Are better-governed firms more innovative? Evidence from Korea

This study examines the effect of corporate governance quality on firm innovation in Korea, where innovation is very active. We focus on the relationship between a firm's corporate governance score (CGS) and its innovation performance in various empirical settings using manually collected patent data. We find that CGS positively influences firm's innovation activity, which is driven by board's quality and transparent disclosure. This relationship is more evident in chaebol-affiliated firms, suggesting that sound corporate governance is effective in promoting innovation activities when the misalignment between managers’ and other stakeholders’ interests is grave.