財務限制對我國電子業廠商成長的影響

Abstract

廠商成長受到多種因素影響，傳統理論認為廠商規模與設廠時間係兩項最重要的因素。近年來的實證研究發現財務限制亦扮演重要的角色。財務限制是指廠商面臨資金供應不足或受資本市場限制，進而對廠商投資或擴張造成阻礙，並限制其成長。本文使用2006年至2016年台灣廠商層級資料，並挑選第26中類「電子零組件製造業」及第27中類「電腦、電子產品及光學製品製造業」，探討財務限制及進出口對電子業廠商成長的影響。我們發現財務限制確實會對電子業廠商成長產生負面影響，其中槓桿比率與廠商成長大致呈現負向關係，而流動性與廠商成長大致呈正向關係。考量現金流量比率後，現金流量比率為負的廠商，其槓桿比率與廠商成長呈現負向相關；現金流量比率高於全體75%的廠商，其槓桿比率與廠商成長呈現正向相關，其流動性與廠商成長亦呈現正向相關。換言之，槓桿比率與廠商成長關係較模糊，槓桿比率可能不會降低已知擁有良好潛力的廠商成長，但對於成長機會未被資本市場認可或債務過剩的廠商來說，槓桿與成長會呈現負向相關。而一般來說，流動性有助於廠商短期財務穩定、獲得外部融資，但依據本文實證結果，流動性與廠商成長的正向關係，只有在廠商擁有較高現金流量比率（現金流量比率高於全體廠商中的75%）時呈現統計上的顯著。因此，廠商內部資金的能力（現金流量比率）可能是影響廠商成長的關鍵。從實證結果中，也發現廠商規模愈大或經營年齡愈久有助於廠商存活於市場，但中小型、設廠年輕的廠商成長速度較快。在進出口貿易方面，出口活動對廠商存活有利，但與廠商成長的關係較為模糊；進口活動對廠商存活較為不利，但對廠商成長有利；至於同時擁有進出口活動對廠商存活的影響較為模糊，但同時進出口活動卻有利廠商成長。

Firm growth is influenced by various factors, with traditional theories suggesting that firm size and establishment age are the most important factors. Recent empirical studies have found that financial constraints also play a crucial role. Financial constraints refer to firms facing insufficient funding or capital market limitations, hindering their investment or expansion and limiting their growth. This study uses firm-level data from Taiwan from 2006 to 2016, focusing on the "Manufacture of Electronic Parts and Components" (Category 26) and "Manufacture of Computers, Electronic and Optical Products" (Category 27) industries to explore the impact of financial constraints and trade on the growth of firms in the electronics industry. The financial constraints indeed negatively affect the growth of electronic firms. Specifically, leverage ratio generally shows a negative relationship with firm growth, while liquidity generally shows a positive relationship with firm growth. Considering the cash flow ratio, firms with negative cash flow ratios show a negative relationship between leverage ratio and firm growth; firms with cash flow ratios above the 75th percentile show a positive relationship between leverage ratio and firm growth, and their liquidity also shows a positive relationship with firm growth. In other words, the relationship between leverage ratio and firm growth is ambiguous. The leverage ratio may not reduce the growth of firms with known good potential, but for firms whose growth opportunities are not recognized by the capital market or are insufficient to overcome their excess debt impact, leverage and growth show a negative correlation. Generally, liquidity helps firms achieve short-term financial stability and obtain external financing. However, based on our empirical results, the positive relationship between liquidity and firm growth is statistically significant only when firms generate higher cash flow ratios (above the 75th percentile of all firms). Therefore, the ability of firms to generate internal funds (cash flow ratio) may be a key factor affecting firm growth. From the empirical results, larger firm size or longer operational age contributes to firms' survival in the market, but small and younger firms grow faster. In terms of trade, export is beneficial for firm survival, but the relationship with firm growth is more ambiguous; import is less favorable for firm survival but beneficial for firm growth. As for both import and export, their impact on firm survival is ambiguous, but they are beneficial for firm growth.