A Productivity Analysis of the IC Foundry Industry across the Taiwan Straits

• Main Authors: Ying-JieSiao, 蕭瑛傑
• Other Authors: Wen-Jen Hsieh
• Format: Others
• Language: zh-TW
• Published: 2015
• Online Access: http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/47163714918183694986

碩士 === 國立成功大學 === 政治經濟研究所 === 103 === SUMMARY As a key part of Semiconductor Industry, integrated circuit (IC) foundry manufacturing industry is very technology-intensive and capital-intensive. This article aims to analyze the productivity of the cross-strait IC foundry industries. For an overview of the IC foundry market, the structure-conduct-performance (S-C-P) model is adopted, and the magnitudes of CR4 and HHI reveal that the global IC foundry industry can be categorized as the type of oligopoly. And the CCR and BCC models from the data envelopment analysis (DEA) methodology are applied to evaluate the relative efficiencies and productivity performances of eight cross-strait pure IC foundry manufacturers in 2012 and 2013. The operating revenue is used as an output variable; while fixed assets, operating costs and number of employees are the input variables. And the data are analyzed by the DEAP and SPSS statistic software. The findings suggest that the pure technical and scale efficiencies of the Taiwan IC foundry manufacturers are generally higher than that of the China’s. More specifically, the Taiwan’s IC foundry manufacturers are maintaining an apparent lead in the pure technical efficiency and a slight lead in the scale efficiency. The results reveal that China’s IC foundry manufactures invested heavily in the machinery, physical plants and equipment and have narrowed the gap in the scale efficiencies. As far as the Taiwan IC foundry manufacturers is concerned, the critical importance of conducting emerging technological research and innovation and protecting key know-how and technology cannot be overemphasized. INTRODUCTION The integrated circuit (IC) foundry industry is one of main industries in China and Taiwan. As a key part of Semiconductor Industry, IC foundry manufacturing industry is very technology-intensive and capital-intensive. This article aims to analyze the productivity of the cross-strait IC foundry industries. The CCR and BCC models from the data envelopment analysis (DEA) methodology are applied to evaluate the relative efficiencies and productivity performances of eight cross-strait pure IC foundry manufacturers in 2012 and 2013. MATERIALS AND METHODS First, for an overview of the IC foundry market, the structure-conduct- performance (S-C-P) model is adopted, and the magnitudes of CR4 and HHI can reveal the type of market structure of the global IC foundry industry. Additionally, a qualitative analysis is conducted mainly on the issue of Taiwan IC foundry manufacturers directly investing in mainland China in different political and economic situations. Finally, the CCR and BCC models from the (DEA) methodology are applied to evaluate the relative efficiencies and productivity performances of eight cross-strait pure IC foundry manufacturers in 2012 and 2013. The eight cross-strait IC foundry manufacturers include six Taiwan manufacturers and two China’s. The six Taiwan pure-play IC foundry manufacturers are the TSMC, UMC, Powerchip Semiconductor, Vanguard International Semiconductor, WIN Semiconductors and Mosel Vitelic. And the two China manufacturers are the SMIC Corporation and Huahong Grace Semiconductor. And the operating revenue is used as an output variable; while fixed assets, operating costs and number of employees are the input variables. The data are analyzed by the DEAP and SPSS statistic software. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION The S-C-P model is adopted, and the magnitudes of CR4 and HHI reveal that the global IC foundry industry in line with the type of oligopoly. Moreover, A qualitative analysis is conducted mainly on the issue of Taiwan IC foundry manufacturers directly investing in mainland China in different political and economic situations. Some positive and negative motivations have been concluded. Finally, based on the empirical results, the pure technical efficiency and scale efficiencies of the Taiwan IC foundry manufacturers are generally higher than that of the China’s. Through a comparison of the IC foundry manufacturers of Taiwan and China, the Taiwan IC foundry manufacturers maintaining apparent lead in the pure technical efficiency and maintaining a slight lead in the scale efficiencies. CONCLUSION The findings suggest that the pure technical and scale efficiencies of the Taiwan IC foundry manufacturers are generally higher than that of the China’s. More specifically, the Taiwan’s IC foundry manufacturers are maintaining an apparent lead in the pure technical efficiency and a slight lead in the scale efficiency. With a consistent large amount of the government funds of China being allocated for the IC industries, the results reveal that China’s IC foundry manufactures invested heavily in the machinery, physical plants and equipment and have narrowed the gap in the scale efficiencies. As far as the Taiwan IC foundry manufacturers is concerned, the critical importance of conducting emerging technological research and innovation and protecting key.