Effects of R&D intensity on firm performance in Taiwan’s semiconductor industry

This study examined the impact of research and development (R&D) investment behaviour on the corporate performance of the Taiwanese semiconductor industry, which faced the economic downturn caused by the global financial crisis of 2008, for the period 2005–2016. A dynamic panel data model was used to empirically analyse the impact of R&D intensity on business performance. A generalised method of moments estimator was adopted to avoid endogeneity problems caused by adding dynamics to the model. Further, the model was used to explore the impact of the lag effect of R&D investments on business performance. It was found that significant R&D investments in a given period may reduce business performance in the same period and continue to influence it in the next few periods, thus indicating the presence of a positive and lagged effect of R&D investments in the high-tech industry. Firm size was also found to be positively correlated with business performance, that is, the larger the firm size, the greater is the use of resources for R&D, which, in turn, leads to more sophisticated technologies and profitable outcomes, forming a positive cycle. This indicates that R&D expenditures affect firms’ sustainable management.