Impact of research and development tax credits on the innovation and operational efficiencies of Internet of things companies in Taiwan

Abstract

Following the emergence of the Internet, the Internet of things (IOT) brought about another wave of technological and economic revolutions. Through the lens of the production process, this study utilises the dynamic network slack-based measure model in data envelopment analysis to evaluate 32 IOT companies in Taiwan in terms of their innovation efficiency, operational efficiency and overall efficiency for the period of 2007–2017. Empirical results reveal that the average operational and overall efficiencies of IOT companies in Taiwan have been decreasing considerably since 2008. However, their average innovation efficiency remains stable over the sample period owing to government reductions in enterprise research and development (R&D) tax credit incentives. Through the impulse response function method, this study further confirms that the Statute for Industrial Innovation, which was implemented in 2010 and revised and reimplemented in 2016, specifically, policies concerning enterprise R&D tax credits, affect the efficiencies of IOT companies in Taiwan. Overall, this study reveals the performance evaluation process of IOT companies by showing that their innovation capability affects their operational efficiency. Thus, the government is advised to incorporate innovation measures into relevant industrial policies to achieve policy effectiveness.