The influence of operating strategies and firm's characteristics on factor productivity: Evidence from the lighting equipment industry in Taiwan

Abstract

This study aimed at the influence of operating strategies and firms’ characteristics on factor productivity for the lighting equipment industry in Taiwan. Based on the theoretical framework, a linear structure model was constructed and the secondary data of 367 firms collected from of Taiwan Lighting Fixture Export Association in 2009 were used to perform a confirmatory analysis. By structural equation modeling (SEM), this study examined the relationship of different dimensional strategies and factor productivity and the empirical results showed that the internationalization strategy played a powerful role on influencing the factor productivity of the lighting equipment firms. However, the e-commence strategy would lead to a negative effect on their factor productivity, and there was no significant relationship between the strategy of product diversification and factor productivity. This study also found that the firm’s characteristics would bring a positive moderating effect on the relationship between operating strategies and factor productivity.