The research on Social Performance Compensation (SPC), supported by the Center for Social Value Studies (CSES), has been published in an international social science journal, providing academic evidence for the policy effects of SPC.
According to industry sources, SPC is a compensation system that measures the social value created by social enterprises in monetary terms and provides incentives proportional to their performance. This concept was proposed by Choi Tae-won, chairman of SK Group, at the 2013 Davos Forum as a policy solution to address social issues, advocating for the objective measurement of social value and compensation based on market mechanisms.
Since 2015, the CSES has operated the SPC program, measuring social performance and continuing experiments to provide incentives based on results. The findings of this research are included in a paper by Professor Kim Sang-jun of Ewha Womans University, titled 'Responses of Dual-purpose Organizations to Economic Compensation: an Agent-based Model Approach,' published in the international SSCI journal Computational and Mathematical Organization Theory in June 2026.
This study utilized SPC data provided by the CSES to analyze the impact of SPC on the social performance (SV) and economic performance (EV) of social enterprises using an agent-based model (ABM).
The research team simulated a total of 4,000 virtual companies to analyze the effects of SPC, confirming a virtuous cycle where social and economic performance grow together. Additionally, all types of social enterprises that received SPC showed increases in both social and economic performance, with the most significant effects observed in early-stage companies with initially low performance in both areas.
While the study indicated that the effects of SPC tend to diminish over time, it also suggested that SPC helps delay the point of growth stagnation compared to cases without SPC. Therefore, it could serve as a protective measure to enhance the sustainability of social enterprises.
This research implies that SPC is not merely financial support but functions as a policy tool that influences behavioral changes in social enterprises and fosters the simultaneous enhancement of social and economic performance.
Professor Kim stated, 'Social enterprises must continuously balance between social and economic performance. This research confirms that social performance-based compensation increases the motivation for creating social value, leading to a virtuous cycle where improvements in social performance result in increased economic performance.'
He added, 'While the compensation effects are not permanent, SPC can contribute to maintaining social objectives and enhancing sustainability during the growth process of social enterprises.'
Na Seok-gwon, head of the CSES, remarked, 'The significance lies in the fact that the SPC data accumulated by the research institute has led to results published in an international journal. We hope this research will serve as a policy basis for future discussions on institutionalizing SPC.'
Meanwhile, the CSES signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) on July 9 with SK Telecom and Japan's SoftBank at SKT Tower in Euljiro, Seoul, to enhance the measurement of social value and cooperation among AI and ICT companies.
* This article has been translated by AI.
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