競賽理論（tournament theory）是由Lazear及Rosen於1981年提出，此理論是用以說明薪資水準的決定因素；而本文以台灣上市、上櫃及興櫃的電子產業廠商作為研究對象，試圖探討其薪資結構是否符合競賽理論的預期，當競爭人數越多時，薪資差距也會隨之擴大；第二個探討主題則為公司績效表現與薪資差距的關聯性，是否以提高薪資差距的作法來激勵員工彼此競爭之下，是會同樣反應至績效表現上的；此外，尚會觀察研發投入此因素對於電子產業廠商的公司績效是否具有正面助益效果。實證結果顯示，台灣上市櫃電子產業的薪資結構確實符合競賽理論的預期，而此種薪資結構對於公司績效是存在積極正面幫助的。另外，若研究發展投入比重越高，電子業廠商的績效也會隨之提高，二者呈現正向關係。 Tournament Theory is proposed by Lazear and Rosen（1981）to explain the determination of the reward systems. This study using data on the electronics industry of listed company in Taiwan examines the predictions from the theory of tournaments：that the pay differentials will increase with a greater number of tournament participants. The second topic is to explore the effects of pay differentials and R&D expenditure on firm performance. Our empirical results are consistent with the operation of tournaments. The tournament compensation structure and R&D expenditure both have significantly positive increases in firm performance.
