制造企业的业绩困境会促进创新吗——基于期望落差维度拓展的分析

Will Performance Dilemma of Manufacturing Companies Promote Corporate Innovation——An Analysis Based on the Dimension Expansion of Negative Attainment Discrepancy

企业陷入业绩困境时是冒险创新还是规避风险,是个尚存争议的重要问题。本文创新性地将期望落差的维度从强度拓展到了持续性和范围性,从理论和实证上研究了期望落差的不同特征如何影响企业创新投入。基于中国制造业上市公司的实证证据,本文发现:(1)期望落差越是长时间持续存在,企业越可能提升创新投入水平;期望落差越是在多个目标上大范围存在,越可能遏制企业创新。(2)CEO的任期长短存在"双刃剑"效应。CEO在位时间越长,期望落差的持续性对企业创新的促进作用会进一步增强,但期望落差的范围性对企业创新的阻碍作用也会进一步增强。(3)董事会中独立董事的比例越高,越能制约持续期望落差可能引起的盲目创新,从而提升创新决策的科学性。本文的研究结论拓展了过往绩效如何影响企业创新的理论分析框架,从维度拓展的全新角度调和了期望落差与企业创新之间的矛盾关系,澄清了期望落差的不同特征与企业创新的权变关系,丰富了绩效反馈研究的情境机制,并对理解中国经济转型背景下制造业企业的创新问题具有现实意义和启发。

Whether to venture into innovation or avoid risks when firms fall into performance predicament is an important yet controversial issue.This paper creatively extends the dimensions of negative attainment discrepancy from intensity to duration and scope,and examines theoretically and empirically how different dimensions of negative attainment discrepancy affect firm R&D investment decisions.Based on the empirical evidence of listed manufacturing companies in China,this study finds that firm R&D investment increases with the duration of negative attainment discrepancy,and decreases with the scope of negative attainment discrepancy.CEO tenure plays as a double-edged sword.With longer CEO tenure,the durable negative attainment discrepancies will further promote firm R&D investment,whereas the multiple negative attainment discrepancies will further impede firm R&D investment.The ratio of independent directors on corporate board will weaken the positive relationship between durable negative attainment discrepancy and firm R&D investment,improving the validity of innovation decision-making.The findings of this paper extend the theoretical framework of how past performance feedback affects corporate innovation,and reconcile the contradictory relationship between negative attainment discrepancy and corporate innovation from a brand-new perspective.This study also enriches the contextual mechanism of performance feedback research,and demonstrate the contingent relationships between different dimensions of negative attainment discrepancy and corporate innovation.Besides,it has practical significance and inspiration on understanding the innovation issues of manufacturing enterprises in the background of China’s economic transition.