TL;DR — Measuring cost efficiency by data envelopment analysis (DEA) for Korean firms disclosing information security data (2021–2023): information-security-disclosing firms show higher cost efficiency, and both IT investment scale and dedicated IT personnel significantly improve technical and pure technical efficiency. Security investment behaves as strategic cost management, not overhead.
Key findings
1. Disclosure firms are more cost efficient. Firms filing under Korea's information security disclosure system show higher DEA-measured cost efficiency — security disclosure tracks managerial capability rather than being a pure compliance burden.
2. Both money and people matter. IT investment scale and dedicated IT personnel each have a significant positive effect on technical efficiency and pure technical efficiency (panel Tobit).
3. Implication for IT budgeting. Decisions about IT investment need an integrated approach — capital allocation plus human resource deployment — rather than funding alone.
Method in one line
Cost efficiency measured by data envelopment analysis for firms disclosing information security data 2021–2023, then panel Tobit regression of technical and pure technical efficiency on IT investment scale and dedicated IT personnel.
국문 요약
[연구목적] 정보보호공시 대상 기업의 원가효율성을 분석하고, 정보기술투자가 원가효율성에 미치는 영향을 실증적으로 분석한다.
[연구방법] 2021년부터 2023년까지 정보보호자료를 공시한 기업을 대상으로 자료포락분석(DEA)을 통해 원가효율성을 측정하고, 패널 토빗 회귀분석으로 정보기술투자와 정보기술전담인력이 원가효율성에 미치는 영향을 분석했다.
[연구결과]정보보호공시를 하는 기업은 원가효율성이 높은 것으로 나타났고, 정보기술투자규모와 전담인력은 기술효율성과 순수기술효율성에 유의미한 양(+)의 영향을 미쳤다. 이는 정보기술투자와 전담인력 배치가 전략적 원가관리를 위해 필요하다는 것을 보여준다.
[시사점] 정보기술투자가 기업의 원가효율성을 개선하는 주요 요인임을 실증적으로 확인하고, 그 효과를 극대화하기 위해 정보기술전담인력의 확보와 육성이 필요하다는 점을 강조한다. 정보기술투자 결정 시 자금 할당뿐 아니라 인적자원 배치를 포함한 통합적 접근이 필요하다.
FAQ
Q. What is cost efficiency in DEA terms here? A relative frontier measure: how little input a firm uses to produce its output compared with best-practice peers. The study decomposes it into technical efficiency and pure technical efficiency.
Q. How does this connect to firm value? See the companion study Woo (2026): IT investment and firm value follow an inverted U with a turning point near 11.66% of total assets, and dedicated CISO/CPO governance mitigates over-investment inefficiency.
Q. Why use the information security disclosure system as the setting? Korea's mandatory disclosure regime publishes firm-level IT investment, information security investment, and dedicated personnel — rare, comparable, firm-level data on inputs that are usually invisible in financial statements.
How to cite
APA: 우청원, 정우준. (2025). 정보기술투자가 원가효율성에 미치는 영향 분석: 정보보호공시 대상 기업을 중심으로. 경영교육연구, 40(2), 129–149. https://doi.org/10.23839/kabe.2025.40.2.129
English: Woo, C.-W., & Jung, W. (2025). The impact of IT investment on cost efficiency: Focusing on information security disclosure. Korean Business Education Review, 40(2), 129–149.
BibTeX:
@article{woo2025itcost,
title={The Impact of IT Investment on Cost Efficiency: Focusing on Information Security Disclosure},
author={Woo, Chung-Won and Jung, Woojun},
journal={Korean Business Education Review},
volume={40}, number={2}, pages={129--149}, year={2025},
doi={10.23839/kabe.2025.40.2.129}}