A Study on the Determinants of Firms’ R&D Investment－Environment, Strategy and Organization

• Main Authors: Yu-Han Wu, 吳育翰
• Other Authors: Chie-Bein Chen
• Format: Others
• Language: zh-TW
• Published: 2005
• Online Access: http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/48131518798682967831

碩士 === 國立東華大學 === 國際企業學系 === 93 === While the importance of R&D investment has been well recognized and past studies have also demonstrated some crucial factors influencing firms’ decisions regarding the level of R&D investment, a comprehensive explanatory framework incorporating environment, strategy and organization structure has not emerged, if any, yet. In light of the gap of R&D related literature, this study aims to propose an explanatory framework integrating the determinants from three dimensions: the external environment (the technology opportunity and appropriability), corporate strategies (ownership structure and diversification), and organization (absorptive capacity). Evidence from a sample of 641 Taiwanese listed manufacturing firms shows that: (1) the appropriability of R&D outcomes and the degree of product diversification can have a significant positive effect on firms’ R&D investment; (2) technology opportunity alone does not stimulate firms to increase their R&D investment, but needs to be accompanied by firms’ absorptive capacity to induce higher motivation on R&D investment; (3) ownership does not have direct effect on R&D investment, either; nevertheless, the top managers may be willing to promote firms’ R&D activities when the firms demonstrate high absorptive capacity; and (4) absorptive capacity plays an important role in determining the levels of firms’ R&D investment. Based on the empirical findings above, important implications to the formulation of corporate strategy and the policy of the administration regarding R&D investment are discussed.