We model research as a signal on an unknown parameter of a technology. We distinguish applied from basic research and show that firms in the same industry can optimally choose different research portfolios, and that basic research can seem to have a higher rate of return than applied research, even though it really doesn't -- essentially, firms on a 'fast track' upgrading policy opt for basic research but fast and slow-track upgrading policies can coexist in a long-run equilibrium. We also derive the lag structure for how R&D affects the firm's stock of knowledge. To a first approximation, the lags decay geometrically (as is typically assumed in practice) but the rate of decay is endogenous, and depends on how fast the firm is upgrading its technology.
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Paper provided by National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc in its series NBER Working Papers with number
5321.
Length: Date of creation: Oct 1995 Date of revision: Handle: RePEc:nbr:nberwo:5321
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Paper
Jovanovic, B. & Nyarko, Y., 1996.
"Research and Productivity,"
Working Papers
96-27, C.V. Starr Center for Applied Economics, New York University.
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