A Review of the Literature on R&D and Productivity
(2009)Department of Economic History
- Abstract (Swedish)
- This paper reviews the literature on R&D and productivity to provide a guideline to readers by combining all the findings in one title. According to the results, empirical studies analyse R&D spending from different angles by considering the characteristic of such spending. The results show that return to basic research is higher than return to applied R&D. Furthermore, in order to estimate the R&D elasticity in a more accurate way, double counting issues should be fixed. Evidence from earlier studies have shown that R&D input is double counted if labour and physical capital are not separated from labour and capital inputs. Empirical studies also show that returns to public funded R&D are lower than returns to firm financed R&D. There are... (More)
- This paper reviews the literature on R&D and productivity to provide a guideline to readers by combining all the findings in one title. According to the results, empirical studies analyse R&D spending from different angles by considering the characteristic of such spending. The results show that return to basic research is higher than return to applied R&D. Furthermore, in order to estimate the R&D elasticity in a more accurate way, double counting issues should be fixed. Evidence from earlier studies have shown that R&D input is double counted if labour and physical capital are not separated from labour and capital inputs. Empirical studies also show that returns to public funded R&D are lower than returns to firm financed R&D. There are two reasons behind this differentiation. First, government funded R&D might not be correlated with productivity because of its development nature. Second, the relation between public financed R&D and productivity might be indirect, such as it may increase the efficiency of private returns, leading productivity growth. Another point is the link between a reduction on R&D spending and the 1970s oil crisis. The correlation is most prominent for sectors such as chemical and petroleum refining due to the intensiveness of R&D operations in these sectors. Finally, empirical studies are consistent not only at the firm level but also at the industry level. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
http://lup.lub.lu.se/student-papers/record/9030679
- author
- Uytun, Basak
- supervisor
-
- Olof Ejermo LU
- organization
- year
- 2009
- type
- H1 - Master's Degree (One Year)
- subject
- keywords
- Research and Development (R&D), productivity, measurement problems
- language
- English
- id
- 9030679
- date added to LUP
- 2020-10-08 12:16:50
- date last changed
- 2020-10-08 14:27:25
@misc{9030679,
abstract = {{This paper reviews the literature on R&D and productivity to provide a guideline to readers by combining all the findings in one title. According to the results, empirical studies analyse R&D spending from different angles by considering the characteristic of such spending. The results show that return to basic research is higher than return to applied R&D. Furthermore, in order to estimate the R&D elasticity in a more accurate way, double counting issues should be fixed. Evidence from earlier studies have shown that R&D input is double counted if labour and physical capital are not separated from labour and capital inputs. Empirical studies also show that returns to public funded R&D are lower than returns to firm financed R&D. There are two reasons behind this differentiation. First, government funded R&D might not be correlated with productivity because of its development nature. Second, the relation between public financed R&D and productivity might be indirect, such as it may increase the efficiency of private returns, leading productivity growth. Another point is the link between a reduction on R&D spending and the 1970s oil crisis. The correlation is most prominent for sectors such as chemical and petroleum refining due to the intensiveness of R&D operations in these sectors. Finally, empirical studies are consistent not only at the firm level but also at the industry level.}},
author = {{Uytun, Basak}},
language = {{eng}},
note = {{Student Paper}},
title = {{A Review of the Literature on R&D and Productivity}},
year = {{2009}},
}