Purpose The existing literature has focused heavily on investigating the effect of corporate social performance (CSP) on financial performance (FP) but has not paid sufficient attention to an inverse causation of the relationship. Moreover, while some of the literature argues that FP positively affects CSP, based on the slack resources theory, others have found negative effects of FP on CSP, supporting the managerial opportunism perspective. Thus, this paper aims to address the impact of FP on CSP. Further, this study examines the moderating role of franchising to better understand the relationship. Design/methodology/approach This study uses and expands the models derived from the CSP literature to confirm the effects of FP on CSP with the moderating role of franchising within the restaurant industry. Using two-way fixed effects models, it effectively addresses important problems embedded in the panel data. Findings The findings show a positive effect of FP on CSP, which is inconsistent with Park and Lee’s (2009) findings and supports the slack resources theory. Further, the interesting results show that the impact of FP on CSP diminishes as a firm franchises more, supporting the double-sided moral hazard framework of the agency theory. Originality/value This paper fills the lacuna in both the existing literature on the relationship between CSP and FP and the franchising. This study contributes to enhancing restaurant practitioners’ understanding of the double-sided moral hazard of agency theory unique to franchising context.

Although some theories argued that investment decisions are irrelevant to financing decisions under the assumption of perfect market, investment decisions and capital structure seem interdependent in real-world circumstances. Further, the past literature also suggested a close relationship between internal cash flows and investment decisions, that is, investment–cash flow sensitivity (ICFS), but this issue has not been closely examined in the restaurant setting. Therefore, the current study first proposes to examine ICFS in the context of the restaurant industry. More importantly, this study also examines a moderating role of franchising to better explain ICFS, considering a major role of franchising in the restaurant industry, based on theories of pecking order, resource scarcity, and risk sharing. Findings of the current study deepens the understanding of ICFS via franchising, making meaningful contributions to not only to existing ICFS literature but also restaurant franchising literature.

Brand equity plays a significant role in the restaurant industry due to the competitive advantage gained by differentiation. It has been identified as a main component of intangible assets that decides the market value of a firm in the industry. Although the importance of brand equity has been well recognized in the restaurant literature, there has been little investigation regarding how to objectively quantify brand equity, especially by using secondary market data. Further, there is no publicly available brand equity data of restaurant firms thus far. For these reasons, this study aims to develop an approach on how to estimate a restaurant’s brand equity not only by utilizing the secondary market data but also by incorporating the unique characteristics of restaurant firms. By proposing a restaurant-specific model to estimate brand equity, this study contributes to the restaurant literature and to the industry as a whole.

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This study was performed in order to evaluate the association of media exposure with language developmental delay. Methods: The sample consisted of 40 patients with language developmental delay who visited the pediatric clinic of Dongtan Sacred Heart Hospital from January 2013 to July 2014. The 66 patients, who visited our clinic without language developmental delay, were included in the control group. The data were collected by using self-report questionnaires (media exposure time, contents, background media or foreground media, age of first exposure, and media exposure with or without parents), and analyzed through a t-test, Chi-square test, bivariate logistic regression model by using the SPSS-Version 21.0. Results: The mean age of the language delay group was 33.6±10 months, while the male-to-female ratio was 2.6:1 in this study. In regard to media exposure time, 63% of the language delay patients were exposed to media for more than 2 hours a day, as compared to 16% of the control group (P<0.001). Among the language delay group, 90% of the patients were under 24 months old at the time of exposure to media, as compared to 58% of the control group (P<0.001). In addition, 79% of the language delay group watched media without anyone, as compared to 41% of the control group (P=0.001). Conclusion: Risk factors of language developmental delay were exposure to media more than 2 hours a day and toddlers under 24 months old at the time of exposure, as compared to the control group. In conclusion, longer exposure and earlier exposure to media would be risk factors in language developmental delay, and watching media alone may negatively influence the language development.