生產力與後發廠商的品質轉型

FIRM PRODUCTIVITY AND THE QUALITY TRANSFORMATION OF LATECOMER FIRMS

本文將Antoniades（2015）模型擴展到動態環境，後發廠商可以開拓成本能耐，並以轉型升級到高端品質廠商為目標。本文首先說明開發成本能耐的利益終將告罄，因此在適當的時點轉型升級以取得新的競爭優勢，將是廠商必須面對的課題。因為先行轉型者的先占作用，產業整體呈現漸進式的轉型調整，並可能出現異質性的均衡。接著，本文推導出產業的升級時徑，並進行比較靜態分析，主要的結論是:市場進入障礙下降或生產效率的技術進步將導致更激烈的競爭，並降低轉型升級的廠商比例。相反地，有助於發展品質能耐的外生變化，例如轉型升級的研發成本下降，或轉型之際的市場整合等，均加快產業調整，並致使更高比例的廠商完成轉型。本文為後進廠商的發展策略、發展政策的設計以及市場整合對品質轉型的影響等做出理論上的貢獻。

This paper extends the model of product innovation proposed by Antoniades (2015) to a dynamic setting in which latecomer firms can exploit their cost advantage and aim to become high-quality players. The benefits of exploiting extant cost-based competence are found to erode; gaining new competitiveness, such as high-quality competence, at the appropriate time is thus an inevitable challenge. Because of the preemptive effect of forerunners, the industrial adjustment of adopting the leap strategy is gradual, and heterogeneity may arise in equilibrium. We determined the equilibrium diffusion of the adoption of this strategy and examined the effects of exogenous changes on this diffusion. Specifically, we herein show that reductions in the barriers to market entry and improvement in cost efficiency result in tougher competition and reduce the probability that a firm will adopt the leap strategy. By contrast, changes helpful to exploring quality-based competence, such as a decrease in the fixed cost of adoption or market integration during the diffusion period, can expedite a leap and may persuade more high-quality players to join in. This model makes a theoretical contribution that informs latecomer strategies, the design of development policies, and the effects of market integration.