Abstract: Oversupply in low-value products whilst insufficiency in high-value products has been the structural problem for the Chinese manufacturing, thereby necessitating the reform of supply side. Further, we believe that the herding behavior of firm R&D is one of the main causes leading to the issue of the industrial structure. Drawing upon the dataset from the Annual Census of Chinese Industrial Enterprises, this study explores the determinants of R&D comovement and its effect on corporate performance. Government intervention and market turbulence have a positive effect on R&D comovement, while legislation environment and market competition make a negative effect. Furthermore, R&D comovement hinders corporate performance. Our findings reveal the causes of herding behavior and its effect, and offer valuable managerial implications and policy suggestions.

摘要： 低端产品过度供给、高端产品却供给不足是困扰我国制造业的结构性难题，供给侧改革成为近些年的关键举措。企业在研发等投资活动中的盲目跟风是造成产品结构性问题的重要原因之一。鉴于此，本文利用来自中国工业企业数据库的大样本数据，从制度和市场的双重视角检验了地区-行业层面的企业研发联动的影响因素，并检验了研发联动对经营绩效的影响。研究结果表明：政府过度干预，或者市场的技术和需求波动性越强，企业越有可能“跟风”研发，即联动程度越高；相反，法律保护制度越完善，或者市场竞争越激烈，企业越不倾向于“跟风”研发，即联动程度越低。进一步地，研发联动显著降低了企业的经营绩效，这在政府过度干预的地区-行业体现的尤为明显。本文揭示了企业研发“羊群效应”的形成原因及其负面影响，研究结论对当前的供给侧改革有着重要的政策启示。