퇴직급여적립수준과 투자효율성간의 관련성 (Association between Pension Funding Level and Investment Efficiency)

서지정보

· 발행기관 : 대한경영학회
· 수록지 정보 : 대한경영학회지 / 31권 / 2호 / 405 ~ 429페이지
· 저자명 : 노정희, 최종서

초록

본 연구에서는 국내 상장기업을 대상으로 확정급여형 퇴직연금적립이 투자효율성에 영향을 미치는지를조사한다. 확정급여형 연금제도는 근로자가 퇴직 후 지급받는 퇴직급여가 사전에 확정되고 기업이 그 지급을보증하는 연금제도이다. 확정급여형을 채택한 기업이 연금자산을 근로자 퇴직급여 보장법에서 요구하는 최소적립수준에 미달하여 적립할 경우 사외자산을 추가적으로 적립해야 할 의무가 수반된다. 선행연구에 따르면이러한 추가적립의무는 가용자금의 제약을 초래하여 추후 투자활동에 부정적인 영향을 미치는 것으로 나타났다. 따라서 적립수준이 높아질수록 추후 추가적으로 적립해야할 의무적립금의 수준이 낮아지기 때문에, 기업은투자활동에 투입 가능한 더 많은 현금을 확보할 수 있으므로 투자의사결정을 효율적으로 내릴 가능성이 커진다.
또한 기업은 경영자의 사적 효익 추구에 사용될 수 있는 유휴자금을 연금자산의 적립에 사용함으로써 과잉투자해소를 통한 투자효율성 제고를 추구할 수 있다.
본 연구의 주요변수인 퇴직급여적립수준은 퇴직급여자산을 퇴직급여채무로 나눈 값으로 정의한다. Biddle, Hilary, and Verdi(2009)의 방법론을 이용하여 현금보유수준과 레버리지비율을 이용하여 과잉투자가능성을정의한 다음, 연금자산 적립수준과 과잉투자가능성 사이의 교차항을 이용하여 투자효율성을 측정한다. 분석결과 연금자산의 적립수준이 높을수록 과잉투자가능성이 낮아져 투자효율성이 높은 것으로 나타났으며 이러한결과는 3SLS을 통한 내생성을 통제한 후에도 일관됨을 확인하였다. 또한 연금자산 적립수준과 투자효율성사이의 관련성이 최소적립금을 기준으로 과소적립/초과적립 유무에 따라 비대칭적인 것도 확인하였다. 본연구는 확정급여형 연금제도를 운용하는 기업의 연금자산적립수준이 투자효율성에 영향을 미치는지를 최초로검증하였다는 데서 공헌점을 가진다. 본 연구의 결과는 연금적립전략과 관련된 의사결정자 및 기업의 투자효율성 향상을 고려해야하는 이해관계자들에게도 유용한 정보를 제공할 것으로 기대한다.

영어초록

In this study, we examine the effect of the defined benefit pension accumulation on the investment efficiency of listed companies in Korea. The defined benefit pension system is a pension system in which workers are entitled to retirement benefits that are paid in advance and are guaranteed by the enterprise. Therefore, the company must separately fund the amount corresponding to the pension liability to guarantee the payment. As the low interest rate policy for economic stimulus has been prolonged, the discount rate used to estimate retirement benefit liabilities has declined. This led to a burden on the company as an increase in pension liabilities. Moreover, according to previous research, it is known that decision making about retirement benefit accumulation affects firm's cash holdings, investment level, profitability, and stock return. In other words, decision-making about the level of pension asset funding is closely related to the characteristics of the firms that influence the investment decisions of the company.
If a firm adopting a defined benefit plan funds its pension assets below the minimum funding level required by the Employee Retirement Benefits Act, it will be obliged to pay additional contributions. Previous studies have shown that these additional contributions are constraining the available funds and, as a result, have a negative impact on future investment activities. Therefore, as the level of pension funding increases, the level of the additional contributions to be funded later becomes lower, so that companies can obtain more cash to invest in their operating activities, which in turn increases the probability of making investment decisions efficiently. In addition, companies can lower the level of idle funds that can be used to seek the private benefits of managers by increasing the level of pension assets accumulation. This can eliminate excess investment and increase investment efficiency.
The main variable of this study, pension funding level, is defined as the pension assets divided by the pension liabilities. Using the methodology of Biddle, Hilary, and Verdi (2009), we define the over-investment potential using the cash holding level and the leverage ratio, and then measure the investment efficiency using the cross term between the pension funding level and the over-investment potential. The results show that the higher the pension funding level, the lower the possibility of over-investment and the higher the investment efficiency. These results are consistent even after controlling the endogenous problem through simultaneous equation model(3SLS). In addition, we confirmed that the relationship between the pension funding level and investment efficiency is asymmetric depending on whether under-funded or over-funded groups is based on the minimum level of reserve required by the Employee Retirement Benefits Act. Also, we find that the accumulation of pension assets has a significant effect on the improvement of investment efficiency by restraining excessive investment in under-funded group.
This study provides some implications for various stakeholder groups by examining the impact of the accumulation of defined benefit pension assets on investment efficiency for the first time in academia. In Korea, the retirement pension system has only been implemented for about 10 years. Therefore, research on capital market related to pension accounting information is insufficient.
This study aims to establish the foundation of accounting research using pension accounting information and to contribute to the expansion of pension accounting by clarifying the relationship between retirement benefit accumulation level and investment efficiency. In addition, this study will provide guidelines for pension assets accumulation considering investment decisions for companies that have defined benefit pension plans. Empirical results show that the accumulation of pension wealth has a significant effect on the improvement of investment efficiency. Therefore, it is necessary to increase the accumulation level of pension assets in terms of investment efficiency as well as in terms of securing workers' pension entitlement and ability to pay retirement benefits in the case of under-funded companies with the possibility of additional funding.

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