1、 外文翻译 原文 Performance, Internationalization, and Firm-specific Advantages of SMEs in a Newly-Industrialized Economy Material Source: Small Business Economics Author: Yu-chingchiao,Kuo-PinYang,Chwo-MingJosephYu ABSTRACT: In light of the lack of empirical evidence regarding issues of internationalizati
2、on as they affect small and medium-sized enterprises (SME) from newly-industrialized economies (NIE), this study aims to expand the applicability of existent internationalization theories. So far, such theories have largely been developed with MNC from industrialized economies in mind. In examining
3、a 1996 sample of 1,419 Taiwanese SME, we found that the relationship between internationalization and performance could be graphically depicted as one of inverted U-shaped and that a specific level of internationalization corresponded to maximum profitability. Our empirical findings also confirmed a
4、 relationship of U shaped between advertising investment and performance, indicating that a minimum level of investment is required in order for advertising to be effective. Investments in research and development (R&D) were also shown to be positively associated with firm performance. The external
5、validity of our internationalization theories regarding SME from NIE was generally supported, though some modifications allowing for consideration of the particular context of individual SME will ultimately become a necessity. KEY WORDS: internationalization, firm-specific advantages, SME, newly ind
6、ustrialized economies Small and medium-sized enterprises (SME) account for more than 95% of all firms in many countries. Thus, they play a major role not only in developing economies such as Taiwan and the Philippines, but also in developed economies such as those of Japan, the U.S., and France. Hav
7、ing experienced healthy growth during the past few decades, SME especially those of newly-industrialized economies (NIEs) face a new set of challenges in the new millennium. Business has become more global and more integrated, causing SME to seek to expand into international markets, either proactiv
8、ely or passively. Recently, the significant role played by SME in international markets has come to be recognized. Although the phenomenon of firms internationalization has captured the interest of many scholars, little effort has been made to understand the effects of internationalization on SME pe
9、rformance ， or, for that matter, even to examine other possible factors on SME performance. Basing on Sullivans (1994) thorough review of related literature between 1971 and 1990, we reviewed 42 articles by searching for more recent studies from top international business journals covering issues be
10、tween 1990 and 2004. It appears that large firms from developed countries have drawn the most attention and effort from researchers. What, specifically, has been learned about SME internationalization efforts? First, only a very limited number of studies, to our knowledge, have focused on small and
11、medium-sized enterprises. More, of the forty-two studies reviewed, no study took as its subject SME from newly-industrialized economies such as Taiwan, Hong Kong, Korea, and Singapore all countries which are characterized by their flourishing SME. This limited number of SME studies reinforces many s
12、cholars call for more empirical information on SME. Further, what few findings there are on SME are inconsistent. Thus, the performance implications of internationalization upon SME remain far from conclusive. Three studies found a positive (linear) relationship between internationalization and perf
13、ormance, whereas Lu and Beamish (2001) and Quant (2002) argued that the relationship between internationalization and performance could be depicted as an inverted U. In one study (i.e., Lu and Beamish, 2001), export intensity was found to have negative impact on performance, contradicting Qurans (20
14、02) findings. Finally, research based on large sample sizes (i.e., a sample size of larger than 300) has not appeared yet. We believe that there is a great deal of room for further investigation into the effects of internationalization on SME. Interestingly, empirical findings on issues of internati
15、onalization as they relate to large firms are also mixed, although the topic has been the subject of a significant number of studies. Homer (1976), Ragman (1981), and Dunning (1988) offered theoretical explanations for firms internationalization, recognizing the advantages reaped by such firms inter
16、nationalization efforts. Conversely, Hit et al. (1997) and Mitchell et al. (1992) noted potential threats introduced by internationalization. In addition, most studies have been conducted in the context of developed economies； a scant few have focused on developing countries. The uneven focus and mi
17、xed results invite further investigation into the effects of internationalization, and more interestingly, into SME in the Asian context (Young, 1994). Moreover, of all 42 articles we reviewed, only two studies focused on firms from developing countries and none of the two studies looked into the pe
18、rformance implications of internationalization for SME. Of course, the argument of that few studies have been done on a particular topic hardly justifies study into that topic； it could be that the phenomenon in question is simply not important. In this case, however, it would conflict with the nume
19、rous and frequent calls for studies of this sort. Allah et al. (2000) found that there have been few systematic studies of the export strategies followed by firms from emerging economies and performance implications of those strategies. This gap has motivated us to examine the external validity (app
20、licability) of findings regarding internationalization and firm performance, which has been derived mainly from examinations of the internationalization activities of large a nd well established firms from developed countries. In sum, a study focusing on SME from developing countries or emerging eco
21、nomies would seem to be not simply timely, but necessary. What differences might we expect of SME from developing countries, as compared to those from developed countries? First, we are interested in how the internationalization of firms affects their performance in highly export-orientated nations.
22、 Second, because the nature of innovative activities is quite different in Western (developed) and developing countries (as described latter in the sections of hypothesis development and discussion), we wonder how different types of R&D activities affect firms performance. Third, what are the implic
23、ations for performance of various levels of advertising? Specifically, what happens when SME make only extremely low levels of advertising expenditures, as evidenced by our sampled firms? These questions are of especial interest studying SME in the context of developing countries. This study makes t
24、hree contributions. First, it augments current research on internationalization by including newly-industrialized economies. As a large-sample investigation based on empirical study of SME in an Asian NIE, the study complements existing streams of research. Second, in response to the request for mor
25、e attention to the performance implications of SME internationalization (Lu and Beamish, 2001), this study investigates Taiwanese SME so as to validate the findings related to internationalization, which were mainly developed for MNC. Taiwan, the economy of which has thrived during the past few deca
26、des, is characterized by its flourishing SME. In 2002, SME accounted for more than 97.72% of firms in Taiwan and 77.86% of total employment (Small and Medium Enterprise Administration, 2003). The significance of SME makes Taiwanese SME an interesting and, we believe, appropriately representative sub
27、ject of study. Finally, we believe that the mixed findings that characterize the existent literature may result from the relatively small sample sizes employed by most studies. This study utilizes a large database maintained by the National Statistical Bureau, ROC. We believe that such a sample will
28、 increase the reliability of our inferences, in contrast to those studies based on small samples. We also believe that this sample will enhance existing related theories, because the findings of this research may be extended to include SME, in newly-industrialized economies, in general. This study s
29、pecifically aims to investigate the impacts of internationalization and of investment in intangible assets, respectively, on the performance of Taiwanese SME. Following the introduction, the paper will review related theories and empirical findings to demonstrate the derivation of its research hypot
30、heses. The third section will describe the samples and methodology. Statistical results and the managerial implications are discussed in section four, and the final section contains our concluding remarks Our review of earlier studies on the effects of internationalization revealed inconclusive find
31、ings with respect to its impact on performance.Some studies confirmed the advantages of internationalization (Geringer et al., 1989； Grant, 1987； Grant et al., 1988； Kim et al.,1993), while others did not (Collins, 1990； Mitchell et al., 1992). Even in the case of studies which sought to demonstrate
32、 the positive impacts of internationalization upon firm performance, the linear or non-linear nature of the relationship remained unclear (Gomes and Ramaswamy, 1999； Hitt et al., 1997). Indeed, some studies concluded that internationalization had no effect on performance (Horst, 1972； Wan,1998). The
33、se mixed results are discussed further below. Early explanations of the drive to expand internationally were rooted in the advantages born of ownership, location, and internalization (Buckley and Casson, 1976 ； Dunning, 1988 ； Hymer, 1976). Transaction cost theory offers a widely-accepted rationale
34、for the adoption of foreign direct investment (i.e., internationalization),in terms of organization costs (Hennart,1991). The resource-based view (Barney, 1991) complements the theoretical foundations of internationalization, which suggests that firms with unique, valuable, and inimitable resources
35、tend to transfer those resources to international markets so as to pursue greater profitability. Economies of scope and scale, a rational reconfiguration of activities, risk amortization, or greater organizational learning all explain why higher levels of profitability might be achieved by means of
36、integration (Barlett and Ghoshal, 1989； Hitt et al., 1997； Kogut, 1985). Other theoretical explanations of international activities, such as the network perspective (Johanson and Mattsson, 1988) and the oligopolistic perspective (Yu and Ito, 1988) have been published widely. International expansion,
37、 of course, is not without its costs. Firms adopting an international strategy face rising costs at the initial stages of expansion, a phenomenon known as the liability of foreignness (Buckley and Casson, 1976； Hymer, 1976). Although this cost might diminish with the growth of international experien
38、ce, transaction and coordination costs also ensue from higher levels of internationalization (Hitt et al., 1997； Tallman and Li, 1996). The uncertainty associated with launching foreign operations, such as that of institutional deterrence, also increases operating costs (Mitchell et al.,1992). Final
39、ly, when the growth of resource commitments and the internal capabilities of multinational firms lag behind the growth rate of internationalization, the costs might well outweigh the benefits (Hitt et al., 1997； Tallman and Li, 1996). 译文 中小企业在新兴工业经济体中的业绩，国际化和企业特定优势 资料来源 : 中小企业经济学 作者： Yu-chingchiao,K
40、uo-PinYang,Chwo-MingJosephYu 摘要：鉴于中小企业缺少来 自新兴工业经济体的有关国际 化问题的实践性经验的影响，本研究旨在扩大现有国际化理论的适用性。到目前为止，这些理论大部分被有工业化经济理念的世界公司所运用。在 1996 年研究了 1,419 个台湾中小企业后，我们发现企业国际化程度和业绩可以用图标描述为倒 “U”型，一个具体的国际化水平与最大利润 相对应。我们的实证研究也可以确定 U 型线与广告投资有着密切的关系，同时也表明用最少的投资获得最佳的广告效果。在研究与开发方面投资和公司的业绩显示着必然的联系。涉及新兴工业经济体中的中小企业的国际化理论外在有效性是被广
41、泛支持的，虽然一些针对个别中小企业特殊背景作修改的情况还是被允许的。 关键词：国际化，企业特定优势，中小企业，新兴工业化经济体 许多国家的中小企业的比重都超过了 95%。因此，他们发挥着重大的作用，不仅在台湾和菲律宾这样的发展中国家，而且也在日本，美国，法国这样的发达国家。在经历过去的几十年的健康发 展后，中小企业特别是处在新兴工业化经济体中的中小企业，在新世纪面临着一系列的新挑战。贸易变得更加全球化和一体化，使得中小企业不管是主动还是被动都要寻求扩大国际市场。最近，中小企业在国际市场中的重要性已经得到公认，企业的国际化现象已经吸引了许多学者的兴趣并且在了解国际化对中小企业表现的影响方面的研究
42、已作出了一些努。此外，甚至研究其他可能影响中小企业业绩的可能因素。基于对苏里文 1971年至 1990年 相关文献的彻底回顾，我们审查 了 24篇由 国际顶尖商业期刊刊登的 1990年至 2004年之间的涉及中小企业问题文章。由此 看来，发达国家的大型企业得到了研究人员最大关注 和努力。具体而言，我们从对中小企业的国际化的努力中能学到什么呢 ？ 首先，据我们所知，只有极少数的研究是集中在中小型企业得。其次，在审查 42篇研究报告后，没有研究把来自新兴工业化经济体，例如台湾、香港、韩国和新加坡之类的中小企业当作研究对象，蓬勃发展的中小企业已成为所有这些国家的特点。这种对中小企业数量研究有限的现状
43、，激起了许多学者呼吁要加强对中小企业经验信息的研究。此外，一些对中小企业的研究结果也是不一致的。因此，国际化对中小型企业业绩的影响还远远没有定论。三项研 究都发现了国际化与企业业绩之间的积极关系，然而，路和比米什 （ 2001）和钱（ 2002） 认为国际化和企业业绩之间的关系可以用倒 U来描述。在一项研究中（路和比米什， 2001），企业业绩对出口强度产生负面影响，与钱（ 2002年）的调查结果产生矛盾。最后，基于大样本量的研究（样本大小大于 300）这种情况还没有出现。我们相信，进一步调查国际化对中小企业影响的的空间还很大。有趣的是，国际化问题的实证研究结果同样与大企业一样，所以这个问题一
44、直是研究的主题。海默 （ 1976） ， 拉格曼 （ 1981） ，和邓宁（ 1988） 提供了企业 的国际化的理论解释，他们认识到这些企业在国际化方面努力所收获的优势。相反的，希特 （ 1997年）和米切尔（ 1992年）等人注意到了国际化所存在的潜在威胁。此外，大多数研究被指引到研究发达国家的情况；只有很少的几个集中在发展中国家。国际化影响的重点不平衡和结果的不同要求对研究结果作进一步的调查 ,更有趣的是，亚洲范围内的中小企业更有必要（杨， 1994）。此外，我们回顾的 42偏文章中只有两个研究重点关注来自发展中国家的企业并且都没有研究国际化对中小企业业绩的影响。当然，该研究极少就某一专题
45、进行参数分析，这很难解释到 该专题的研究； 当然，研究如果极少就某一专题进行参数分析就很难解释其研究结果； 它是不是有一种有问题的现象已经不重要了。然而，在这种情况下，需要进行大量和频繁的参数研究是很有难度的。 Aulakh et al.(2000)发现，来自新兴经济制度国家的企业缺乏对出口政策和业绩影响的系统研究。这种差距已使我们更多审视关于国际化和公司业绩的外部适用性问题，主要是对发达国家的大型和完善企业的国际化活 动的审视。总体来说，重点研究发展中国家或新兴经济体的中小企业不仅要及时而且也必要的。我们期望可以从来自发展中国家的中小企业与发达国家的比较而获得什么不同之处呢？首先，我们感兴趣
46、的是在高度以出口导向为主的国家的国际化是怎样影响企业业绩的。其次，由于创新活动的本质在发达国家与发展中国家有着很大区别（如叙述了假设的发展和讨论后的部分），我们很疑惑不同种类的研发活动都是怎样影响企业业绩的。第三，对不同级别广告表现的影响又是什么？具体而言 ,当企业作出极低的广告支出水平对这些被抽样的公司又会发生什么呢？我们对这些发展中 国家中小型企业的问题研究特别感兴趣。这一研究共有三方面的贡献：首先，它增强了在国际化方面，包括新兴工业化经济体方面的研究。作为一个以亚洲新工业化经济体中的中小企业为基础的抽查大样本，它对现有的研究结果做了很大的补充。第二，为了回应重视中小企业的国际化性能影响（
47、卢和比米什， 2001）的要求，本研究通过探讨台湾的中小型企业以验证其调查结果与国际化有关，这主要是成熟的跨国公司。在过去几十年中，台湾经济发展快速，最主要的特点是中小企业蓬勃发展。 2002年，中小企业的比重超过 97.72 ，中小企业的就业人数占总人数的 77.86 （中小型企业管理， 2003年）。因为中小型企业的重要性使得台湾变得极具吸引力并且我们认为这是研究课题中最具代表性的。最后，我们认为大多数以现存的文献资料为特征的复杂的调查结果是由于样本容量相对较少造成的。我们的研究采用了国家统计局提供的大型数据库，我们认为，与那些基于小样本研究相比，这样一个样本将会增加我们推论结果的可靠性。
48、我们也认为，采用示例将加强现有的相关理论的可靠性，因为这项研究的结果一般来说可能会扩大到包括在新兴工业化经济体中的中小型企业。本研究目的在探讨具体的国际化和无形的资产分布对台 湾中小企业的业绩影响。在导言之后，本文将回顾相关理论和实证研究结果以证明其研究假设推导。第三部分将介绍样本和方法，统计结果和相关管理问题的讨论将置于第四部分，最后一部分我们将做一个总结。 我们回顾的早期国际化影响的研究显示了关于国际化对表现的影响的不确定发现。一些研究证实了国际化的优势（基林格， 1989；格兰特， 1987）与此同时，另一部分研究却不这么认为（科林斯， 1990；米契尔， 1992）。甚至有些研究的案例
49、力图证明国际化对公司的业绩产生消极影响，它们之间线性和非线性的本质关系始终不清晰（戈麦斯和雷姆斯 ， 1999；希特， 1997）。确实，一些研究总结了国际化对公司业绩不产生影响（豪斯， 1972；万， 1998）。这些混合的结果将会在下面被进一步讨论。早期导致国际化发展的原因归可结于所有权位置和内在化的产生（巴克利和凯森， 1976；杜宁， 1988；希米尔 ， 1976）。交易成本理论以组织成本这一款（韩奈特， 1991）为对外直接投资提供了一种被广泛接受的理论。资源基础论（巴尼， 1991）补充了国际化理论基础，它建议如果公司具有独特的有价值的资源应该趋向于把那些资源投向国际市场以追求更大的利润。规模经济，一种合理的 重新配置活动，风险摊销或者更好的组织有认知到采用整合的方法可以获得更高水平的利润（巴利特和高沙， 1989；希特， 1997； Kogut,1985） 。其他的国际理论的解释，如网络视角（约翰和马特森，1988）和寡头垄断角度（ Yu 和 Ito,1988） 已经被广泛发表。 当然，国际扩张也不是没有代价的。公司在采用国际化战略时在最初阶段会面对一种叫做“外来的不利条件”即成本上涨的现象（巴克利和卡森， 1976；海默， 1976）。虽然这种成本会随着国际化经验的增长
