台灣IC產業源自1970年代政府之主導與推動，再經過國外廠商的技術移轉、國內工研院電子所之技術研究與經驗傳承，以及各標竿企業的輔導成立，目前已在世界上佔有一席之地。2006年台灣整體IC產業的產值達13,933億新台幣，約佔全球半導體產業產值之7.3%左右，2006年台灣晶圓代工業的產值佔全球69.2%、封裝業的產值佔全球45.7%、及測試業的產值佔全球62.5%，均高居世界第一；而IC設計業的產值佔全球22.1%，居世界第二。高科技產業經營環境瞬息萬變，台灣IC產業的發展，在世界前100大半導體公司的排名競爭力成爲矚目的焦點。如何保持IC產業既有的競爭優勢，並繼而能在目前全球不景氣中開創新局，生產效率仍然是此產業永續發展的動力及保證，促使研究者想探討臺灣IC設計廠商生產效率之構思。 本文使用台灣經濟新報(TEJ)資料庫，完整蒐集2001-2006年台灣地區75家IC設計廠商的縱橫資料(Panel Data)，採用Battese and Coelli(1995)的隨機邊界法(Stochastic Frontier Approach; SFA)來估計IC設計廠商的生產效率。並分析解釋影響效率差異之因素，及探討各IC設計廠商引進國外技術與否之生產效率差異。 實證分析結果如下： 一、由SFA之估計係數可得知，勞動、資本、中間投入及研發支出對產出的非線性關係均爲正向關係。 二、臺灣地區IC設計廠商之設廠年齡(AGE)對技術無效率呈顯著正向影響，設廠年齡平方項(AA)對技術無效率呈顯著負向影響，引進國外技術(Z1)對技術無效率呈顯著正向影響。 三、臺灣地區75家樣本IC設計廠商之生產效率，2001-2006年平均爲0.7288，代表臺灣地區IC設計廠商尚有27.12%的改善空間。生產效率於2001-2006年明顯呈上升趨勢，代表臺灣地區IC設計廠商之生產效率越來越好。 四、臺灣地區75家樣本IC設計廠商之生產效率，有引進國外技術爲0.6865；未引進國外技術爲0.7359，代表未引進國外技術之生產效率較好。表示樣本期間國內IC設計廠商專注於OEM，其生產效率較好，符合台灣IC設計產業現況。

The integrated circuit (IC) industry in Taiwan has been rapidly growing since the 1970s when the Taiwanese government started to promote this industry. In recent years, thanks to the technology transfer from foreign manufacturers, the research done in Taiwan and the establishment of large-scale IC companies, Taiwan has become one of leaders in the world's IC industry. In 2006, the output value of Taiwan's IC industry totaled NT$ 1393.3 billion, accounting for 7.3% of the world's semiconductor industry revenues. In the same year, the output value of Taiwan's wafer OEM industry reached 69.2% of the world's capacity, and those of the IC packaging and testing industries also amounted to 45.7% and 62.5% respectively of the world's annual production-all ranking the first in the world. In contrast, the output value of the IC design industry contributed 22.1% of the sector and ranked the world's second largest. Hi-tech industries are highly competitive and are always changing. The development of Taiwan's IC industry has received a lot of attention in terms of its competitive position among the top 100 semiconductor companies in the world. To remain competitive in the IC industry and keep developing given the worldwide poor economic conditions, Taiwan needs to keep improving its production efficiency. Thus, in this study the researcher attempts to explore the issue of production efficiency of Taiwan's IC design industry. This study used the database from Taiwan Economic Journal (TEJ) and obtained the panel data of 75 Taiwanese IC design companies between 2001 and 2006. Battese and Coelli's (1995) Stochastic Frontier Approach (SFA), a parametric econometric approach, was employed to estimate IC design companies' production efficiency. This study also analyzed and explained factors that may have impact on production efficiency. Furthermore, this study also investigated how differences of production efficiency are affected by whether or not to introduce foreign technologies and by the quantities of patents. The results of the empirical analyses are as follows: 1. The SFA coefficient shows a positive nonlinear relationship between production and labor, capital, investment and research expenditure. 2. The age (AGE) of Taiwan's IC design companies has a positive impact on technical inefficiency. The square value of age (AA) appears to have a negative impact on technical inefficiency. The introduction of foreign technologies appears to have a positive impact on technical inefficiency. 3. The mean production efficiency of Taiwan's 75 sampled IC design companies between 2001 and 2006 is 0.7288. This would suggest that the remaining 27.12% is for improvement. The production efficiency between 2001 and 2006 were apparently rising, which indicates that their production efficiency became better and better. 4. The production efficiency of the sampled companies with introduction of foreign technologies is 0.6865. The production efficiency of the sampled companies without introduction of foreign technologies is 0.7359. This shows that production efficiency was better for companies without introduction of foreign technologies.