The Impact of Research and Development (R&D) Intensity on Financial Performance and Firm Value: An Empirical Study on Pharmaceutical Companies Listed on Egyptian Stock Exchange

This paper examines the relation between Research and Development (R&D) intensity and both of the financial performance and firm value for pharmaceutical companies listed on Egyptian Stock Exchange. Because of the future benefits related to R&D, the researcher examines the relationship between R&D intensity and both of the current and future performance. R&D intensity is measured as the ratio of R&D expenditures to total revenues. The financial performance as a first dependent variable is measured using three accounting-based operating performance measures; Return on asset (ROA), Return on Equity (ROE), and return on sales (ROS). ROA is computed as the ratio of Earnings Before Interest and Tax (EBIT) to total assets; ROE is the ratio of Net income after tax to stockholder equity, and ROS is the ratio of Net income after tax to net sales. With regard to the second dependent variable, firm value, Tobin’s Q is used, which is measured by (market value of equity+ book value of liabilities) divided by book value of total assets. Using data of listed pharmaceutical companies on Egyptian stock market for the period between 2000 to 2019, empirical results showed a significant negative relationship between R&D intensity and current performance measured by ROE and ROS, in addition to Tobin’s Q. However, the results showed an insignificant negative relation with ROA. On the contrary, Findings indicated a significant positive relationship between R&D intensity and future firm performance measured by ROA only and Tobin’s Q, and an insignificant positive relation with ROE and ROS.