本研究主要探討成本僵固性與未來獲利的關係是否受到管理者能力調節。在基本面分析中，習慣將成本僵固性的增加解釋為管理者對成本控制方面效率低落，並視為公司未來獲利的負面信號；另一方面，過去研究也發現，成本僵固性為管理者對收入將在未來增加的預期，並事先保留閒置資源以應付未來的資源需求。企業資源配置是否合宜，端賴管理者對公司未來發展前景的判斷是否正確。過去研究亦指出具有較高能力的管理人員具有更多的相關知識，並對行業環境有更好的了解，且對公司許多方面皆有正向影響。因此，本研究預期管理者能力較好時，成本僵固性會是管理者對於公司前景看好的信號，預期成本僵固性將與公司未來獲利呈正相關；而管理者能力較差時，成本僵固性反映管理者在資源管控方面無效率，預期成本僵固性與公司未來獲利呈負相關。本研究以1983-2018美國上市、櫃公司為研究對象，實證結果顯示，管理者能力較差的公司，成本僵固性與未來獲利呈現負相關；而管理者能力較好的公司，僅有部分證據顯示管理者能力與未來獲利呈現正相關。在進一步探討在不同研發密度下管理者能力對成本僵固性與未來獲利的調節效果時，發現在高研發密度的公司，管理者能力對成本僵固性與未來獲利的調節效果顯著大於低研發密度的公司。

In fundamental analysis, it is customary to interpret an increase in cost stickiness as a sign of inefficiency in cost control by managers and a negative sign of future performance. The appropriateness of a company's resource allocation depends on whether managers are right in their judgement about future prospects. Past research has shown that managers with higher ability have more relevant knowledge and a better understanding of the industry environment. Therefore, the study expects that when managers are more competent, cost stickiness will be a signal that managers are positive about the company's prospects and cost stickiness is expected to be positively correlated with future performance, while when managers are less competent, cost stickiness reflects inefficiency in the management of resources and is expected to be negatively correlated with future performance. Using listed companies in the U.S. from 1983 to 2018, we find that cost stickiness is negatively correlated with future performance for companies with poor managerial ability, while there is only partial evidence of a positive correlation between managerial ability and future performance for companies with good managerial ability. We further examine the effect of managerial ability on cost stickiness and future performance at different R&D intensity, and find that the effect of managerial ability on cost stickiness and future performance is significantly stronger in companies with high R&D intensity than in companies with low R&D intensity.

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