"Big Corporations Improved" Favorability Rises... The Major Contributing Sector is 'Exports'

Federation of Korean Industries Conducts Survey on Large Corporations' Contribution to National Economy

Four out of ten citizens reported an increased favorability toward large corporations compared to ten years ago.

On the 12th, the Federation of Korean Industries (hereafter FKI) commissioned a public opinion research firm, Monoresearch, to conduct a survey titled 'Perception Survey on Large Corporations' Contribution to the National Economy' targeting 1,005 people aged 18 and older nationwide. The results showed that 41.0% responded that their favorability toward large corporations had "improved" compared to ten years ago. This is four times the 9.6% who answered "worsened." Meanwhile, 49.4% said their favorability toward large corporations had not changed over the past decade.

The public still held positive feelings toward large corporations. When asked about their usual favorability toward large corporations, 58.3% answered they had a favorable view, including 14.5% who were "very favorable" and 43.8% who were "somewhat favorable." Unfavorable responses, including 7.0% "somewhat unfavorable" and 1.6% "very unfavorable," accounted for only 8.6%.

The increased favorability toward large corporations is attributed to their significant contribution to the overall Korean economy. Citizens identified exports (90.7%) as the area where large corporations contribute the most. Beyond contributions to exports, the survey revealed public perception that large corporations play a pivotal role as the "economic backbone" of Korea by contributing to ▲economic growth (88.0%), ▲investment (74.7%), ▲job creation (employment) (71.0%), ▲innovation (71.0%), and ▲increasing national income (62.9%).

On the other hand, in terms of contributions, areas such as ▲fulfilling social responsibilities (49.7%) and ▲promoting compliance and ethical management (36.1%) received lower response rates compared to economic areas like exports, investment, and employment.

Looking ahead, citizens identified job creation (24.2%) as the role that large corporations should strengthen the most. This was followed by expanding exports and investment (16.0%), enhancing social responsibility (16.0%), improving workers' wages and welfare (15.7%), and strengthening compliance and ethical management (15.1%).

The policy that citizens considered most necessary to expand large corporations' exports, investment, and employment was "labor market flexibility" (30.7%). Other responses included the need for regulatory reform (26.0%), reforming the culture of militant labor unions (19.2%), alleviating anti-business sentiment (12.8%), and tax support (10.2%). Lee Sang-yoon, head of the CSR division at FKI, stated, "Public perception of large corporations has improved," adding, "If legal and institutional support continues along with much interest and encouragement, it will greatly empower large corporations to make more proactive investments, create jobs, and practice ESG management."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.