The Time-lag Effect of R&D Investment on the Value of Listed Companies in China: A Cross-industry Analysis

Innovation plays an increasingly important role in economic growth, and R&D investment has become a key component of innovation initiatives. In this study, we performed analyses of 58 listed automobile manufacturers and 52 listed Internet companies in China. The empirical analysis is carried out by using STATA15.0 to preliminarily explore the mechanism of the time-lag effect of R&D investment on the value of these companies over the years of time-lag as well as conduct comparison analyses across industries. The results show that R&D investment has a positive effect on corporate value and this effect has a long-term time-lag effect. The mechanism of time-lag effect of R&D investment on the corporate value over the lag years has significant differences across industries. The time-lag effect of R&D investment on the value of the listed automobile manufacturer presents an inverted U shape, while the time-lag effect of R&D investment on the value of the listed Internet companies decreases gradually. The study helps local government better understand the different mechanisms of the time-lag effect of R&D investment on the value of the listed companies and also serves as a reference for local government to make decisions on subsidies and other supportive policies for innovation initiatives of the listed companies.