| 摘要: | 在技術日新月異、消費者需求彈性變大、產品生命週期縮短的現代社會，商業環境與產業結構瞬息萬變，企業為了與時俱進並維持產品競爭力，將有誘因投入研究與開發活動（Research & Development , R&D），期能激發產品創新動能以及追求永續經營。其中，自資訊及通訊技術發展的數位革命來臨，研發對高科技產業尤其重要，除可透過改善產品製程降低成本外，亦能藉由強化核心技術進行產品創新，若成功將研發投入轉化為實質產出，可望提高股價或企業價值，同時反映於經營績效上。
為瞭解研發投入對企業經營績效的影響，本研究以2002年至2019年台灣製造業上市上櫃公司的Panel data為研究對象，考量企業規模及產業性質差異，以研發密集度（研發支出占營業收入的比率）作為研發投入的指標，經營績效則用資產報酬率（ROA）、股東權益報酬率（ROE）、Tobin’s Q及營業毛利率衡量。鑒於相異的樣本來源、模型建構等將導向不同的實證結論，故關於研發投入能否有效率的達成創新或提高企業價值，發揮預期的經濟效益，相關文獻迄今尚未獲致共識，爰此，本研究除分析台灣製造業上市上櫃公司整體情形外，另再區分製造業內不同子行業別進行個別討論，或許得以較全面性的觀點瞭解各行各業研發活動對經營績效的影響。
研究首先以最小平方法（OLS）對整體製造業研發與績效的關聯性進行研究，實證結果發現，研發密集度與ROA及ROE顯著負相關、與Tobin’ s Q及營業毛利率顯著正相關。再進一步探討製造業內不同子行業別情形，發現研發密集度對製造業經營績效的影響會因行業別而異。最後使用固定效果模型，控制個別公司無法觀察到且不隨時間變化的特性下，發現廠商研發密集度與ROA、ROE、Tobin’s Q有顯著負相關、與營業毛利率顯著正相關。若再就台灣上市上櫃電子業以固定效果模型進行分析，亦得出一致的實證結果。
上述結果衍生出以下結論：
研發投入不見得能對如化學工業與生技醫療、電子工業等技術密集型產業有正面影響，以台灣的產業現況觀之，台灣高科技電子業大多偏向代工性質，身處生產鏈中的一環，且產品汰換快速，若企業過於重視研發投入，反而對經營績效沒有直接助益，甚至造成資源排擠效果。所以建議企業不宜為了確保產品優勢，盲目進行研究與開發活動，造成資源無法有效率的配置。
關鍵字：研發密集度、經營績效、製造業;In a modern society with ever-changing technologies, greater elasticity of consumer demand, products with shortened life cycles, the business environment and industrial structure shift rapidly. In order to keep up with the times and maintain products competitiveness, companies will have incentives to invest in research and development activities (Research & Development, R&D), which are expected to stimulate product innovation momentum and reach sustainable operation. Especially, due to the digital revolution in the development of information and communication technology, R&D is particularly important to the high-tech industry. It can not only reduce costs by improving product manufacturing processes, but also achieve products innovation by strengthening core technologies. If successfully transforms R&D investment into substant products, it can be expected to increase stock price or corporate value, and will also be reflected into business performance.
In order to understand the impact of R&D investment on business performance, this study uses manufacturing companies in Taiwan listed on the OTC from 2002 to 2019 as the research object. Considering the differences in enterprise scale and industry Specifics, R&D Intensity (ratio of R&D expenditure and revenue) is used as an indicator of R&D investment, and business performance is measured by return on assets (ROA), return on equity (ROE), Tobin′s Q and gross profit margin. In view of the fact that different sample sources, model constructions, etc. will lead to different empirical conclusions, the relevant literature has not yet reached a consensus on whether R&D investment can efficiently achieve innovation or increase corporate value, and creat expected economic benefits. In addition to analyzing the overall situation of listed companies in Taiwan′s manufacturing industry, this study also distinguishes different sub-sectors in the manufacturing industry into individual discussions, which may provide a more comprehensive view of the impact of R&D activities on business performance in different sector.
First, this study uses the least square method (OLS) to study the correlation between R&D of overall manufacturing industry and its performance. The empirical results found that R&D intensity is significantly negatively correlated with ROA and ROE, and significantly positively correlated with Tobin’s Q and gross profit margin. Further, this study explores the different sub-industry situations in the manufacturing industry, and found that the impact of R&D intensity on the business performance of the manufacturing industry varies from sectorto sector. Finally, using a fixed-effect model to control the unobservable characteristics of individual companies that don’t change over time, it was found that the R&D intensity of manufacturers is significantly negatively correlated with ROA, ROE, and Tobin’s Q, and significantly positively correlated with gross profit margin. If we analyze the electronics industry listed on the Taiwan stock market or the OTC market with a fixed-effect model, consistent empirical results can be obtained.
The above results derive the following conclusions: R&D investment does not necessarily have a positive impact on technology-intensive industries such as the chemical industry, biotechnology, medical care, and electronics. To observe the current situation of Taiwan’s industry, the high-tech electronics industry tends to be foundry which is only a part of the production chain and replaced rapidly. If the company attaches too much to R&D investment, it may not help improve business performance, and even cause crowding-out effects on production resources. Therefore, it is recommended that companies should not blindly conduct research and development activities for maintaining product advantages, resulting in inefficient allocation of resources.
Keywords: R&D intensity, business performance, manufacturing |
