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Ethical Commitment, Financial Performance, and Valuation: An Empirical Investigation of Korean Companies

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Abstract

A variety of stakeholders including investors, corporate managers, customers, suppliers, employees, researchers, and government policy makers have long been interested in the relationship between the financial performance of a corporation and its commitment to business ethics. As a subject of research, the relations between business ethics and corporate valuation has yet to be thoroughly quantified and investigated. This article is an effort to amend this inadequacy by demonstrating a statistically significant association between ethical commitment and corporate valuation measures. Consistent with anecdotal evidence, we have found a significant association between the ethical commitment of Korean companies and their valuation on the Korean stock market. However, the result reveals that the association between ethical commitment and financial performance is not significantly supported.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. KDI School of Public Policy and Management, P.O. Box 184, Cheong-Nynag, Seoul, 130-868, Republic of Korea

    Tae Hee Choi

  2. Chosun University, 375, Seosuk-Dong, Dong-Gu, Gwangju, Republic of Korea

    Jinchul Jung

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  1. Tae Hee Choi
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  2. Jinchul Jung
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Correspondence to Tae Hee Choi.

Additional information

Tae Hee Choi received Ph.D. from the Ohio State University, Ohio, USA. Presently working as Assistant Professor in accounting at the KDI School of Public Policy and Management. Research interests are business ethics, capital market, financial accounting, managerial accounting, and valuation.

Jinchul Jung received Ph.D. from Kent State University, Ohio, USA. Presently working as Assistant Professor of Business Administration Department in the College of Business at Chosun University. Research interests are business ethics, family-supportive program, and organizational commitment.

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Choi, T.H., Jung, J. Ethical Commitment, Financial Performance, and Valuation: An Empirical Investigation of Korean Companies. J Bus Ethics 81, 447–463 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-007-9506-1

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