It is well known that in most industries a significant proportion of firms do not perform innovative activities. Although empirical studies on the determinants of R&D often have taken this fact into account by considering the dependent variable as a censured one, there is not an explicit theoretical model to explain the zeros. The concern of this letter is to discuss a simple theoretical model where firms simultaneously decide whether to undertake or not R&D activities jointly with the level of the R&D investment. It is shown that a firm performs R&D activities only when its optimal level of R&D expenditure is higher than a threshold. Additionally, it is shown that both the probability of undertaking R&D activities and the R&D expenditure increase with market power, with the elasticity of demand with respect to quality and with the elasticity of quality with respect to R&D. Finally, from this simple theoretical framework we discuss a suitable econometric model that threats these decisions simultaneously.
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Volume (Year): 11 (2004) Issue (Month): 1 (January) Pages: 55-59 Download reference. The following formats are available: HTML
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Cohen, Wesley M & Klepper, Steven, 1996.
"A Reprise of Size and R&D,"
Economic Journal,
Royal Economic Society, vol. 106(437), pages 925-51, July.
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