内部控制、技术创新和公司业绩——基于我国制造业上市公司的实证分析

Internal Control,Innovation and Firm Performance:Empirical Evidence from Chinese Manufacturing Companies

经典的管理学文献提出了内部控制作用于技术创新的两种不同机制,分别形成"内部控制促进论"和"内部控制悖论"。本文通过对我国制造业上市公司的理论分析和实证检验,发现虽然整体上我国内部控制对创新投入和创新绩效存在促进作用,但作用力较弱。这其中存在的问题包括:在技术创新活跃的公司中,内部控制提高创新绩效的作用力较弱;在大部分处于创新平均水平的公司中,内部控制的加强产生抑制创新投入的倾向;而在技术创新消极的公司中,内部控制对创新投入和创新绩效都没有发挥显著的改善作用。在当前我国经济转型升级背景下,本文对我国制造业上市公司进一步改进内部控制建设,以促进实体经济技术创新和向新兴制造业转型,具有重要的参考意义。

Technology innovation is very important to the production efficiency improvement of companies in the manufacturing industry. In recent years, R＆D investment in China has been showing a trend of rapid growth. However, researches show that the gaps of innovation inputs between companies are enlarging and the innovation contributions to company performance are still far away from satisfaction. This paper investigates the problems by discussing the effect of internal control on the innovation activity which includes innovation inputs and innovation efficiency. According to the literature, there currently are two main conflicting views：one is the ＂internal control im- provement＂ hypothesis ,which states that if internal control is better, the innovation input and innovation efficiency will increase. And its fundamental theory is that internal control is a systematic mechanism to reduce the agency costs and information asymmetry in the innovation activities. The other is ＂internal control paradox＂ hypothesis, which states that internal control usually composed of rigid regulations entails low level of flexibility, and this will in- evitably discourage innovation activities. It is explained by organization theory, and is supported by the recessions of some famous companies in the 1980s and the surveys about SOX consequences after 2002. This paper categorizes the theoretical effects of internal control on innovation activity mentioned in the above two hypotheses into mediating effect and moderating effect, and tests these two hypotheses with data from the public listed manufacturing compa- nies on the Chinese market from 2007 to 2013. The empirical results show that ＂internal control improvement＂ phe- nomenon does exist in the general sample,but the improving effects are very weak with the 3.5% mediating effect and the 0. 7% moderating effect. By grouping the sample according to innovation activeness which is the measure of innovation risk tolerance, the weakness of internal control system in each of the three groups is investigated in de- tails, and the reason for the general weak improvement effect is identified. First, in the group of companies with ac- tive innovation, internal control has higher mediating effect and can improving performance by stimulating the inno- vation inputs, but internal control shows no significant moderating effect to improve the innovation efficiency; Sec- ond, in the group of companies with average innovation activeness, internal control has higher moderating effect and can significantly improve the innovation efficiency, but internal control emphasis could discourage innovation inputs, main reason for the general weak improvement effects of internal control. Further research shows that the specific components of internal control have different effects on innovation activities. The related significant results are that components of internal environment and communication contribute mainly to the mediating effect, while components of control activities contribute mainly to the moderating effect. Based on the results, Chinese manufacturing compa- nies in general should emphasize the construction of internal control system to enhance innovation. Moreover, the ac- tive innovation companies with high innovation risk tolerance should improve control activities in order to increase the moderating effect of internal control system. And the average innovation companies with lower innovation risk tol- erance should emphasize more on better internal environment and communication in order to stimulate the mediating effect of internal control system. This paper contributes to the literature by introducing the internal control paradox hypothesis to enrich the research framework and by proposing the specific effects of internal control on innovation activity. It also provides important reference to the practitioners about how to renovate internal control system to promote innovation and enhance firm value.