IMPACT OF RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT INVESTMENTS ON Firm's PERFORMANCE

ABSTRACT This study examined the impact of innovative efforts, measured by investment in Research and Development, on sales growth, taking into account different "degrees of proximity" to the frontier. To test the hypothesis, we built a regression model with multilevel data to assess financial data of 1,500 firms from year 2012. We estimated the Total Factor Productivity of each firm and built an index of proximity to the frontier (firm with higher productivity). The results show that firms closer to the frontier employ R&D resources more efficiently, as their growth estimates are higher than those of firms situated further behind the frontier.

摘要 本研究以研发（Research and Development，R&D）投入衡量创新努力程度，探讨其对企业销售增长的影响，并同时考量了企业与生产率前沿的不同邻近程度。为验证研究假说，本研究构建多层数据回归模型，对2012年的1500家企业财务数据开展评估。本研究估算了每家企业的全要素生产率（Total Factor Productivity），并构建了与前沿企业（即生产率最高的企业）的邻近程度指数。研究结果显示，与前沿水平更接近的企业能够更高效地运用研发资源，其销售增长预估结果显著高于远离前沿水平的企业。