1980年代開始，隨著經濟成長、台幣升值、勞動、土地等生產成本的提高，台灣逐漸增加對外投資活動。1990年代初開放赴大陸投資之後，台商對外投資的件數及金額更是逐年遞增，並取代東南亞國家，成為台灣對外投資最多的地區。除了地區別的轉變外，台商對外投資的產業別也有很大的改變，不僅服務業對外投資增加快速，製造業本身亦有明顯的結構轉變，顯示台灣對外投資的特徵近二十年來已有明顯的改變。有鑑於此，本文的研究目的在於分析台灣自1990年後對外投資發展的趨勢變化，並利用1986∼2011年的工商普查資料及貿易資料，搭配投審會對外投資核准資料，探討該等趨勢變化對台灣國內生產、出口及投資的影響。研究結果發現，廠商對外投資對國內經濟與產業發展的影響可能是正面的，亦可能是負面的，視廠商對外投資型態而定。至於國內投資的多寡最終還須視國內投資環境優劣而定，若國內投資環境好，則國內投資與對外投資可相輔相成；但若國內投資環境不佳，則可能使對外投資取代國內投資，導致資金外流。

Taiwanese firms have been actively engaging in outward foreign direct investment (OFDI) since the late 1980s. Developed countries, including Japan, North America, Europe, Australia, and New Zealand, began losing importance as recipients of Taiwanese OFDI in the early 1990s in contrast to less developed countries. Before restrictions on cross-Strait investment were eased in 1991, Southeast Asian countries were the main recipients of OFDI from Taiwanese manufacturing. China, however, has become the most popular destination among LDCs since 1990s. The share of China in the total accumulated FDI outflows has increased dramatically from 42% during the 1990s to over 60% during the 2000s. Regarding the FDI outflows from Taiwan by sector, the importance of services sector increases and Taiwanese OFDI has been becoming more capital- and technology-intensive. This paper uses industry-level panel data from the Taiwanese Industry, Commerce and Service Census for 1986, 1991, 1996, 2001, 2006 and 2011 to investigate the impact of OFDI on the domestic production, export and investment. The empirical result reveals that the impact of OFDI on the performances at home is ambiguous, depending on the location or the type of OFDI. For example, OFDI may have a negative effect on domestic export if a firminvested in the low-wage countries, while OFDI may be positively related to domestic export if a firm invested in the developed countries. In addition, the OFDI of capital-intensive industry is more likely to replace domestic investment than labor-intensive industry.