肥貓足跡踏遍世界：探討肥貓企業、殭屍企業與海外投資地點之關係

Fat cat footprints across the world: Exploring the relationship among fat cat firms, zombie firms, and foreign investment locations

近年來，國內外的企業醜聞和不當投資行為層出不窮，許多研究將此現象歸因於高管的貪婪特質，特別是董事會成員和高層管理者對資源配置的掌控。肥貓企業高管作為一個特殊的群體，以其過度追求自身利益而聞名，常被認為是企業投資決策中道德爭議的核心因素。因此本研究試圖探討肥貓企業對於投資租稅庇護國和貪腐國家的影響，同時也探究殭屍企業階段對於肥貓企業與海外投資決策所產生之調節效果。本研究採樣台灣經濟新報資料庫(TEJ)，彙整出2013 年至2023 年325 家上市公司作為實證研究對象。
研究結果顯示，肥貓企業與投資租稅庇護國家和貪腐國家之間皆呈現顯著正向關係，意即高層酬勞異常可能會影響企業選擇監管較鬆散地區進行投資。在調節效果方面，殭屍企業未顯著強化肥貓企業投資租稅庇護國的傾向，但會增強其投資貪腐國家的行為。綜合而言，本研究補充了肥貓企業在國際投資地點選擇上的實證證據，期能為後續公司治理、跨國監管提供參考。

In recent years, corporate improper investment behaviors have been frequently observed both domestically and internationally. Many studies attribute these phenomena to the greed of executives, particularly the control over resource allocation by board members and top management. Executives of fat cat firms are known for their excessive pursuit of personal interests and are often regarded as the core factor in ethical controversies surrounding corporate investment decisions.
This study aims to explore the impact of fat cat firms on investments in tax havens and corrupt countries. Additionally, it examines the moderating effect of the zombie firm stage on the relationship between fat cat firms and international investment decisions. Using data from the Taiwan Economic Journal (TEJ) database, this study collects information on 325 publicly listed companies from 2013 to 2023 as the empirical research sample. The empirical results show that fat cat firms are positively associated with investments in both tax havens and corrupt countries, suggesting that abnormal executive compensation may influence firms to invest in regions with weaker regulatory oversight. Regarding the moderating effect, zombie firms do not significantly strengthen the tendency of fat cat firms to invest in tax havens, but they do enhance such firms’ inclination to invest in corrupt countries. Overall, the study provides empirical evidence on the international investment location choices of fat cat firms and aims to offer insights for future discussions on corporate governance and cross-border regulatory frameworks.