An empirical study of board education´s distribution and R&D expenditure from listed manufacturing firms in China

With the data of 623 listed manufacturing firms in China, this paper investigates the relationship between board education´s distribution and R&D expenditure. The result shows that board education´s distribution is positive to R&D expenditure and that the higher the proportion of Ph.D. directors, the greater R&D expenditure. The impact of board education and its distribution on R&D expenditure in listed manufacturing firms of capital and knowledge-intensive industries or in the east China regions is stronger than the impact in firms, which pertain to labor-intensive industries or central and western regions in China. Board education and its distribution is not the major determinant of R&D expenditure of listed manufacturing firms in China.