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Does the Technological Content of Government Demand Matter for Private R&D? Evidence from US States

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  • Viktor Slavtchev
  • Simon Wiederhold

Abstract

Governments purchase everything from airplanes to zucchini. This paper investigates the role of the technological content of government procurement in innovation. In a theoretical model, we first show that a shift in the composition of public purchases toward high-tech products translates into higher economy-wide returns to innovation, leading to an increase in the aggregate level of private R&D. Using unique data on federal procurement in US states and performing panel fixed-effects estimations, we find support for the model's prediction of a positive R&D effect of the technological content of government procurement. Instrumental-variable estimations suggest a causal interpretation of our findings. (JEL H57, H76, O31, O32, O38)

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  • Viktor Slavtchev & Simon Wiederhold, 2016. "Does the Technological Content of Government Demand Matter for Private R&D? Evidence from US States," American Economic Journal: Macroeconomics, American Economic Association, vol. 8(2), pages 45-84, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:aea:aejmac:v:8:y:2016:i:2:p:45-84
    Note: DOI: 10.1257/mac.20130069
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    Cited by:

    1. Czarnitzki, Dirk & Hünermund, Paul & Moshgbar, Nima, 2020. "Public Procurement of Innovation: Evidence from a German Legislative Reform," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 71(C).
    2. Caravella, Serenella & Crespi, Francesco & Guarascio, Dario & Tubiana, Matteo, 2020. "Competitive strategies, heterogeneous demand sources and firms’ growth trajectories," GLO Discussion Paper Series 442, Global Labor Organization (GLO).
    3. Dirk Czarnitzki & Paul Hünermund & Nima Moshgbar, 2018. "Public procurement as policy instrument for innovation," Working Papers of Department of Management, Strategy and Innovation, Leuven 606259, KU Leuven, Faculty of Economics and Business (FEB), Department of Management, Strategy and Innovation, Leuven.
    4. Yeon-Koo Che & Elisabetta Iossa & Patrick Rey, 2021. "Prizes versus Contracts as Incentives for Innovation [Subgame Perfect Implementation Under Information Perturbations]," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 88(5), pages 2149-2178.
    5. Enrico Moretti & Claudia Steinwender & John Van Reenen, 2019. "The intellectual spoils of war? Defense R&D, productivity and international spillovers," CEP Discussion Papers dp1662, Centre for Economic Performance, LSE.
    6. Martin Beraja & David Y Yang & Noam Yuchtman, 2023. "Data-intensive Innovation and the State: Evidence from AI Firms in China," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 90(4), pages 1701-1723.
    7. Krieger, Bastian & Zipperer, Vera, 2022. "Does green public procurement trigger environmental innovations?," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 51(6).
    8. Serenella Caravella & Francesco Crespi, 2021. "The role of public procurement as innovation lever: evidence from Italian manufacturing firms," Economics of Innovation and New Technology, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 30(7), pages 663-684, October.
    9. Matteo Deleidi & Mariana Mazzucato, 2019. "Mission-Oriented Innovation Policies: A Theoretical And Empirical Assessment For The Us Economy," Departmental Working Papers of Economics - University 'Roma Tre' 0248, Department of Economics - University Roma Tre.
    10. Pallante, Gianluca & Russo, Emanuele & Roventini, Andrea, 2023. "Does public R&D funding crowd-in private R&D investment? Evidence from military R&D expenditures for US states," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 52(8).
    11. Mirko Draca & Vasco Carvalho, 2017. "Cascading Innovation," 2017 Meeting Papers 461, Society for Economic Dynamics.
    12. Chiappinelli, Olga & Giuffrida, Leonardo M. & Spagnolo, Giancarlo, 2023. "Public procurement as an innovation policy: Where do we stand?," ZEW Discussion Papers 23-002, ZEW - Leibniz Centre for European Economic Research.
    13. Francesco Decarolis & Gaétan de Rassenfosse & Leonardo M. Giuffrida & Elisabetta Iossa & Vincenzo Mollisi & Emilio Raiteri & Giancarlo Spagnolo, 2021. "Buyers' role in innovation procurement: Evidence from US military R&D contracts," Journal of Economics & Management Strategy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 30(4), pages 697-720, November.
    14. Chodorow-Reich, Gabriel, 2020. "Regional data in macroeconomics: Some advice for practitioners," Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control, Elsevier, vol. 115(C).
    15. Iossa, Elisabetta & Decarolis, Francesco & de Rassenfosse, Gaétan & Giuffrida, Leonardo Maria & Mollisi, Vincenzo & Raiteri, Emilio & Spagnolo, Giancarlo, 2019. "Buyers' Role in Innovation Procurement," CEPR Discussion Papers 13777, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    16. Ogundiran Soumonni & Kalu Ojah, 2022. "Innovative and mission‐oriented financing of renewable energy in Sub‐Saharan Africa: A review and conceptual framework," Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews: Energy and Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 11(1), January.
    17. Dai, Xiaoyong & Li, Yanchao & Chen, Kaihua, 2021. "Direct demand-pull and indirect certification effects of public procurement for innovation," Technovation, Elsevier, vol. 101(C).
    18. Gianluca Pallante & Emanuele Russo & Andrea Roventini, 2020. "Does mission-oriented funding stimulate private R&D? Evidence from military R&D for US states," Working Papers hal-04097530, HAL.
    19. Sanfilippo, Marco, 2018. "Firm performance and participation in public procurement: Evidence from Sub-Saharan Africa," CEPR Discussion Papers 12752, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    20. Deleidi, Matteo & Mazzucato, Mariana, 2021. "Directed innovation policies and the supermultiplier: An empirical assessment of mission-oriented policies in the US economy," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 50(2).
    21. Xiaoli Wang & Yun Liu & Yanbing Ju, 2018. "Sustainable Public Procurement Policies on Promoting Scientific and Technological Innovation in China: Comparisons with the U.S., the UK, Japan, Germany, France, and South Korea," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(7), pages 1-27, June.
    22. Sofia Patsali & Michele Pezzoni & Jackie Krafft, 2023. "Healthcare Procurement and Firm Innovation: Evidence from AI-powered Equipment," GREDEG Working Papers 2023-05, Groupe de REcherche en Droit, Economie, Gestion (GREDEG CNRS), Université Côte d'Azur, France.
    23. Bernard Hoekman & Marco Sanfilippo, 2020. "Foreign participation in public procurement and firm performance: evidence from sub-Saharan Africa," Review of World Economics (Weltwirtschaftliches Archiv), Springer;Institut für Weltwirtschaft (Kiel Institute for the World Economy), vol. 156(1), pages 41-73, February.

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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • H57 - Public Economics - - National Government Expenditures and Related Policies - - - Procurement
    • H76 - Public Economics - - State and Local Government; Intergovernmental Relations - - - Other Expenditure Categories
    • O31 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Innovation; Research and Development; Technological Change; Intellectual Property Rights - - - Innovation and Invention: Processes and Incentives
    • O32 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Innovation; Research and Development; Technological Change; Intellectual Property Rights - - - Management of Technological Innovation and R&D
    • O38 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Innovation; Research and Development; Technological Change; Intellectual Property Rights - - - Government Policy

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