Abstract:    Corporate innovation activities are widely considered to be high-risk business activities, which are manifested in the uncertainty of innovation input and output, which poses challenges to the management and control of corporate R&D funds. The board of directors is the leader of enterprise innovation activities and the decision maker of innovation input, as well as the core of leadership for internal control and risk management. At the same time, corporate innovation activities have high-risk characteristics, and R&D fund management and control require "professional" quality and experience, that is, R&D fund management and control "professional competence". This paper uses the 2011-2018 data of corporate R&D and members of board of directors, to test the "professional competence of internal control" on corporate R&D fund management and control behavior and effect.
   The study finds that: (1) The "professional competence of internal control" has a positive impact on corporate R&D fund management and control behavior, including a higher proportion of "capitalized" R&D investment in accounting treatments (confidence in management and control methods) and a higher proportion of R&D investment funds (confidence in investment). (2) Positive changes in "professional competence of internal control" of the board of directors also positively affect the confidence of R&D fund management and control behavior, including the more confident the R&D fund management and control methods and investment intensity. (3) Further research finds that the "professional competence of internal control" has positive impacts on the growth of corporate R&D investment, and the faster the number of R&D patent applications and authorizations.
    The significance of this paper is, on the one hand, to introduce the behavioral factor of the "professionalism" of internal control into the field of corporate R&D funds management, which has theoretical significance to fill the partial research gap in this field. On the other hand, it verifies the correlation between corporate innovation activities and internal-control competence, and provides information on how innovative boards of directors can better perform their duties in corporate innovation activities and capital management and control. Correspondingly, put forward the basis for behavioral decision-making and policy recommendations based on the situation, and realize the practical value of the "professional competence of internal control" of board of directors.
    The contributions of this paper are as follows: first, it is found that the "professional competence of internal control" has a positive impact on corporate R&D fund management and control behavior, including the confidence in the R&D fund management and control method and the confidence in the R&D fund investment. Among them, the degree of confidence in the management and control of R&D funds uses the "capitalized" R&D investment ratio (ROCR&D) indicator, which is significantly different from the indicators used by previous scholars. Second, it is found that "professional competence of internal control" of the board of directors and its positive changes, affect the confidence of R&D funds management and control behavior. In detail, the higher the "professional competence of internal control" (or the higher its positive change), the higher the proportion of "capitalized" R&D investment in accounting treatment, and the higher the proportion of corporate R&D investment, which shows that corporate is more confident in R&D capital management behavior. Third, it is found that the "professional competence of internal control" of the board of directors in the management and control effect of R&D funds, including: the higher the "professional competence of internal control", the bigger the R&D investment, and the faster the number of R&D patent applications and authorizations. The findings above highlight the important role and application value of the "professional competence of internal control" of board of directors in the management and control of corporate R&D funds.
    Based on empirical conclusions, the "professional competence of internal control" could play an important role in the management and control of corporate R&D funds, which is not only reflected in the more confident fund management and control behavior, but also in the better effect of fund management and control. Thus, we recommend that corporate shareholders′ meetings, corporate boards and external supervisory agencies actively guide all board members to develop the professional cultivation of "professional competence of internal control" in order to better perform their duties in the management and control of corporate R&D funds.

Key words: internal control professional competence, board of directors, R&D risk, fund management and control behavior