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Industrial Policy and Firm Heterogeneity

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  • Pedro P. Barros
  • Tore Nilssen

Abstract

Our concern in this paper is with firm‐specific industrial policy. When R&D subsidies or taxes are differentiated among firms, the question arises as to which firms in an industry should receive such support. We analyze a situation where firms differ in their R&D technologies in two distinct ways: in the costs of performing R&D activities and in the output obtained from such activities. We find that the optimal firm‐specific industrial policy is affected differently by the two sources of firm heterogeneity. Furthermore, a change in a firm's R&D productivity has an ambiguous effect on the optimal policy towards the firm. JEL classification: O31; L52; F13

Suggested Citation

  • Pedro P. Barros & Tore Nilssen, 1999. "Industrial Policy and Firm Heterogeneity," Scandinavian Journal of Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 101(4), pages 597-616, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:scandj:v:101:y:1999:i:4:p:597-616
    DOI: 10.1111/1467-9442.00175
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    2. Marc Escrihuela-Villar, 2008. "Innovation And Market Concentration With Asymmetric Firms," Economics of Innovation and New Technology, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 17(3), pages 195-207.
    3. Rod Falvey & Khemarat Talerngsri Teerasuwannajak, 2016. "Competitive and Harmonized R&D Policies for International R&D Alliances involving Asymmetric Firms," Review of International Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 24(2), pages 302-329, May.
    4. Noriaki Matsushima & Ren-Jye Liu, 2012. "Quality Improvement to Meet Competitive Fringe," ISER Discussion Paper 0854, Institute of Social and Economic Research, Osaka University.
    5. Afonso Planas Raposo de Almeida Costa & Pedro Barros, 2012. "Does a Tougher Competition Policy Reduce or Promote Investment?," Journal of Industry, Competition and Trade, Springer, vol. 12(1), pages 119-141, March.
    6. Pedro P. Barros & Tore Nilssen, 1999. "The Effect of Firm Heterogeneity on R&D Competition," Nordic Journal of Political Economy, Nordic Journal of Political Economy, vol. 25, pages 87-93.
    7. Anita Michalsen, 2012. "R&D policy in a vertically related industry," Economics of Innovation and New Technology, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 21(8), pages 737-751, November.
    8. Kazuhiro Takauchi, 2011. "Rules of origin and international R&D rivalry," Economics Bulletin, AccessEcon, vol. 31(3), pages 2319-2332.
    9. Naoto Jinji & Tsuyoshi Toshimitsu, 2014. "Strategic Investment Subsidies under Asymmetric Oligopoly," Review of Development Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 18(3), pages 490-501, August.
    10. Hadjikhani, Amjad & Lee, Joong-Woo & Ghauri, Pervez N., 2008. "Network view of MNCs' socio-political behavior," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 61(9), pages 912-924, September.
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    12. Joanna Poyago-Theotoky & Khemarat Talerngsri Teerasuwannajak, 2009. "R&D Productivity and Intellectual Property Rights Protection Regimes," Discussion Paper Series 2009_06, Department of Economics, Loughborough University, revised Mar 2009.

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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • F13 - International Economics - - Trade - - - Trade Policy; International Trade Organizations
    • L52 - Industrial Organization - - Regulation and Industrial Policy - - - Industrial Policy; Sectoral Planning Methods
    • O31 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Innovation; Research and Development; Technological Change; Intellectual Property Rights - - - Innovation and Invention: Processes and Incentives

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