excessively over their legally allowed level for tax purposes, thus without obtaining tax saving benefits do not attain different profitability of firms, compared with those below their legal allowances, implying that they have positive effects on ROA, that, however, the defaulted firms use catering expenses to achieve lower profitability, with significantly larger negative coefficients compared with positive coefficients for all the firms in the sample, thus implying that firms in financial distress inefficiently use catering expenses in improving ROA, and with still negative effects of such catering expenses by defaulted firms over their allowances on ROA, and that contribution expenses by the defaulted firms show no different effects on profitability, compared with positive coefficients for all the firms in the sample, thus implying that firms in financial distress still efficiently use contribution expenses without hurting their profitability. In sum, we have found that both types of expenses have shown to have positive effects on the profitability of firms, However, firms in financial distress have shown negative effect of catering expenses on ROA, compared with still positive effects of contribution expenses. The situations were even worse for bankrupt firms that used catering expenses over their allowances. Thus, the uses of both types of expenses in Korean firms listed on the KRX support the profit maximization hypothesis instead of the management entrenchment hypothesis for most cases, except for defaulted firms in the use of catering expenses which might support the management entrenchment hypothesis over the profit maximization hypothesis. Our results imply that while tax agencies worry about firms tax evasion through those expenses, firms have become more profitable by making the best use of such expenses, enough to cover higher expenses and that the Korean government had better consider reorganizing the level of legal allowance set for tax purposes, in order to increase its corporate tax revenues and help corporate operations with less restrictions in their efficient use of current expenses for active social responsibility and business operations.