董事会断裂带与研发持续性——基于研发支出粘性的实证研究

Board Fault Zone And R&D Persistence:An Empirical Study on the Stickiness of R&D Expenditure

研发投资是企业的重大决策之一,董事会结构对研发决策过程和结果有重要影响。以2007—2019年A股上市公司为样本,采用研发支出粘性刻画研发持续性,从董事会断裂带这一结构特征探索影响企业研发持续性的组织因素。研究发现,董事会断裂带的存在降低了企业研发投入的持续性,即提高董事会团队的同质性有助于提升研发投入持续性。机制检验表明,董事会断裂带通过影响董事会的监督效能、目标决策导向与风险偏好三条路径影响研发持续性。异质性分析发现,董事会断裂带的深层特征会加剧其对研发持续性的抑制作用,而企业购买董事高管责任险能够缓解董事会断裂带对研发持续性的负向影响。区分研发支出变动类型后发现,董事会断裂带主要抑制“升多-降少”型研发支出粘性。研究结论为董事会结构的决策效应研究提供了新的证据,拓展了研发支出粘性影响因素的相关研究,也为我国企业加强董事会建设以提升研发连续性提供了理论指导与政策启示。

R&D investment is one of the major decisions of an enterprise,and the structure of the board of directors has an important impact on the R&D decision-making process and results.This paper takes A-share listed companies from 2007 to 2019 as a sample,characterizes R&D persistence with R&D spending stickiness,and explores the organizational factors that affect the persistence of corporate R&D from the structural feature of the board fault zone.We find that the existence of the board fault zone reduces the persistence of R&D investment.The mechanism test shows that the board fault zone affects the persistence of R&D through three ways:the supervisory effectiveness of the board,the goal decision orientation and the risk preference.Heterogeneity analysis shows that the deep characteristics of the board fault zone aggravate its inhibition effect on R&D persistence,while the purchase of directors executive liability insurance and the high degree of external market competition can alleviate its negative impact on R&D persistence.After distinguishing the variation types of R&D expenditure,we find that the board fault zone mainly inhibits the stickiness of R&D expenditure of“rising more and decreasing less”type.This study examines the impact of board fault zones on multi-period R&D expenditure decisions within enterprises.The research conclusion provides new evidence for the study of the decision-making effect of board structure,expands the relevant research on the factors affecting the stickiness of R&D expenditure,and also provides theoretical guidance and policy implications for enhancing the continuity of enterprise R&D through strengthening board building.