Sustainable board of directors: Evidence from the research productivity of professors serving on boards in the Korean market

Abstract

We examine the relationship between the expertise of outside directors from academia and firms' financial performance using a unique dataset on the research publications of such directors. Specifically, we use research publication history in finance or an academic concentration in business or law as a proxy for expertise and measure the influence of this expertise on Korean financial firms' short-term and long-term performance. We find a positive (negative) association between research intensity (a business or law concentration) and short-term corporate performance. Firms with greater information and agency problems appear to benefit more from research-intensive academic outside directors than other firms do. Thus, we propose that firms in emerging economies elect research-intensive academic outside directors to contribute to sustainable corporate governance and firm performance.