R&D Investment, Internal Control and Enterprise Performance—An Empirical Study Based on the Listed Companies in China of the Core Industry of the Digital Economy

Based on the financial data of listed companies in the core industries of the digital economy from 2010 to 2021, the moderating effect was used to analyze R&D investment, internal control, and enterprise performance. The empirical results show that for listed companies in the core industries of the digital economy, increasing R&D investment can help companies improve their performance. In addition, internal control positively impacts enterprise performance. Internal control acts as a moderating variable, negatively moderating R&D investment and enterprise performance. At low levels of internal control, an increase in R&D investment is associated with a more significant increase in firm performance than at high levels of internal control. Increasing investment in R&D is associated with a slower performance increase at high internal control levels. For companies in the core industries of the digital economy, there is no significant inverted ‘U’-shaped relationship between R&D investment and enterprise performance.