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Division of labor in R&D? Firm size and specialization in corporate research

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  • Becker, Annette
  • Hottenrott, Hanna
  • Mukherjee, Anwesha

Abstract

Corporate research and development constitutes one of the main sources of innovation. Recent research, however, discusses a decline in corporate research and its implications for technological progress. The contribution of this study is to model research & development (R&D) decisions in an R&D investment model that allows the analysis of firms’ engagement in research (R) as compared to development (D) activities. The model predicts higher investments in both activities for larger firms, but it also shows that research intensity, i.e. the R-share in R&D, declines with firm size. We test these propositions using data of R&D-active firms over the period from 2000 to 2015. While larger firms invest indeed more in both research and development, results from panel model estimations that account for unobserved heterogeneity across firms show that the relative focus on research decreases with firm size. In addition, the empirical results suggest that, since the returns to research in terms of productivity gains decline with firm size, specialization maximizes overall returns to R and D.

Suggested Citation

  • Becker, Annette & Hottenrott, Hanna & Mukherjee, Anwesha, 2022. "Division of labor in R&D? Firm size and specialization in corporate research," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 194(C), pages 1-23.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:jeborg:v:194:y:2022:i:c:p:1-23
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jebo.2021.12.006
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Corporate research; R&D; Firm size; Specialization; Comparative advantage; Productivity;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • L11 - Industrial Organization - - Market Structure, Firm Strategy, and Market Performance - - - Production, Pricing, and Market Structure; Size Distribution of Firms
    • 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

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