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R&D and Productivity in the UK: evidence from firm-level data in the 1990s

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Mark Rogers

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Abstract

The UK`s business R&D (BERD) to GDP ratio is low compared to other leading economies, and the ratio has slowly declined over the 1990s. This paper uses data on large UK firms to analyse the link between R&D and productivity over the 1989-2000 period. Using a production function approach, and a sample of up to 719 firms, various different samples and estimators are used to assess the elasticity of, and rate of return to, R&D. The results indicate that UK returns to R&D are similar to returns in other leading economies. Furthermore, the returns to R&D have been relatively stable over the 1990s. There is no evidence to suggest that stock market listed firms, or firms with higher past profitability, have significantly different returns. Overall, the results suggest that the low BERD to GDP ratio in the UK is unlikely to be due to direct financial or human capital constraints (as these imply finding relatively high rates of return). Instead, the low BERD to GDP ratio appears to reflect low (perceived) opportunities by firms and the inability of firms to manage R&D to generate value. The paper provides some, tentative evidence, that high rates of competition in the science-based sector are associated with low returns to R&D.

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Paper provided by University of Oxford, Department of Economics in its series Economics Series Working Papers with number 255.

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Date of creation: 2006
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Handle: RePEc:oxf:wpaper:255

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Keywords: R&D Productivity

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Find related papers by JEL classification:
L10 - Industrial Organization - - Market Structure, Firm Strategy, and Market Performance - - - General
O31 - Economic Development, Technological Change, and Growth - - Technological Change - - - Innovation and Invention: Processes and Incentives
O34 - Economic Development, Technological Change, and Growth - - Technological Change - - - Intellectual Property Rights

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  1. Hall, Bronwyn H. & Mairesse, Jacques, 1995. "Exploring the relationship between R&D and productivity in French manufacturing firms," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 65(1), pages 263-293, January. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  2. Stephen Bond & Dietmar Harhoff & John Van Reenen, 2003. "Corporate R&D and Productivity in Germany and the United Kingdom," CEP Discussion Papers dp0599, Centre for Economic Performance, LSE. [Downloadable!]
  3. Klette, Tor Jakob & Griliches, Zvi, 1996. "The Inconsistency of Common Scale Estimators When Output Prices Are Unobserved and Endogenous," Journal of Applied Econometrics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 11(4), pages 343-61, July-Aug.. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  4. G. Steven Olley & Ariel Pakes, 1992. "The Dynamics of Productivity in the Telecommunications Equipment Industry," NBER Working Papers 3977, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  5. Steve Bond & Måns Söderbom, 2005. "Adjustment costs and the identification of Cobb Douglas production functions," IFS Working Papers W05/04, Institute for Fiscal Studies. [Downloadable!]
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  6. Wakelin, Katharine, 2001. "Productivity growth and R&D expenditure in UK manufacturing firms," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 30(7), pages 1079-1090, August. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  7. Driffield, Nigel, 2001. "The Impact of Domestic Productivity of Inward Investment in the UK," Manchester School, University of Manchester, vol. 69(1), pages 103-19, January. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  8. Christine Greenhalgh & Mark Rogers, 2004. "The Value of Innovation: The Interaction of Competition, R&D and IP," Economics Series Working Papers 192, University of Oxford, Department of Economics. [Downloadable!]
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  9. Schankerman, Mark, 1981. "The Effects of Double-Counting and Expensing on the Measured Returns to R&D," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 63(3), pages 454-58, August. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  10. George Symeonidis, 1996. "Innovation, Firm Size and Market Structure: Schumpeterian Hypotheses and Some New Themes," OECD Economics Department Working Papers 161, OECD Economics Department. [Downloadable!]
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  13. Olley, G Steven & Pakes, Ariel, 1996. "The Dynamics of Productivity in the Telecommunications Equipment Industry," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 64(6), pages 1263-97, November. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  14. Van Reenen, John, 1997. "Why has Britain had slower R&D growth?," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 26(4-5), pages 493-507, December. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  15. Steve Bond & Dietmar Harhoff & John Van Reenen, 1999. "Investment, R&D and financial constraints in Britain and Germany," IFS Working Papers W99/05, Institute for Fiscal Studies. [Downloadable!]
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  16. Gérard Ballot & Fathi Fakhfakh & Erol Taymaz, 2006. "Who Benefits from Training and R&D, the Firm or the Workers?," British Journal of Industrial Relations, Blackwell Publishers Ltd/London School of Economics, vol. 44(3), pages 473-495, 09. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  17. Griliches, Zvi & Hausman, Jerry A., 1986. "Errors in variables in panel data," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 31(1), pages 93-118, February. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  18. Christine Greenhalgh & Mark Longland, 2002. "Running to Stand Still? - Intellectual Property and Value Added in Innovating Firms," Economics Series Working Papers 134, University of Oxford, Department of Economics. [Downloadable!]
  19. Goto, Akira & Suzuki, Kazuyuki, 1989. "R&D Capital, Rate of Return on R&D Investment and Spillover of R&D in Japanese Manufacturing Industries," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 71(4), pages 555-64, November. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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