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Competition and Persistence of R&D

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Abstract

This paper investigates the R&D persistence of R&D active firms in different markets with different intensities of competition, based on firm-level panel data for the period 1996-2008. In a dynamic setting of the empirical model it turns out that persistence is strongly related to market competition (measured by the number of principal competitors). Persistence of R&D expenditures is more likely to be observed in markets with few principal competitors (between 6 and 10) and is very unlikely to be observed in polypolistic type of markets (more than 50 competitors). These results call for a stronger coordination between competition policy and innovation promotion policy, since the former basically aims at larger markets with many competitors, while the latter aims at persistence of R&D efforts and thus markets with fewer competitors.

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  • Martin Woerter, 2011. "Competition and Persistence of R&D," KOF Working papers 11-290, KOF Swiss Economic Institute, ETH Zurich.
    • Handle: RePEc:kof:wpskof:11-290
    DOI: 10.3929/ethz-a-006698629
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    1. Christian Le Bas & Giuseppe Scellato, 2014. "Firm innovation persistence: a fresh look at the frameworks of analysis," Economics of Innovation and New Technology, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 23(5-6), pages 423-446, September.
    2. Foucart, Renaud & Li, Qian Cher, 2021. "The role of technology standards in product innovation: Theory and evidence from UK manufacturing firms," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 50(2).
    3. Adelheid Holl & Bettina Peters & Christian Rammer, 2023. "Local knowledge spillovers and innovation persistence of firms," Economics of Innovation and New Technology, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 32(6), pages 826-850, August.
    4. Mañez, J.A. & Love, J.H., 2020. "Quantifying sunk costs and learning effects in R&D persistence," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 49(7).
    5. Rituparna Kaushik & Sourabh Bikas Paul, 2022. "Do Competition Improve Persistence in Innovation Effort? Sectoral Patterns and Evidence from India," Journal of Industry, Competition and Trade, Springer, vol. 22(2), pages 259-296, June.
    6. Isabel Busom & Beatriz Corchuelo & Ester Martínez-Ros, 2017. "Participation inertia in R&D tax incentive and subsidy programs," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 48(1), pages 153-177, January.
    7. Rammer, Christian & Schubert, Torben, 2016. "Concentration on the few? R&D and innovation in German firms 2001 to 2013," ZEW Discussion Papers 16-005, ZEW - Leibniz Centre for European Economic Research.
    8. Rammer, Christian & Schubert, Torben, 2018. "Concentration on the few: mechanisms behind a falling share of innovative firms in Germany," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 47(2), pages 379-389.
    9. Rammer, Christian & Schubert, Torben, 2016. "Concentration on the few? R&D and innovation in German firms between 2001 and 2013," Discussion Papers "Innovation Systems and Policy Analysis" 54, Fraunhofer Institute for Systems and Innovation Research (ISI).
    10. Claudia Pigini & Alessandro Sterlacchini & Francesco Valentini, 2023. "Persistence Of R&D Intensities In The World'S Top Investors In R&D," Working Papers 480, Universita' Politecnica delle Marche (I), Dipartimento di Scienze Economiche e Sociali.
    11. Spyros Arvanitis & Florian Seliger, 2014. "Imitation versus innovation," KOF Working papers 14-367, KOF Swiss Economic Institute, ETH Zurich.
    12. Isabel Busom & Beatriz Corchuelo & Ester Martínez-Ros, 2015. "Dynamics of firm participation in R&D tax credit and subsidy programs," Working Papers wpdea1503, Department of Applied Economics at Universitat Autonoma of Barcelona.
    13. Saleh S. Tabrizy, 2020. "Industrial research and development and real exchange rate depreciation in a small open economy," The World Economy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 43(9), pages 2490-2523, September.
    14. Michel Dumont, 2015. "Working Paper 05-15 - Evaluation of federal tax incentives for private R&D in Belgium: An update," Working Papers 1505, Federal Planning Bureau, Belgium.
    15. Hayoung Park & Taewon Kang & Jeong-Dong Lee, 2019. "R&D Dynamics And Firm Growth: The Importance Of R&D Persistency In The Economic Crisis," International Journal of Innovation Management (ijim), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 23(05), pages 1-24, June.
    16. Kang, Taewon & Baek, Chulwoo & Lee, Jeong-Dong, 2017. "The persistency and volatility of the firm R&D investment: Revisited from the perspective of technological capability," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 46(9), pages 1570-1579.
    17. Thiago Caliari & Philipe Scherer Mendes & Márcia Rapini & Camila Tolentino, 2021. "Technological Cumulativeness and Innovation in Brazilian Manufacturing Industry: Evidences from Brazilian Innovation Surveys 2008, 2011, and 2014," Journal of the Knowledge Economy, Springer;Portland International Center for Management of Engineering and Technology (PICMET), vol. 12(2), pages 876-898, June.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    R&D expenditures; Persistence; Innovation; Competition; Panel data; Empirical investigation;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • O30 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Innovation; Research and Development; Technological Change; Intellectual Property Rights - - - General

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